I haven't seen it for a while, but thought I'd post my review of White of the Eye for those who, like Demdike, are interested in buying it.
White of the Eye
Although I've bought every title they've released, it's been quite a while since I reviewed an Arrow Video DVD or BD. Some of this has to do with the sheer quantity – and quality – of their releases, and some of it is due to a shortage of time because I've been at college. Anyway, this was something I was looking forward to because I hadn't seen it and because it was directed by Donald Cammell, whose Performance (co-directed with Nicolas Roeg) is a great film.
White of the Eye is based on the book Mrs. White by Lawrence and Andrew Klavan and follows sound engineer Paul White (David Keith), who is seemingly happily married to Joan (Cathy Moriarty) in Tucson, Arizona, with their daughter, Danielle. Paul has a special talent which, like an animal, enables him to emit a sound and sense in his nasal cavity exactly where the speakers in the room should be placed, making him very well paid by the wealthy people for whom he installs hi-fi systems. Meanwhile, there is a series of brutal murders – seemingly related – bring Paul to the attention of Detective Charles Mendoza.
In flashbacks, we see how Paul and Joan met, when she was involved with Mike DeSantos, but was drawn to Paul by his charisma. However, unbeknownst to her, an incident when Paul and Mike went hunting had a severe impact on Mike, scaring him away, even when he found Paul was sleeping with Joan and was in a position where he could have easily killed Paul, shooting a stereo system instead. Since then, Mike has been in prison where he suffered a severe head injury, which has blessed (or perhaps that should be cursed) him with a psychic ability.
Paul doesn't just have Detective Mendoza to worry about, as Joan suspects him of cheating on her but, as the tyres on Paul's truck match those found at the houses where several women have been killed, with a ritualistic element. Although there are 42 cars in the state with the same tyres, Mendoza seems to take a particular interest in Paul.
If you've seen Performance, you probably know Donald Cammell is not a conventional director due to his extremely stylish and abstracts direction. With close-ups of an eagle's face and scenes where the POV switches around, you'll likely be occasionally unsure as to exactly what Cammell was thinking about when he planned the shots. The opening follows a woman walking to her car with someone from the store following her carrying her shopping and staring at her legs, ensuring the camera has a 'male gaze', before she returns home and, in a scene which wouldn't be out of place in a giallo, is brutally killed in her kitchen.
White of the Eye is a film where the visuals are arguably more important than the dialogue, narrative and plot, as the different camera angles and tracking shots seem so carefully planned and executed that it's clear Cammell intended for this to be an immersive experience. Certainly, it's a film which benefits from repeated viewings and an understanding of film grammar as the more you know about the language film, the more you will take from this particular movie.
In the main performances, David Keith is amazing as Paul White, putting in an extremely intense performance which keeps you guessing as to whether he is a serial killer or being unfairly harassed by Art Evans' Detective Mendoza. As Joan, Cathy Moriarty, who is undoubtedly most famous for playing Vicki LaMotta in Raging Bull, shows what a shame it is that she didn't have a longer career. Overall, this is a beautifully constructed thriller by one of cinema's most underappreciated directors.
Extra Features
Arrow Video has built a reputation of releasing Blu-ray (and DVD) packages which are as much about the special features as the film, and this is no different, with a terrific selection of bonus material.
The Audio Commentary with Sam Umland, Donald Cammell's biographer is an authoritative track, packed with information and interesting readings of various scenes, shots and subtexts. It's the sort of commentary track which has clearly been painstakingly researched (at times, you can hear Umland shuffling his papers) by someone who really knows his stuff and makes you want to watch the film again straight away with all this new-found information.
The Ultimate Performance (1:13:23, HD) is a 1998 documentary by Kevin MacDonald and Chris Rodley, originally broadcast by the BBC on 17 May 1998, two years after Cammell's death. It features contributions from people including his brother, David, Edward Fox, Barbara Steele, Mick Jagger, Nic Roeg, China Cammell and archive footage of Donald Cammell. It's a very revealing, interesting and intimate portrait of the man and the filmmaker by those who knew him very well, and will probably be something I'll revisit sometime late.
