听 With the recent slew of Tom Ripley movies adapted from the novels of Patricia Highsmith, some people may be surprised to learn that this movie was made in 1977. Back then, Wim Wenders wanted to adapt a number of Highsmith's books but couldn't get the rights. However, he was persuasive enough to get the chance to see her latest manuscript, as he reveals on this DVD.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture Yellows and greens dominate the colour palette, which transfers solidly to disc thanks to an original print that's in good shape.
Sound Both a 2.0 and 5.1 sound mix are available on this disc. The 5.1 is a little too spacious at times, but the dialogue sticks to the centre speaker.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary Recorded in the summer of 2002, this commentary with Wim Wenders and Dennis Hopper is an unusual track. Hopper almost seems to prefer to listen rather than say too much, but when he does talk, it's with considerable knowledge of European cinema.
Wenders is in a gently fretful mood. He does mention more than a few times that he has no idea how to direct dark characters. He'd thought of casting John Cassavettes, but it was John who suggested Hopper. Once Dennis was on board Wenders was able to relax a little, knowing that the dark side was taken care of.
Wenders and Hopper catch up with each other on this track and reminisce about the shoot, which became more freeform as time went on, with Wim ditching the storyboards he'd planned beforehand.
Deleted Scenes With the actors' improvisations, over half an hour of deleted footage was cut out; it's presented here with an optional commentary. You get the feeling that Wim hasn't seen this stuff for a long time, as he makes only a few comments before then drifting into silence.
Additional Extra Features Also on the disc are some detailed cast and crew biographies and a trailer.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
Chapters: 26
Ratio: 1.78:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0
Audio Tracks: German
Subtitles: English
Captions: None
Menus: Animated, with music
Special Features Subtitles None of the special features come with subtitles apart from the deleted scenes.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-N5 DVD player.
