457 Magnificent Obsession

[FrauBlucher]

Bluray.com

[tenia]

So I guess even Magnificent Obsession is foster for Svet's life ramblings.

[Gregory]

Ugh, why did I read that?

[Lowry_Sam]

So, how does the PQ hold up? I’m curious.

Not very good. I bought it in the sale without checking anything first because I was just so glad to see another Sirk on blu. I dont have anything to compare it to, but after popping it in it didnt look much better than dvd, then noticed the "high definition transfer" comment on the cover & came here to see if anyone else had complained. I don't doubt that it probably originally looked soft, but with as long as its been, I really could have waited more for a proper restoration& 4k transfer, because I also dont doubt that it can be significantly improved on.

[M Sanderson]

Thanks for the update. A shame that Criterion are doing these mediocre upgrades. This would be the only “issue” I have with Indicator, that some of the titles in Sony’s catalogue haven’t (and not all can) received the restoration work they deserve.

[therewillbeblus]

I always thought this was minor Sirk, and after a rewatch I’m still very mixed on it, but found new merit even if it's poorly executed for my tastes. On the one hand, this may be Sirk’s most interesting film from purely an idea standpoint, presenting a philosophy that true redemption is not possible, but rehabilitation is. By acknowledging this impossibility of redeeming oneself based on past actions, Sirk focuses on turning towards the future, and proposes that an acceptance of responsibility and a charge to rehabilitate oneself towards consistent altruism and positive social regard can get as close to personal betterment as is possible, when evening the playing field goes off the table. It’s a very spiritual idea and one that recovery programs are built around, but a difficult idea all the same, one that requires a true helpless surrender in relinquishing hope for futile redemption to fully grasp this kind of peace.

Unfortunately I don’t think Sirk details the film with humility to support the humble nature of the concept. The plotting and characterizations are so exaggerated that there’s a paradoxical self-importance in this sappy dramatization that kills much of the power that the underlying themes put forth. There are a few great moments but they’re often between the loud hammy exchanges and it’s too bad, because you can sense a modesty there that’s still intensely dramatic in its own delicate way, and that’s a path Sirk can and has taken and with skill when he himself surrenders his obsessions to create something magnificent.

[Drucker]

Well first of all, I just re-read this whole thread after a re-watch last night, and this thread is an A-tier Criterionforum thread, especially with the gaps now present from David Hare's post's deletions.

This was the first Sirk film that I enjoyed, and I remember upon my first watch feeling that it seemed like sort of a dumb film but I liked it? And it moved me enough to give All That Heaven Allows another chance, and Sirk really grew on me. I feel the even more certain of my feelings in the film than I felt over ten years ago. It is an absolutely ridiculous film but I found it to be sublime. Something that struck me this time that I hadn't noticed before was that it actually kind of seems like Sirk doesn't like Hudson in the beginning of the film, and I found that to be a real strength. The film spends a good amount of time traveling with Hudson as he sinks to emotional lows after committing his original sin. Similarly, I found the miracle of the third act to actually be really effective, maybe I think in part because this first part of the film actually feels decently grounded in reality, that there's a real pay-off and feeling like Hudson had paid his dues by the time he is redeemed.

[HinkyDinkyTruesmith]

The most marvelous thing about the film, aside from Sirk's superbly elegant direction, is the way that the religious crockery doubles as a thesis about melodrama: you simply have to give yourself over to it and allow it to work on you. Being moved by a silly melodrama is in its own way an act of faith (poetic faith).

[Noiretirc]

I have the old 2DVD. Am I the only one here who loves the '35 Stahl and cringes at the '54 Sirk?

[The Curious Sofa]

Sirk pushes the eye-popping Techinicolor melodrama and gonzo spirituality to such extremes, that it almost ends up as a piece of proto-Lynch surrealism. With the follow up All That Heaven Allows he managed to apply this approach to a more grounded plot and conflict. Of all his films, Magnificent Obsession is the most gorgeous looking and as a visual experience, I enjoy it on the same level as Argento's Suspiria or Inferno.