Special Features
For special features are an original trailer and a Frankenheimer commentary track. In it he talks of the opening title sequence and about the then-revolutionary use of wide-angle lenses to both distort the scene and keep backgrounds in focus at all times. There is much about his visual style (his preference for low angle shots and his “signature shot” – looming foregrounds with figures in midground) and on working with Howe. He talks of wishing to show Randolph as a tormented man unhappy with his own life, and muses on the casting. Mention is made of his desire to create an unstable world where little is certain and how he used visual distortion to encompass this ideal, to take the film out of the documentary realism usually associated with black and white. The alternately fragmentary and fluid editing rhythms are highlighted as is the use of longish takes, with the director admitting that he is not a fan of the incessant cutting of films influenced by MTV. He talks of other collaborators and of how he was forced to edit the wine-vat scene in order for the Catholic Church not to condemn the film on moral grounds. There are production anecdotes, including the fact that Hudson really got drunk to play certain scenes and that Frankenheimer thus used multiple cameras so as not to miss anything. He admits that the film was shot mainly in sequence and that this possibly aided Hudson’s performance. It is an insightful and engaging commentary track.
Wider Screenings Star Rating
The Movie: 5 stars
Picture: 5 stars
Sound: 4 ½ stars
Extras: 3 ½ stars
WS DVD rating: 4 ½ stars
Additional Reading
anecdote from Film Tales: Movie Trivia in the Age of DVD
Wider Screenings DVD Attractions Trailer
(courtesy of YouTube embedded video)