If you've
read The New Yorker recently, you know things are not looking great for Solondz's upcoming
Love Child shoot. Very disheartening. But one can't be too depressed in the summer when he just got the high def debuts of
Storytelling and
Happiness. Because this week, Criterion has given us the first anamorphic release of Happiness is three versions: a full-on UHD/ BD combo-pack, just the BD by itself, and a DVD edition. So let's compare the very best against what was previously available.
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1999 Trimark DVD top; 2024 Criterion BD mid; 2024 Criterion UHD bottom.
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Quick Note: UHD shots appear darker in this blog because they're made for devices displaying higher nits. If you click through to the full-sized, uncompressed graphic on an HDR device (like an imac); it'll display correctly. Otherwise, just take it on faith that the colors look better than they appear here. But their increased resolution will still be clear.
Critically, the Trimark DVD (and the Lions Gate reissue and all other DVD releases around the world) are non-anamorphic, meaning they weren't made for widescreen TVs. I left the negative space around the first set of shots to show what they'd look like on any modern set. So getting a 16x9 anamorphically enhanced picture alone is a major, sorely needed upgrade. A smaller, but still welcome improvement, is that the aspect ratio has been corrected from 1.83:1 to 1.85:1. A small tweak, and it actually tightens the framing rather than revealing more picture, but it's always nice to get the original composition exactly right.
The color correction is a bigger gain; with Criterion's new image looking more natural and no longer overcast by inappropriate hues (skin tones are a bit red in that first shot, and everything's a bit green in the second DVD screen grab). And of course, the jump to HD is substantial. Fine detail looks out of focus on the DVD, with unwelcome compression noise replaced by authentic film grain. It's even better on the triple-layer UHD, but I have to say, it's a surprisingly strong encode on the 1080p BD, too, so it holds its own even against the higher generation disc.
Both releases offer the original stereo track with optional English
subtitles, but the audio is bumped up to lossless DTS-HD on Criterion's
discs. Trimark did also include Spanish and French subtitles, which
Criterion drops, though, if anybody out there cares about that. And of
course, all previous
Happiness releases were barebones, apart
from the trailer and a handful of bonus trailers. Criterion now offers
an all new, 40+ interview with Solondz himself. And there's a nice,
roughly 15 minute talk with star Dylan Baker. The trailer's still here,
and Criterion's release also includes a fold-out booklet with an essay
by Bruce Wagner (Writer of
Maps To the Stars and
Scenes From the Class Struggle In Beverly Hills).
So obviously I recommend this, in a "why haven't you already run out
and got this" kind of way. Enjoy it, because it may be a longer wait
for
Love Child than we though.
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