From the controversial novella by Honoré de Balzac comes the story of a young army officer who finds himself stranded in the Sahara desert. Left to his own devices, Augustin Robert (Ben Daniels, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Crown) would surely die…but after stumbling upon mysterious ruins housing a wild leopard, the man and beast form an inextricable bond. The mysteries of Egypt unfold in this mystical and lyrical journey that explores the link between man and beast, an exotic and lustrous experience you’ll never forget.
For thoughts on Passion In The Desert, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
Kino Classics presents Passion In The Desert with a pretty strong upgrade in the form of a new 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that is not noted as being sourced from a new master, but it looks good overall despite the fact that it could use some work. There are the odd moments where certain shots, presumably opticals, take a swift downturn in quality, but overall this is a consistently pleasant transfer. The film does present some instances with damage and dirt, plus some recurring fluctuations in density. The overall color palette of the film seems slightly muted, but I am not familiar enough with the title to know if this is inherent to the production or not. Despite this, the transfer features some vibrant colors within the locations that are striking with good saturation.
Skin tones look a bit pale, and the presentation offers up some fairly deep black levels that only begin to crush a bit in the darkest moments. There is a noticeable uptick in fine detail that should please fans of the film, even if some shots look more sharp than others. Luckily, there does not appear to have been any digital manipulation of the source. The transfer provides nice, natural film grain absent of any compression artifacts or other such digital anomalies. While a fresh scan would be preferable, Kino Classics has given this one a significant upgrade from standard definition.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a fine DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that represents the film pretty well throughout. The sparse amount of dialogue and background noises are represented in pleasing harmony with all competing elements. All of the sound effects and music appear to be faithful to the original sound. This disc maintains a capable sense of fidelity that is appreciated during the more active moments. Fans will notice the vibrancy and clarity of the soundtrack when certain moments are aided with music. Despite the strength of this score, nothing ever overpowers the dialogue or other pertinent information. This track shows no overwhelming instances of age related wear and tear such as hissing or popping. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.
Special Features
- Trailers: There is a three-minute trailer provided for Passion In The Desert. There is also a trailer provided for OKA!
Final Thoughts
Passion In The Desert is a film that is easy to dismiss when you only hear the premise, but if you actually spend some time with it you are greeted to something quite moving and poetic. The performance from Ben Daniels is quite fearless as he sheds all vanity to become a physical presence on screen in a way that would make many performers uncomfortable. There is not a lot of action to the story, but the emotional transcendence that is achieved makes this one worth a viewing if you are at least slightly interested in meditative narratives. Kino Classics has provided a new Blu-Ray featuring a pretty decent A/V presentation and next to nothing in the way of special features. Recommended
Passion In The Desert 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: 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.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.