The Crying Game

• Cert:
• Cat.no: 22934 CDVD
• Running time: 112 minutes
• Year: 1992
• Pressing: 2002
• Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
• Chapters: 16 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Pro Logic)
• Languages: English
• Subtitles: English for the hard of hearing
• Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Anamorphic Panavision)
• 16:9-enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: No
• Disc Format: DVD 9
• Price: £15.99
• Extras: Trailer
  

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  Director:

  Neil Jordan

  (Angel, Borgia, The Butcher Boy, The Company of Wolves, The Crying Game, The End of the Affair, The Good Thief, High Spirits, In Dreams, Interview with the Vampire, Michael Collins, The Miracle, Mona Lisa, Not I, We’re No Angels)

Producer:

Screenplay:

Neil Jordan

Music :

Cast :

Jody: Forest Whitaker
Jude: Miranda Richardson
Fergus: Stephen Rea
Maguire: Adrian Dunbar
Dil: Jaye Davidson
Col: Jim Broadbent
Dave: Ralph Brown
Deveroux: Tony Slattery
Tinker: Breffni McKenna
Eddie: Joe Savino

Originally titled “The Soldier’s Wife”, The Crying Gamebegins with a soldier, Jody (Forest Whitaker), being taken hostage byIRA terrorists and with one of them, Fergus (Stephen Rea), he beginsto form a bond. Life never goes to plan and tales of Jody’s girlfriend, Dil(Jaye Davidson), back home lead Fergus to seek her out after hiswork with fellow terrorists Jude (Miranda Richardson) and Maguire(Adrian Dunbar) is done.

Fergus, using the name Jimmy, begins to fall for the mysterious pub singerDil, despite knowing what he knows halfway through the film, but he realisesthat once you’re in the IRA there’s no escape and when the others catch upwith him they have further plans for him to assassinate a “legitimate target”,but in a need-to-know situation all he needs to know is that it’s practicallya suicide mission.

Although this film is ten years old, I refuse to give out any spoilers, despitethe fact that the film’s darkest secret is now common knowledge. That said,it is a superb film but one that doesn’t stand up to too many repeated viewings.It also stars Jim Broadbent as weird bar owner Col, Ralph Brownas Dave, one of Dil’s exes and Tony Slattery in a cameo as Fergus’building site boss Deveroux.

“Come on Stephen, hurry up and say ‘klahoma’.”

To my knowledge, this is the first time the film has seen the light of dayin the original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio for home viewing. Shot in anamorphicPanavision, Channel 4 never screened it wider than 16:9 and while the rentalvideo was the same ratio, the retail equivalent was cropped to a dreadful 4:3.However, the print is clean, albeit it slightly on the soft side, but Jordan’sfilming technique with a convex lens makes the end result more inviting.

Standard Pro Logic is the sound source and the film makes reasonable, but farfrom extensive, use of the stage when it needs to.

The only extra is a trailer, also in anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen, while theback-catalogue behaviour continues with static and silent menus, a mere 16chapters and subtitles in only Greek and English for the hard of hearing.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


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