Why So Blu?

The Invisible Woman (Blu-ray Review)

Nelly (Felicity Jones) is haunted by her past.  Her memories take us back in time to follow the story of her relationship with Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) with whom she discovered an exciting but fragile complicity. Dickens – famous, controlling and emotionally isolated within his success – falls for Nelly.  As Nelly becomes the focus of Dickens’ passion and his muse, for both of them secrecy is the price, and for Nelly a life of “invisibility.”  

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Film 

The Invisible Woman Ralph Fiennes latest film as director and tells the story of Charles Dickens (Fiennes) as he finds himself falling in love with Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones). Nelly is an actress and Dickens, is well, the world famous literary wordsmith who would write some of the world’s best loved novels and stories. At this point in both of their lives Dickens is married with several children and Nelly is an aspiring actress, who along with her mother (Kristen Scott Thomas) and two other sisters, act in troupes and perform for distinguished crowds. Dickens has taken a liking to these plays and frequents them as often as he can.

Nelly is a bit on the awkward side as she is trying to hone her craft as an actor but can’t help to be distracted by Charles Dickens, the man before her, who is literally on a pedestal every time he is in frame. Dickens is on speaking tour of his works and is always hosting parties with admirers and business associates, so by that token, where does Nelly really fit into the grand schemes of things? Well, that’s the rub. The Invisible Woman is not just a play on words. It’s what Nelly would become if she were to become Charles Dickens’ mistress. Keep in mind that the film takes place at the height of the man’s success and in 19th century Victorian England, where Charles, in a loveless marriage, can’t really get a divorce due to the scandal it would create and never mind the fact that divorces were frowned upon in that time period.

The film is bookended by Nelly as an older and married woman, with children herself, as she comes to terms of what she had and went through with Dickens. The meat of the film is the centerpiece and we spend a lot of time with Dickens and Nelly as they try to navigate a very complicated scenario to mixed effect. Nelly wants to be more than what she is to Dickens but not at the price of ruining him and by that same token Dickens does not want that either. It’s almost like Dickens has an “arranged extramarital affair” of sorts. Dickens is Nelly’s benefactor, while Dickens goes about his work and tends to his actual family’s needs. His actual wife’s needs don’t seem to trouble him all that much, because he rarely ever has a word to say with her. She’s more like an advisor and by being this way it’s as if she’s pushing Dickens away into the arms of another woman and in this case it’s Nelly.

The Invisible Woman really piqued my interest, because I really enjoyed Ralph Fiennes modern take on Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, and I was curious to see how he would tackle Dickens and his complicated troubles. I’m happy to say that the film is gorgeous as are the technical specs. Set design, Oscar nominated costumes, etc., put you in that era. It’s also a very English film. This might turn some off some people, because it’s not necessarily a very accessible film. Sure, you don’t really need to be a fan of the man and his works to get it, but it doesn’t hurt, as all this turmoil and complication took place around the time some of his most work was being written and completed.

Where Coriolanus was an action packed modern piece The Invisible Woman is the opposite. It’s a quiet film about a complex and true subject matter and I feel that Ralph Fiennes and company have done an admirable job in depicting this part of history. It’s not a dull film, as it does have its moments of drama, but still remains entertaining. It’s not a pretentious piece of filmmaking either even though there are those who would disagree with it. I do think that Felicity Jones is a revelation in The Invisible Woman, because the way she carries herself with this unimaginable weight on her shoulders, really comes through. It’s ironic that the last film I saw with her in it was Chalet Girl, which was an entertaining raunchy comedy. Again, people do seem to come full circle at one point or another. I enjoyed Chalet Girl then and I enjoyed The Invisible Woman now. Here’s hoping Fiennes and Jones can reunite in front and behind the camera. They do good work together.

 

Video 

Encoding: AVC MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Clarity/Detail: Contrast and sharpness levels were consistent all the way through. The film has several set pieces that take place in these wonderfully low-lit interiors (you know how I feel about low light) and the transfer handles them perfectly. There are also quite a few scenes out in the gloomy coast, where everything has a more muted look to it. Contrast and sharpness levels did not appear to be tweaked with.

Depth: The Invisible Woman does have “pop” where it needs it. I’m sure this was deliberate. The muted and almost sepia-toned aesthetic of the film is stellar and the Blu-ray pulls it through.

Black Levels: Black levels are quite strong and I did not notice any instances of crush or noise in those scenes.

Color Reproduction: The color palette is quite reserved but during the off chance of color it washes over the frame like a pastel painting. Banding was also never an issue.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are natural, for the most part, this being 19 century England, not everyone came off as pasty as you would think. All things considered.

Noise/Artifacts: I did not notice any intrusive noise, anomalies, or artifacts.

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Portuguese DTS-HD MA 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1.

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, and Spanish – Commentary subtitles: English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Dynamics: The Invisible Woman is more of a dialogue driven films, so there were maybe one or two scenes of actual bombastic “action” and that was during the train wreck scene.

Low Frequency Extension: LFE is very limited on this Blu-ray but does creep in here and there. There is nothing distracting about it as it gives the picture that extra push when needed.

Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels acted as ambience channels on The Invisible Woman as there was nothing sweeping or swooshing around back there. Ambient noise and chatter were picked up nicely.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels were clear, clean, and crisp. Everyone was perfectly audible and understandable.

 

Extras 

The Invisible Woman on Blu-ray has a few extras included, one of which is an audio commentary by Ralph Fiennes and Felicity Jones. The rest are conversations at special screenings and events. I do wish that there were more featurettes that talked about the production design and costuming considering that the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design. Oh well.

• Commentary with Ralph Fiennes & Felicity Jones – I was looking forward to this audio commentary, because I figured Fiennes and Jones would be somewhat rambunctious as they recount the making of the film. No, that was not the case. It’s a very dry and ultra-formal audio commentary. It’s nothing earth shattering as it does take itself a little too serious for my liking.
• SAG Foundation Conversations with Ralph Fiennes & Felicity Jones (HD, 26:33) – This is a moderated panel where Ralph Fiennes and Felicity Jones talk about the project and if it weren’t for the fact that this was a panel it would most certainly appear in those featurettes where everyone chimes in about how great the source material was, the actors were great, the crew was awesome, etc. Granted, it is a bit more spontaneous since it’s not really in a controlled setting, but ultimately it’s pretty basic.
• On the Red Carpet at the Toronto Premiere (HD, 16:32) – Here’s some footage of the principal cast (Fiennes & Jones) at the Toronto premiere of the film. This featurette contains footage of the Fiennes and Jones doing interviews as they walk the red carpet into the film’s premiere.
• Toronto International Film Festival Press Conference (HD, 20:59) – This is a moderated press conference where Fiennes and Jones talk about the film. It’ somewhat reminiscent of the first featurette at the SAG Foundation.
• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:08) – This is the theatrical trailer of The Invisible Woman presented in high definition.

Summary 

The Invisible Woman is an assured piece of work and I do believe that Ralph Fiennes has got this directing thing down cold. I look forward to his next project and I look forward to more by Felicity Jones, as well. The Blu-ray has above average video and sound quality and the special features are just okay, then again, it’s not really the type of film that one would expect to have tons of supplements. Give it a watch.

 

 

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