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Tideland
R1 - America - ThinkFilm Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Shane Roberts (24th March 2007). |
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The Film
 After her mother (Jennifer Tilly) dies of a drug overdose 8-year-old Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland) is taken by her junkie father (Jeff Bridges) to his deserted grandmother's house out on the American prairie where he grew up. Isolated from outsiders and left to fend for herself after she loses her father as well, she retreats into a fantasy world where her four dolls-head finger puppets are her only friends. Director Terry Gilliam decided on his latest (based on a novel by Mitch Cullin) in part as an antidote to his last film, the big budget and big studio financed "The Brothers Grimm" (2005) where he'd had an ongoing battle with the producers over everything from the budget and final cut worries to whether or not Matt Damon should wear a fake nose. He wanted to produce an independent film where he would have the freedom and control to do something more offbeat, challenging and typically Gilliam. Anyone familiar with his past films such as "Brazil" (1985), "Twelve Monkeys" (1995), and especially "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998), knows that he is usually at his best when he's able to cut loose. Unfortunately, with "Tideland" he's got a lot of it wrong. Rejected entry to The Cannes Film Festival, pretty much universally attacked by critics, and polarized by the public on its cinema release, it is not really surprising. With it's themes of child abuse and neglect (within the first 5-10 minutes we see Jeliza-Rose loading a syringe for one of her parents) it was always going to be a hard sell to most people. Told from Jeliza-Rose's perspective, giving it an exaggerated fairytale feel, it does feature Gilliam's usual flair for fantastically detailed set and costume-like designs plus beautiful dreamlike cinematography especially in the open plains of the prairie. Anyone who has seen it will probably be reminded of Terrence Malick's "Days of Heaven" (1978). On the acting Jodelle Ferland is excellent as the little girl who is blissfully unaffected by the dark and twisted events happening around her, as is Brendan Fletcher who gives a complete convincing performance as Dickens, a mentally damaged young man who befriends Jeliza-Rose. It's a relationship that has been accused by some as inappropriate but it's just an innocent friendship between two childish minds. At two hours, "Tideland" is just so relentlessly weird and drawn out that overall it turns into more of an endurance test than entertainment.
Video
Presented in a ratio of 1.78:1 this anamorphic transfer is a complete butchering of Gilliam's vision, the film's original theatrical ratio is 2.35:1, however Gilliam's approved ratio is 2.25:1, this is the ratio in which he delivered the master to ThinkFilm for this very DVD release. But instead of going with his intended ratio they opened the matte at the top and bottom to create this 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. Gilliam is widely known for his use of wide angle lenses and making use of the enormous space at the left and right of the screen. This wide canvas is something he used on this film and opening the transfer at the top and bottom totally destroys the director's intention for how this film should be seen. ThinkFilm have done a disservice to this Collector's Edition release by doing this and I hope that they release the 2.25:1 transfer immediately. Otherwise the image is sharp and colors are well rendered, with skin tones appearing natural. The image itself is very clean and does not appear to have any compression problems or edge-enhancement.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its 5.1 track and found it generally very good. However, I felt that it lacked a little bit of depth. While dialogue was well rendered, sound effects and music made good use of the surround; I felt that the range of the track wasn't as broad and rich as I'd have liked it to be. This doesn't mean the track is bad; in fact it's quite good, just not great. This film does not include any optional subtitles.
