![Insignificance: The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (1985)](/wp_content/uploads/2011/06/51G6R35Ub7L._SL500_AA300__150x150.jpg "Insignificance: The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray] (1985)")
INSIGNIFICANCE (1983, Blu-ray released June 14, 2011 – MSRP $39.95)
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Nicolas Roeg directs an adaptation of a famous stage play about famous people ruminating on the nature of fame (and space-time) in Insignificance, new from Criterion this week in a great looking Blu-ray presentation.
- “Four unnamed people who look and sound a lot like Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, and Joseph McCarthy converge in one New York City hotel room for this compelling, visually inventive adaptation of Terry Johnson’s play, from director Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth). With a combination of whimsy and dread, Roeg creates a fun-house-mirror picture of cold war America that questions the nature of celebrity and plays on a society’s simmering nuclear fears. Insignificance is a delirious, intelligent drama, featuring magnetic performances by Michael Emil (Tracks, Always) as “the professor,” Theresa Russell (Bad Timing, Black Widow) as “the actress,” Gary Busey (The Buddy Holly Story, Lethal Weapon) as “the ballplayer,” and Tony Curtis (Sweet Smell of Success, Spartacus) as “the senator.” “
Oh boy. This is a tough one for me. I’m such a fan of director Nicolas Roeg. I just want to love everything he does but if I’m going to be honest, Insignificance just doesn’t do it for me. Maybe it’s my natural aversion to all things ‘theatrical’ (the film is an adaptation of Terry Johnson‘s stage play) or the wantonly existential nature of the dialogue in the film but I find sitting through it a hard slog. Or perhaps it’s that I just never believe that Theresa Russell is Marilyn Monroe or that Gary Busey ball player Joe DiMaggio, the famous movie-star’s one-time husband. Or that either of them would wax intellectual about the nature of space time in a hotel room with Einstein (well embodied by Michael Emil.) Tony Curtis is the highlight here, as far as I’m concerned, chewing scenery in the role of Senator Joe McCarthy. Though Roeg goes to great lengths to move the story from the stage to celluloid it never manages to transcend the proscenium arch of the theatre, remaining an unnecessarily ponderous treatise on the fleeting nature of celebrity, science and life.
Thankfully, Criterion knocks the Blu-ray presentation out of the park. The transfer is rich and film-like, with vivid colours and a ton of detail, as you’d expect. Some shots remain soft but seem an accurate representation of the source material. There doesn’t appear to be a hint untoward digital tampering here.
From the liner notes:
- “Approved by director Nicolas Roeg and producer Jeremy Thomas, this new digital transfer was created on a Spirit 4K in 2K resolution from a 35mm interpositive, at Midnight Transfer, London. 2K color correction was done using Assimilate’s Scratch system, and dirt and scratches were removed using the PFClean system, at Cinelmage, London. This corrected data was output to high-definition tape at On Sight, London. Additional instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using MTI’s DRS system.“
Audio is presented in lossless mono and is clean and clear, while limited to the nature of the source. It would be nice to hear Stanley Myers and Hans Zimmer‘s music on a larger, more dynamic stage but nevermind. This is a faithful soundtrack.
From the liner notes:
- “Presented in its original monaural format, the soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35mm magnetic track at Sync Sound Audio, London. Additional restoration was done by Criterion, where clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.“
The two interviews, which collectively clock in at around half an hour, are the stand-out special features on the disc. Roeg and producer Jeremy Thomas deliver a relevant and informative 13-minutes of discussion on the film and its adaptation while editor Tony Lawson talks craft in his 16-minute sit-down. There’s a 15-minute ‘Making-of’ short by Duncan Ward, Nico Roeg Jr. (who I can only imagine is the director’s son) and Tom Ward, a trailer and a 24-page illustrated booklet with an essay by Chuck Stephens and more discussion between between Roeg and Thomas.
Special Features:
- Newly restored digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Nicolas Roeg and producer Jeremy Thomas with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New video interviews with Roeg, Thomas, and editor Tony Lawson
- Making “Insignificance,” a short documentary shot on the set of the film
- Original theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Chuck Stephens and a reprinted exchange between Roeg and screenwriter Terry Johnson
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