{"id":28840,"date":"2024-06-11T01:48:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T08:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28840"},"modified":"2024-06-11T01:48:58","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T08:48:58","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-and-blu-ray-review-mute-witness-1995","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28840","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Review: MUTE WITNESS (1995)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This title from Arrow Video is available as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release or as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sometimes, excellent pictures just seem to slip under the\nradar. This may have been the case for me with Mute Witness<\/em>, were it not\nfor me happening to attend a premiere of the film at the Toronto International\nFilm Festival as part of the Midnight Madness program. This remarkable thriller\nwas so tense, twisty, funny and well-paced that it seemed like it would go on\nto find an audience. However, after landing distribution with Sony Pictures\nClassics and receiving positive notices from critics like Roger Ebert, the film\nwas haphazardly released, barely grossing $1 million dollars worldwide before\ndisappearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s wonderful when companies like Arrow Video rescue\npictures like these, because by doing so they really have saved something\nremarkable. This is an excellent thriller and it\u2019s great to see it presented in\na nice package with loads of extras. The film was made on the cheap (the bonus\nfeatures go into detail about the production) and so the actual feature isn\u2019t\nnecessary demo material for your home theater. However, the movie itself\nfeatures clever visuals and it\u2019s great to have it available in various formats\nand presented as well as can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story concerns mute American make-up artist Billy Hughes\n(Marina Zudina) working on a slasher film being shot in Moscow. With her is\nsister and crew member Karen (Fay Ripley) and boyfriend Andy Clarke (Evan\nRichards), who is the director of the feature. One night, after returning to\nthe studio lot to retrieve equipment, she stumbles upon crew members Lyosha\n(Sergei Kalenkov) and Arkadi (Igor Volkov) making a snuff movie for a\nmysterious criminal known as \u201cThe Reaper\u201d (Alec Guiness). A terrified Billy is\nimmediately hunted by the killers and must find a way to escape and\/or get\nhelp. She does get into contact with a local detective named Larson (Oleg\nYankovsky), but isn\u2019t sure whether she can trust him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Despite the dark subject matter and a few very chilling\nmoments, there is a lot of cleverness in the screenplay, as well as memorable\ntwists and turns. The movie-making backdrop often makes it difficult to know\nwhat is occurring on a few occasions, playing with audience expectations\neffectively. The film constantly veers in new directions, yet maintains a\ncommon thread, so this approach never becomes a problem. The movie simply\nglides along, with the leads carrying viewers on a wild ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite not having a line of dialogue, the main character is\nextremely charismatic and likable. She must not only use her wits to survive\nthe killers on the lot, but also convince authorities and family that the\nslaying was real (and not a convincing make-up effect) and that her life is in\nmortal danger. In-over-his- head film director Andy is entertaining as well in\nearly bits as he struggles to communicate with the Russian crew. It\u2019s also fun\nto see his girlfriend Karen take change and provide comedy when the pair are also\nput in danger. The bad guys are threatening and the unexpected cameo from Alec\nGuiness is a fun nod to movie enthusiasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waller also does a lot with the camera, utilizing the\nrickety studio and providing exciting widescreen photography and atmosphere\nthat maximizes tension throughout. To this critic, it feels like a stylistic\ncombination of 1970s Brian De Palma and Alfred Hitchcock with a few modern\nstory updates. It doesn\u2019t feel derivative and there\u2019s very little in the\npicture that doesn\u2019t work as intended. This is a near perfect thriller that\nkeeps the viewer\u2019s brain active with its twists, never lags and delivers excitement\nand chuckles in equal measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The extras tell a remarkable story about how the project was\ncobbled together. The director commentary and the crew commentary (featuring\nthe production designer and the composer of the score) are very engaging. We\nlearn that Waller was a young director based in Germany who specialized in\ncommercials, wanting to make his way into narrative features. After reading an\narticle about snuff films, he wondered how one would be able to discern reality\nfrom movie magic if this was occurring on a set. It inspired him and he\nfashioned the screenplay, originally named Snuff Movie<\/em>, around this\nidea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As it turned out, Waller wasn\u2019t able to find anyone willing\nto finance the picture. Even Sony Pictures Classics and Columbia turned down\nthe script (they would eventually buy the distribution rights after the movie\nwas finished and premiered at film festivals).