Charlotte is an animated drama that tells the true story of Charlotte Salomon (Keira Knightley, Pirates of the Caribbean), a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. But the world around her is changing quickly and dangerously, limiting her options and derailing her dream. When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she leaves Berlin for the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again, and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only the extraordinary will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

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[youtube https://youtu.be/vs6cPCYEE7M?t=1274]

Video Quality

Charlotte comes to Blu-Ray from Good Deed Entertainment with a striking transfer that looks quite excellent. Colors are bright and bold throughout the film with some excellent nuance from setting to setting due to the different atmospheres in each country. The story really knows how to thematically utilize various hues to underscore some of the emotions at play. This is an immaculately clear presentation free of any digital artifacts which is to be expected from a brand new movie. Fine lines and details are crisp and maintained well without any bleeding. There does not appear to be any issues with banding. Charlotte establishes a rich visual style and sharp presentation which looks great on Blu-Ray.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio track that both perfectly suit the source material with an immersive quality. This disc only comes with the English audio track featuring Keira Knightley providing the voice of Charlotte, and not a track with Marion Cotillard performing in French like is noted in the end credits. This film features a lovely score that comes through without fault and fills the room in a wonderful way that wraps you up in the emotions of this story. The surround sound presentation makes this world come alive with a painful immediacy. Dialogue is a focus right up front in the center channel as the talented performers inhabit these characters well. You really could not ask for better from this presentation. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

Deleted Scenes: Nearly five minutes of unused material is provided here including a sweet scene with young Charlotte and her mother, Charlotte meeting Mr. Wolfsohn’s fiancee, a love scene and more. Most of these are presented in animatic form and provided with temporary dialogue.

Julia Rosenberg On Why An Animated Film: A minute-long explanation as to why this feature needed to be animated as told by producer Julia Rosenberg.

The Animation Process: A two-minute piece with directors Eric Warin and Tahir Rana in which they take you step by step as to how the movie is created from animatics to what we eventually see in its finished form.

Keira Knightley On Charlotte Salomon: A minute-long interview with the actress in which she discusses learning about Salomon, why her story resonates so much, the quality of her paintings and more.

Hope And Inspiration: A two-minute conversation with various cast members in which they discuss some of the themes of the story and its continued power all of these decades later.

Trailers: The two-minute trailer for Charlotte is provided here. There are also trailers provided for Alaskan Nets, Loving Vincent, Ma Belle My Beauty and Moon Manor.

Final Thoughts

Charlotte is equal parts beautiful and heartbreaking as you learn about the life of this amazing artist who the world should know more fully. You have heard variations of this story from other tragic depictions of life around World War II, but using the medium of animation allows you to more fully examine Charlotte Salomon as a person with hopes and dreams rather than just a symbol of lost potential. Good Deed Entertainment and Kino Lorber have released a Blu-Ray featuring a dazzling A/V presentation and a few brief supplemental features. If you are in the market for a heart wrenching story told in a powerful manner, do not miss out on this one. Recommended

Charlotte is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Good Deed Entertainment & Kino Lorber have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.