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Dom Robinson reviews

Maurice

Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Some people don't call him the 'space cowboy' or the 'gangster of love', but they all call him Maurice because that's his name and the only love he speaks of is one that is frowned upon by society during the period in which this film is set. As the 20th century is set to draw to a close soon (when we reach the proper millennium, not the fake one at the end of 1999), gay relationships are much more tolerated in life than they used to be and the series, Queer As Folk, on Channel 4 proves that such things can be turned into mainstream entertainment.

Not long after the 20th Century began, being gay was an arrestable offence and even in 1987 when this film was first made, 'coming out' was also out of the question, especially as the AIDS virus had only recently been introduced to public awareness, along with the false implication that it was explicitly a "gay disease".

As Maurice (James Wilby) and Clive (Hugh Grant) get closer, the strains of reality conflict and push them further apart, but Maurice finds solace in the form of his handsome, young gamekeeper, Alec (Rupert Graves).

The strong cast includes Billie Whitelaw and Judy Parfitt as the lead roles' respective mothers, along with Denholm Elliott, Ben Kingsley and Simon Callow.

Like Heat and Dust, the film is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 1.66:1, which means it's not anamorphic, although it wouldn't have hurt to place the 1.66:1 picture within a 16:9 frame and make that anamorphic. Any side black bars for 4:3-TV owners would most likely be lost to overscan at the sides if they had.

But they didn't and the picture doesn't look particularly unimpressive, but is free of artifacts. If you choose to watch the subtitles, you can't zoom it in further than 14:9, otherwise they'll be cropped at the bottom. The average bitrate is a good 6.40Mb/s, often peaking over 8Mb/s.

The back cover states the sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 for English only, but while it comes across cleanly, there's nothing in particular that will get the neighbours banging on the walls.

Extras :

Chapters and Trailer :

Only 15 chapters this time and not a separate one for the closing credits. Certainly not enough though. The original theatrical trailer is included.

Languages and Subtitles :

Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, with subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing in the same language.

And there's more...:

There's a featurette: 30th Anniversary Merchant Ivory Promo, lasting little more than four minutes and recorded for Cinemax and announcing some of the films they're showing in a special week-long tribute to the partnership. So, yes, slightly outdated. Also, the enclosed booklet provides some production notes, a synopsis and cast biographies.

Menu :

A simple and static menu with a shot of James Wilby and options to start the film, select a scene, watch the trailer, choose subtitles, or visit the extras menu which contains... just the featurette.

Overall, Maurice passes a couple of hours or so but that's about it. If you're a fan, rent it first and buy if it takes your fancy, but with little in the way of extras, there isn't a great deal to recommend it.

There is, however, one major fault with the DVD I reviewed, on my Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player. During chapter 6 after Viscount Risley is arrested and thrown in the back of the police 'van' as he looks out of the back, the picture freezes. It happens at about 43:02 into the film.

It's a DVD9 but I've never had any dual-layer problems before, so is this just a fault on all copies? If I get any feedback on this, I'll post it here. 

FILM	 		: **
PICTURE QUALITY		: **½
SOUND QUALITY		: **½
EXTRAS			: **
-------------------------------
OVERALL			: **

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

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