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intention was to make the movie in the US (there is a\nfeaturette of location scouting footage from Boston), but backers eventually\nsuggested that it would be more cost-effective to shoot in Russia. With a $1\nmillion dollar budget secured independently, they traveled to Moscow. The day\nbefore shooting began, the country went through a constitutional crisis with\nviolence in the streets. There was a lockdown and no one could leave their\nhomes during the evening hours (the streets and outdoor locations around Red\nSquare in the film are eerily empty as a result).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film cameras and equipment in Russia weren\u2019t good, so\nthey shuttled in equipment from Germany. This was a lawless time, and so the\nproduction team had to bribe border agents to get equipment through customs.\nThe moviemakers also had to deal with others requiring \u201cspecial payments\u201d to\nallow filming to continue. Since the best Russian crew members were already\nhired on another project (specifically, Police Academy: Mission to Moscow<\/em>),\nWaller also dealt with less-reliable individuals on set. One or two were heavy\ndrinkers\/drug users and didn\u2019t always bother to show up to work. Union crew\nrules were also very different, so the director added a few of the\neccentricities into the story. All these strange issues ended up nearly\ndoubling the limited budget and caused great consternation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waller does praise those who did put their heart and soul\ninto the picture, including the cast. The director notes that while even\nRussian theater actress and star Marina Zudina was often late to set (because\nshe was working on a stage production that, for her, was a higher priority), it\nwas still worth the added stress, as she was a professional and very focused in\nfront of the camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waller also describes the dangers of traveling around Moscow\nduring this period and other odd experiences in the city. Waller\u2019s commentary\nis an incredible listen and the second track (with the production designer\ntalking about his time in Moscow and the film\u2019s composer talking about his\nprocess) also provides a lot of insight about the shoot and country during this\nera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the noted Alec Guiness cameo, viewers will learn that\nthe footage (all of which is presented as another extra on the disc) was shot\nmany years earlier in Hamburg, Germany after Waller met the star at an event.\nThe director asked the actor to shoot a cameo for this project (which was\nsignificantly different at this stage), but it all ended up cutting together.\nIt\u2019s another incredible story that is remarkable to listen to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And there\u2019s more! Over the years, the film has earned its\nfair share of fans among genre critics. Extras include a visual essay about\nsnuff movies and how effectively Waller uses the subject in his picture. The\nindividual also notes the use of women in the story and how ahead of its time\nsome of their depictions are. Additionally, you can watch a featurette about\nthe history of films-within-films and how this effort fits into the category.\nIt\u2019s fun and will offer plenty of other viewing options with a similar\ntheme.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll also get publicity materials like a teaser, a trailer\nand an image gallery that were used to try to sell the picture. And it comes\nwith a booklet with writing on the film and a folded double-sided poster\nfeaturing original and newly commissioned art for the title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As for the picture quality, the low-budget movie was made in\nvery icy conditions without the newest technology, so there has always been\nsome grain visible on several shots. Having said that, both the 4K Ultra HD and\nBlu-ray are still head and shoulders above the DVD that I own. On my TV, the 4K\nis slightly sharper than the Blu-ray, but also shows some of the noise more\nprominently. Personally, even with that grain I prefer the extra sharpness in\nthe 4K Ultra HD version over the Blu-ray. But whatever version you may choose,\nboth are as impressive as this picture is likely to ever look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mute Witness<\/em> is a true hidden gem and one that anyone\nwith an appetite for thrills, chills and dark humor will appreciate. It\u2019s also\namazing to finally see the movie getting commentary tracks and bonuses\nproviding the fascinating and miraculous tale of how it was all put together.\nThe movie is very highly recommended and this release is well worth picking up\nas well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This title from Arrow Video is available as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release or as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray. Sometimes, excellent pictures just seem to slip under the radar. This may have been the case for me with Mute Witness, were it not for me happening to attend a premiere of the film […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[129,304,1597,1836,2923,2928,7121,7370,9319,13231,14263,14436,14437,14438,14439,17457,18710,22825],"class_list":["post-28840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-129","tag-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray","tag-anthony-waller","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review","tag-evan-richards","tag-fay-ripley","tag-horror","tag-marina-zudina","tag-moscow","tag-mute-witness","tag-mute-witness-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-mute-witness-blu-ray-review","tag-mute-witness-review","tag-russia","tag-sony-pictures-classics","tag-thriller"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}