Leaving Las Vegas PAL Laserdisc

• Cat.no: PLFEB 36991
• Cert: 18
• Running time: 108 minutes
• Sides: 2 (CLV)
• Year: 1995
• Pressing: 1998
• Chapters: 29 (17/12)
• Sound: Dolby Surround
• Widescreen: 1.85:1
• Price: £24.99
• Extras : None
  

  ---

  Director:

  Mike Figgis

Cast:

Nicolas Cage
Elisabeth Shue
Julian Sands

Cage,who from the opening has a penchant for going round supermarketsfilling trolleys with booze bottles of every conceivable shape and size,gets fired from an L.A. movie company. So he decides to drive to LasVegas and crash down at a motel with the intent of drinking himself todeath. Then he runs into high class hooker Shue and – proving unable tohave the sex he paid her for – spends a drunken night in herconversational company.

Shue‘s own life is in something of a crisis itself, with gangsters on thetrail of her violent Russian pimp Sands and she responds to somethingin Cage, inviting him to live in her home for his last remaining months.The pair slowly fall in love, but Cage is not going to deviate from hisself-destructive purpose.

A deceptively simple plot, perhaps, but a perfect framework around whichBritish-born director Figgis weaves compositions both visual and musical(he also wrote the memorable, jazzy score himself). The cinematographyis a joy – whether we’re looking at supermarket alcohol shelves,neon-soaked Vegas nightscapes, expressionist-lit sex scenes ormatter-of-fact facial close-ups – and given the evident superb sourcemaster used and Pioneer’s typically flawless transfer, the disc doesthem proud.

Having truly excelled itself in the picture department, the disc goes onto score full marks in that of sound – Figgis is one of those raredirectors equally involved in both since he composes his own scores – andhis work here is wonderful, aurally transforming your living room into asmoke filled jazz dive for the duration, creating exactly the right moodand atmosphere for the tale he as director seeks to tell. Othermemorable elements include cicadas which you would SWEAR are buzzingsomewhere in the room!

Both lead characters may be on the social margins, but there’s somethingundeniably attractive about them and their crossing paths. Cage – whoseperformances are usually OUT THERE – excels himself portraying a slowslide to oblivion and death, while Shue not only copes well with a rolethat makes considerable demands on her (nudity, simulating blow jobs,being beaten up by college boys) but turns in a memorable onscreencounterpart to Cage.

The actor won an Oscar for this – and deservedly so. The film also receivedthree other nominations (Best Actress – Shue, Best Director – Figgis, BestWriter – Figgis). It’s a tremendous piece of work by all concerned and oneparticularly suited to home cinema given the intimate at-home-in-my-roomnature of its subject matter. What one requires of a disc of LLV is competentchaptering, decent unobtrusive sidebreak that doesn’t interrupt any music ordramatic moment in mid-flow and a perfect transfer of picture and sound.This disc, which is not only an Entertainment title but also a Lumiere one,fulfils all requirements more than adequately. Go buy.

Film: 5/5
Picture: 5/5
Sound: 5/5