‘I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing’ Blu-Ray Review – A Humorous And Poignant Slice Of Canadian Indie Cinema

This charming, whimsical story about a waifish daydreamer with artistic aspirations is structured around a video-recorded confession. In Patricia Rozema’s fanciful character study, aspiring photographer Polly (comedian Sheila McCarthy) lands a job at a Toronto art gallery run by Gabrielle (Paule Baillargeon), who is also a painter. Polly is impressed with Gabrielle’s paintings, but as Polly gets to know her lover Mary (Ann-Marie MacDonald) and becomes entangled in their lives, she realizes Gabrielle isn’t exactly who she appears to be. The gauche absent-minded temp with spiky orange hair and the polished, bourgeois curator with a gift for gab are like night and day, yet a strong connection builds between these two women through their shared love of art, and their genuine curiosity and appetite for love. Winner of the Prix de la Jeunesse at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.

For thoughts on I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:  

[youtube https://youtu.be/o54I9R54yQg?t=1004]

Video Quality

I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing debuts on Blu-Ray courtesy of Kino Classics with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1 that is derived from a brand new 4K restoration digitally restored by Library and Archives Canada, Cinematheque Quebecoise, The Cinematheque, and TIFF. This has long been a more under-the-radar film that mostly existed in dedicated cult film circles, and it is incredible to have this in high definition. The presentation thankfully maintains the natural film aesthetic throughout with image stability and delineation being very strong. This transfer maintains the natural film grain of the presentation that is often thick but with a refined look rather than a clumpy or frozen mess. 

This film oscillates between different filming styles depending on if Polly is filming her confessional or if we are seeing her out in the world in flashback. Colors are well saturated with the natural hues coming through in a lovely way. Skin tones are natural and consistent with subtle features such as makeup easily noticeable in closeup. Black levels hold up pretty well with no major instances of crush or banding that we observed. The picture can run slightly soft in a handful of sequences, but this is likely due to the nature of how it was originally captured. Instances of print damage such as nicks and scratches have all been cleaned up immensely with overall clarity and detail looking marvelous. There are still minor blemishes that have made it through the restoration gauntlet, but this is by far the best the film has looked. This is a deluxe presentation for a film that did not seem likely to ever receive such consideration. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a very stable DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this film really well. Dialogue and background noises are represented in harmony with all tertiary competing elements even with the mixture of different environments. This disc maintains a grand sense of fidelity that is appreciated. This track shows no discernible age related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. All of the sound effects and music appear to be faithful to the original intent. The music establishes a lovely atmosphere as it spreads through the room perfectly. Even with the strength of this element, nothing ever overpowers the dialogue or other important information. There are also optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. Kino Classic has delivered with this audio track. 

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Director Patricia Rozema provides a very thoughtful and informative commentary track in which she discusses the making of this film from her earliest ideas, her protectiveness of the main character, the distinct framing of certain shots, the deeper themes she wanted to explore, her inspirations for certain aspects of the narrative, the characteristics of the performers and more. 

• Short Films by Patricia Rozema

• • Passion – A Letter In 16mm (1985): A 28-minute short film which takes a video confessional style in which a filmmaker documents a letter to her lover in which she wrestles with the balance between personal success with romantic intimacy. 

• • Desperanto (Part of 1991 Anthology Film Montreal Vu Par…): A 21-minute short in which a young housewife from Toronto explores the Montreal nightlife. This one again finds Rozema teaming up with Sheila McCarthy. 

• • The Shape I Think (1995, written/performed by Rozema, part of 1996 anthology film Symposium: Ladder Of Love directed by Nik Sheehan): A seven-minute piece which takes the form of a storytelling piece which centers on the imaginary beginning of love. 

• Introduction by Director Patricia Rozema: A six-minute introduction from the Metrograph in NYC in which Rozema discusses the new restoration of the film, her background and how it relates to the film, what she brought to the screen as a young queer woman and more. 

• Q&A with Patricia Rozema: A nearly 31-minute piece once again at the Metrograph following a screening eventually moderated by artist Laurie Anderson in which the director discusses why she chose to make a film, developing a style within her career, her connection to the character and more. 

• A Cute, Acute Awareness – Video Essay by Daniel Kremer: A 16-minute video essay which takes a closer look at Canadian filmmaking, its struggle to thrive as an artform with its own identity, the characteristics on display in this film and more. 

• Trailers: The two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided for I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing. 

Final Thoughts

I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing is a really lovely character piece which packs so much care and vibrant personality into a compact runtime. Director Patricia Rozema broke many early conventions by providing a fully three-dimensional queer character who did not need to have her story defined by being queer. The film is often really fun and quite poignant with strong performances across the board, but especially from the luminous Sheila McCarthy. Kino Classics has helped rescue this one from obscurity with a new Blu-Ray with a terrific A/V presentation and a really expansive selection of special features. If you are in the market for a terrific slice of independent cinema, do not pass this by. Recommended 

I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray. 

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

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.