The Argument (11:34, SD) was shot in the Utah desert by Vilmos Zsigmond and abandoned, before later being reconstructed by Frank Mazzola. It's beautifully filmed by Zsigmond and is a really abstract piece of filmmaking involving a director talking to the goddess Aisha.
The optional commentary by Sam Umland provides a great deal of background information about the film, the location, the characters and why Mazzola reassembled the footage. You should watch this at least twice, with and without the commentary.
Into the White (11:01, HD) is subtitled Filming White of the Eye and involves director of photography Larry McConkey talking about what Cammell was like during scouting and on the set, describing him as engaging, articulate and gentle, but also sneaky, manipulative and passive aggressive. He describes how he met Alan Jones, who introduced himself as the director of photography, which bemused McConkey, who realised it was Cammell's first attempt of many to introduce conflict on the set. He goes on to talk about pre-production, and how members of the crew were squeamish about the more explicitly violent aspects of the script, 'Partners', with China Cammell involved in the writing, 'Aesthetics' and how the look of the film developed over time, with the aspect he didn't like having to stay in because they didn't have the time or money for re-shoots. Going on to talk about watching the film 30 years later and his impressions of finished feature.
Deleted Scenes (5:21, SD) comprises several scenes featuring John Diehl's character which were cut by Cannon prior to release and have no audio. Again providing a commentary, Sam Umland talks through the scenes, explaining what's taking place in the scenes, why they were omitted and how they fit into the screenplay and final film.
Bleach Bypass Sequences (11:40, HD) shows the footage from the original 35mm interpositive elements before they underwent the 'bleach bypass' treatment, intentionally creating a grainy and high contrast look. It's perhaps a shame there isn't a 'before and after' element, or even a comparison with a sideswipe to show the effect of the bleach bypass process, but it's really interesting to look at these scenes in nearly the same condition as the rest of the film. The footage hasn't been remastered so, although the AVC is quite high, it isn't full high definition, unlike the restored film.
Alternate Credits (2:27, HD) have the credits featuring John Diehl, which is a different look to the credits on the film, but there's no explanation as to why they were changed.
The set comes with a booklet with writing from Brad Stevens and Sam Umland.
The Picture
Because of the bleaching, the picture quality is variable – intentionally so – so the flashback sequences look slightly degraded and are easy to differentiate from the 'current' events.
Generally, the image quality isn't as sharp or finely detailed as it could or should be, but I'm not exactly sure whether this is due to the quality of the material from which the HD masters were taken or the restoration process. That said, the picture still looks very good, giving realistic skin tones, bright and vibrant colours and a lovely colour balance which helps to showcase the location shooting in Arizona.
Donald Cammell's shooting style, with some rapid editing, including quick shots of a raven to give a different viewpoint on events, helps to increase tension and a sense of unease during the murder sequences but, conversely, slows the pace during more leisurely scenes.
The Sound
The only soundtrack is a LPCM 2.0 stereo English one, which is extremely clear, so the dialogue, atmospherics and music are all beautifully separated and defined.. The music, including Hot Chocolate's 'You Sexy Thing' and Mahler's 2nd Symphony works really well with the scored music by Rick Fenn and Nick Mason (of Pink Floyd fame) to accentuate the period setting for the flashback sequences and to underscore the emotions and tension within some sequences and scenes.
Should you want them, there are excellent English HoH subtitles available, which faithfully translate the dialogue, music and sounds into text without any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, other than those made by the characters.
Final Thoughts
I hadn't heard of this prior to the announcement that Arrow Video would be releasing it, so was really looking forward to watching the film and filling a gap in my viewing history. Thankfully, I wasn't at all disappointed, even though this doesn't live up to the great heights of something like Performance. As I said earlier, the central performances by David Keith and Cathy Moriarty are very good, but it's Cammell's direction which stays long in the mind, meaning I thought about the film and deconstructed it long after the end credits had finished.
It is yet another extremely impressive package from Arrow Video and one which is worth adding to your collection, whether the standard keep case or the steelbook (or both, depending on how much you like the different artwork and when you tend to buy both releases).
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