Available in the U.S. for the first time, Patricia Rozema’s sophomore follow-up to I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing follows Norman (Maurice Godin), an aspiring writer with writer’s block, who peeps on his neighbors. When he witnesses the murder of famous singer Madeline X (Margot Kidder), he attends her memorial and encounters a woman connected to her (Kate Nelligan). He follows her home and discovers her nightly visits to a secret room. Set in Toronto of the ‘90s, this twisted urban fairy tale, as much about the consequences of naive romanticism as our uniquely modern obsession with celebrity, has two endings – one tragic, one euphoric, both essential.
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Video Quality
White Room debuts on Blu-Ray courtesy of Kino Classics with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that is derived from a brand new 4K restoration made possible by Telefilm Canada. The film is over 30 years old and is only now being seen in the U.S. thanks to this release, and the results are stellar. The rich natural film grain is present throughout as so much texture is brought to the forefront of the frame. Viewers can delight in the textures on clothing and within the environments and production design. The picture has a soft, somewhat dreamy quality in a handful of sequences, but this is a creative choice rather than a deficit. Image stability and delineation is very strong, and the natural film grain of the presentation is refined rather than a clumpy or frozen mess.
Colors are saturated faithfully with the natural hues coming through in a lovely way. Black levels hold up mostly well with no egregious instances of crush or banding that we observed. Highlights verge on becoming overly hot in a handful of instances, but they never really bloom. Skin tones are natural and consistent with subtle features easily noticeable in closeup. Instances of print damage such as nicks and scratches have all been tidied up immensely with overall clarity and detail looking in top form. This is a first-rate presentation for a film that has been MIA for far too long. It is a treat to have Patricia Rozema’s films finally treated with the respect they deserve.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with an effective DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio track that brings this one to life effectively. With the narrative focused on the mystery around a musician, it is important to have these musical moments resonate. Every tune comes through with capable fidelity that never sounds weak. This element plays well with parallel sounds, never overpowering the dialogue or other important information. Dialogue and background noises stand firm with all competing elements.
This disc maintains an admirable sense of fidelity. This track shows no 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. Kino Classic has done well with this audio track. Optional English (SDH) and French subtitles are included for the feature film. There is also an optional French DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track provided.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Director Patricia Rozema provides a very thoughtful and informative commentary track in which she broadly discusses the making of this film, the themes she wanted to explore, the distinct framing of certain shots, her inspirations for certain aspects of the narrative, the characteristics of the performers and more.
- Archival Interview with Patricia Rozema: A five-minute piece in which the director discusses why she chose to make a film, working with the performers, some of the broad themes, and more.
- Behind-The-Scenes Image Gallery (1:35)
- This Might Be Good (2000, short film by Patricia Rozema): A seven-minute piece starring Sarah Polley that takes place at a film festival.
- Trailers: The minute-and-a-half-long trailer is provided for White Room. There are also trailers provided for Mouthpiece and When Night Is Falling.
Final Thoughts
White Room is an intriguing follow-up from director Patricia Rozema that finds the filmmaker exploring deeper themes through a genre lens. In many ways, this is a forebear to much of what we see on the indie scene today, and this remains as relevant now as it was when it was released. The style brought to this picture is complemented by strong performances, especially that of Kate Nelligan. This is sure to be a fun discovery for many. Kino Classics has released a new Blu-Ray with an amazing A/V presentation and a rewarding selection of special features. Recommended
White Room 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.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