Extras
DISC ONE: First up we have a video introduction by the film's director Terry Gilliam which runs for 1 minute 10 seconds prior to the start of the film. The director confesses that most people will not like this film, while others will love it and there may also be some that just don't get it and asks the viewers to watch the film from the perspective of a child. Following that is a feature-length audio commentary by director Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Tony Grisoni. The two comment on the book and what drew them to the project, other areas of conversation include the difficulty in raising the money, praising the cast and crew for their work especially the Canadian crew who worked above and beyond the call of duty. Gilliam focuses some time on taking us through the process of casting the lead girl, while Grisoni occasionally keeps the track on track as Gilliam tends to go on tangents at times. Some of the most interesting elements about this track relate to the troubles they had submitting the film at The Cannes Films Festival, the issues with distributions and selling the film as they share their experiences from the various Festival screenings and respond to some of the negative reviews the film received. Gilliam provides insight on what it's like filming on a small budget and the freedom that actually afforded him as apposed to working for a studio. More is revealed about the special effects, especially the underwater dream sequence and ends the track talking about the overall positive experience he had in making the film in Canada. This track is a must for Gilliam fans as the director divulges an awful lot about the making of this film and keeps the track moving at a steady pace. Rounding out the extras on this disc are some start-up bonus trailers that can all be skipped, they include: - "Candy" which runs for 1 minute 54 seconds. - "Shortbus" which runs for 3 minutes 4 seconds. - "The King" which runs for 2 minutes 14 seconds. - "The Zodiac" which runs for 1 minute 59 seconds. DISC TWO: This second disc features "Getting Gilliam" an in-depth documentary that runs for 44 minutes 43 seconds, this documentary also features an optional audio commentary by Terry Gilliam and the director of the documentary Vincenzo Natali. This feature is an intimate portrait of the prolific director as he begins production on his 10th feature film. Natali follows the director from the late pre-production period and well into the film shoot for "Tideland" as he provides a look at Gilliam's career as we get a rare and insightful look at Gilliam at work. This feature is compellingly candid and exceptionally raw, the various rumors of Gilliam's eccentricity, difficulty to work with and bull-headedness are out to rest as the principle photography moves much more smoothly than some of his past projects. It's a shame that the release was marred by bad reviews. The documentary leaves off as the filming ends and the optional commentary takes is further as Gilliam and Natali takes us through from where the documentary left off and just like the commentary on the film itself, this one is also worth listening to. Following that is a generic "The Making of Tideland" featurette that runs for 5 minutes 27 seconds, this is the standard RPK type fare where key cast and crew tell us about the story and how great it was working on this film...boring. A series of deleted scenes are presented in a reel and features forced commentary by director Terry Gilliam, this reel runs for 5 minutes 59 seconds, the scenes include Jeliza-rose dealing with her dad's death, a scene that shows us how she got the dolls heads, a scene where the squirrel runs around the house with a wig as Jeliza-rose runs after it, a dialogue scene with her and Dell as she plants plastic flowers and finally Jeliza-rose wakes from a dream only to find a bog-man at the foot of her bed. Gilliam comments on the scenes, where they take place in the timeline of the film and why they were cut. "Filming Green Screen" is a featurette that features some raw footage accompanied by forced commentary by director Terry Gilliam and runs for 3 minutes 16 seconds. Here we get to see how the special effects were created as Gilliam takes us through the process. Next is an interview with producer Jeremy Thomas which runs for 9 minutes 53 seconds. Thomas talks about working with Gilliam ,developing the novel into a screenplay, the creative involvement on the set and collaborating with Gilliam in that regard, on having a shared vision with the director, funding the film and the difficulty they faced, finding an audience, how the film industry has changed with the advent of digital, making studio movies and responding to critical reaction among other things. In this clip he manages to cover a lot in less than 10 minutes and is worth a look. Following that Interview with director Terry Gilliam that runs for 14 minutes 32 seconds. In it he talks about creating a 21st century fairy tale, on the juxtaposition of imagination and madness, on his vivid dreams and dreams of flight, on working with Jeff Bridges, on creating two worlds in the film, casting the dolls and being able to identify with the main character among other things. You'll find that there's little repetition between this and the commentary, this interview is well produced and adds another valuable layer to the extras compiled onto this disc. Rounding out the extras is the film's original theatrical trailer which runs for 2 minutes 6 seconds.
Overall
I find it hard to recommend buying this disc especially since ThinkFilm dropped the ball with the transfer, on the other hand the extras are excellent. If you're a fan of Gilliam I'd wait until ThinkFilm releases this film with the proper 2.25:1 ratio (which I hear they are in the process of doing).
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