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Deliverance

"Because it takes place wholly on this river, or nearby, and the clothes they wear are clothes that could be worn today, it doesn't seem to be aged. When you think the film is 30 years old, it looks to me as though it could have been made last year." Thus does director John Boorman pinpoint one of the primary assets of his ever-popular contemporary adventure film, Deliverance, which has been given a fresh, Deluxe Edition release by Warner Home Video (UPC#085391165125, $20). Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox portray four men from the suburbs of Atlanta who run into serious problems while spending a weekend canoeing down a remote and treacherous river. The 1972 feature drifts precariously past the horror realm of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes-both of which have been remade recently-but sustains a greater artistic sensibility in its contrasts of the wilderness and civilization, its glorification of physical challenge, its exploration of masculinity, and its clever subversion of narrative climax so that the story becomes not about killing the monster, but about getting away with it. Boorman's deft direction not only keeps the energy of the film at a high level, but celebrates the metaphorical environment the characters are journeying through, creating a universal fable that does indeed withstand the tests of time.

Although the presentation looks passable if you have nothing to compare it with, the transfer on the Deluxe Edition is problematic. In his commentary, Boorman claims that he wanted to subdue the verdancy of the wilderness, but what comes out of the transfer is a little too soft and a little too olive to be very appealing. Warner's initial release was slightly windowboxed-thereby conveying the illusion of a wider image than the standard letterboxing on the new release, which has an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback-and was sharply focused, perhaps to a fault, with slightly pinkish fleshtones but otherwise brightly defined hues. The older version may have left room for improvement, but the Deluxe Edition swings too far in the opposite direction, and when you place them side by side, you want only to watch the older one and avert your eyes from the other.

The 5.1-channel Dolby Digital sound is richer on the new release, with a stronger bass and clearer tones. The film's stereo mix, done for some previous home video iteration, does not have a strong dimensionality, but the music and the atmospheric effects do escape the center here and there. The 109-minute program comes with an alternate French track in mono, optional English, French and Spanish subtitles, and the trailer and 10-minute 1972 production featurette that appeared on the previous release. Additionally, there is a new 55-minute retrospective documentary featuring Boorman, all four stars, and other members of the cast and crew. They share stories about the various challenges encountered-supposedly, there is only one shot in the film that utilized a stuntman-and provide some marvelous anecdotes about author James Dickey, who appears near the end of the film as a sheriff and was apparently rather a pest on the set.

Boorman's commentary expands on the documentary effectively. He clears up the mystery of the solarization effects during the climb Voight's character makes up the cliff (it was just an especially cheap attempt at day for night), explains some of the symbolic aspects of the movie he wanted to incorporate, goes into detail on how various sequences were staged (although he doesn't really say how he did the striking 'under the rope bridge' shot) and describes his frustrations not only with Dickey, but with the filmmaking unions. "The river proved to be the dividing line between the New York union and the Chicago union, so there was a big argument, the one side telling me I had to use the New York unit and the other side telling me I had to use the Chicago unit, and this argument raged. 'If you're on one side of the river, you have to use the New York unit, and if you're on the other side, you have to use the Chicago unit.'" A compromise was finally worked out.

He also talks about the film's impact. "After the film came out, a lot of people wanted to canoe this river, and several were drowned, and I was asked how I felt about that. Did I feel responsible? And I was able to reply by saying that, 'You know, I made the river look as dangerous and life-threatening as possible so that anybody who canoed it must have known what to expect.'"

September 19, 2007

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- by Douglas Pratt

Douglas Pratt's DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter is published monthly.
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