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Perfect Crime (The)
R1 - America - Tartan Video Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Shane Roberts (20th March 2007). |
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The Film
 In Yeyo's, a large department store in Madrid, Rafa Gonzalez (Guillermo Toledo) is head of the ladies wear department. He is a retail superstar and the store's 'golden boy', admired by all the guys and seducer of almost all the women on his floor (usually using the store's bed department after hours). He's also in a bitter sales competition with archrival and head of neighboring menswear department Don Antonio (Luis Varela) for the promotion to floor manager. When the rivalry gets out of control, he finds himself with a body to get rid of and an unexpected and unwanted partner in crime, who now thinks she is in charge... and he doesn't like it at all. Director Alex de la Iglesia's style has changed a lot since his earlier films such as "Accion Mutante" AKA "Action Mutant" (1993) and "Perdita Durango" (1997). Where they were similar in tone, pacing and humor to the gore-heavy early films of Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi and even, in "Perdita Durango" case, Robert Rodriguez. "The Perfect Crime" is closer to the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan) or even Danny DeVito's directing style. The nasty but hilarious black humor and the accelerated pacing are still there but now it's a lot more mature and a little more laid back. He's helped by some great performances from his cast, especially Toledo who is excellent as Rafa a self confessed Casanova and a guy with an obsession with having the best of everything yet his apartment is undecorated and virtually empty because he can't afford his own high standards. He's the sort of character that could so easily be impossible to like but while he's basically sleazy, arrogant and mean there are also large doses of cool, charming and funny. Black comedies like this with warring couples usually work better when you can sympathize with both sides as they try to outdo each other. Rafa is more than matched by Lourdes (Monica Cervera) as the girl who has fancied him from afar but is the only one he's totally ignored because she is not as attractive as the others. Once she gets some leverage, she has plenty of plans for both of their futures. Although it loses its way a bit in the final third, it comes right for a great ending and overall it's a really clever comedy with a lot of laughs (watch out for the dinner with Lourdes' parents especially).
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this anamorphic transfer is very rich, with vibrant colors, the transfer has a luminous quality that brings out the artificiality of the department store location in which the characters populate. Sharpness is consistent although some minor grain is present but nothing that would distract you. Black levels are bold and deep without any noise. Overall I'd say this is a solid transfer that presents the film brilliantly.
Audio
Three audio tracks are included all of which are in Spanish, they are in DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS track. As we have come to expect Tartan includes a DTS track with most of their releases and this film is no exception. The DTS track is a fine effort although this film isn't exactly the type of film that would really benefit from a DTS track (a Dolby Digital would have sufficed), as there is no action and the overall sound mix is not aggressive. It is however dynamic and adding the score into account the track does pop and provides a pleasurable aural atmosphere; I also found dialogue clear and distortion free. The track does immerse you and nothing feels out of place in this well balanced mix. As far as soundtracks go it does impress but it's a decent one none-the-less. Optional subtitles are also included in English.
Extras
First up we have a feature-length audio commentary by writer/director Alex de la Iglesia and co-writer Jorge Guerricaechevarra. The two kick off this track commenting on what fascinates them about malls and setting the film in one, they talks about developing the characters most especially the lead, which had to possess a lovability despite being a jerk. Comments are made about the cast and crew with a few stories shared from the set and various production issues that popped up during the filming as well as making reference to things that would only be known to Spanish people but lost on others such as myself, one such example is talking about Spanish television commercials for products I've never heard of while talking about a particular scene. In any case a few references will be lost on English speaking viewers but overall this is a fairly stock-standard commentary that runs through the motions of making a film. Next up is "The Making of The Perfect Crime", a featurette which runs for 16 minutes on the dot. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the production as we see footage of the cast and crew filming various scenes from the movie on location, key cast and crew are also interviewed in this clip. It's an EPK piece but doesn't focus on how great the cast and crew are but instead on seeing how some of the scenes were shot, which is great. Also included is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 1 minute 34 seconds. Next up are bonus trailers for: - "Milwaukee, Minnesota" which runs for 2 minutes 10 seconds. - "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu" which runs for 1 minute 24 seconds. - "The Cave of the Yellow Dog" which runs for 3 minutes 12 seconds. - "The Bow" which runs for 2 minutes 11 seconds. Rounding out the extras is a 2-panel booklet which features scene selections.
Overall
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