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| Emily
Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, Michael Legge |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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'Happy
childhoods are hardly worth your while.'
Biopic
of author Frank McCourt's poverty-stricken childhood in Ireland.
Based
on the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoirs of schoolteacher Frank McCourt,
Angela's Ashes is at least a welcome relief insofar as that for
once here is a film about Ireland that is not completely preoccupied
with the IRA or the struggle with England. Like the recent The Butcher
Boy, this is a tale of growing up in poverty-stricken circumstances,
and for the most part, it does a decent job.
 Growing
up in the town of Limerick during the 1930s with an alcoholic father
and a devoted but rather helpless mother was clearly no picnic; but
the fact that we know that all will end well as Frank will eventually
make a fortune selling the rights to his life story tends to undercut
the urgency of this particular tale. The Butcher Boy, which is
similar in many ways, has much more tension to it as we have the feeling
that this boy's life is indeed going horribly wrong and nothing can
save him. Angela's Ashes therefore becomes only little more than
a story of making it against the odds. And like most films in which
the protagonist is followed from early childhood to his late teens,
the story becomes less interesting as the boy grows older. |
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Region 1 and Region 2 versions are identical.
The
DVD images is crisp and clear, anamorphic and framed at 1.85:1. The
cinematography in this film is outstanding, with an incredible amount
of detail lending realism to the family's squalid surroundings and endless
rain and fog. The film's rich texture of greys, blacks and blues has
been rendered perfectly on the DVD.
The 5.1 surround track is subtly done, with hardly anything but the
old-fashioned musical score and incidental sound effects appearing on
the rear speakers.
The
DVD features two audio commentaries: one from director Alan Parker and
one by writer Frank McCourt. Parker's commentary is illuminating for
those interested in the film's production and its more technical aspects
and problems. But McCourt's commentary enhances the film, as it is his
childhood that is depicted in it. It lends an even stronger note of
realism to the scenes, many of which he describes in some detail from
memory. The
menus are very simply done with some stills from the film and text captions.
Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on Angela's
Ashes .
Click here
to return to the front page.
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