CITY OF HOPE (1991)
Blu-ray
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 129 Minutes 53 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: John Sayles
Cast: Vincent Spano, Tony Lo Bianco, Joe Morton, Todd Graff, David Strathairn, Anthony John Denison, Barbara Williams, Angela Bassett, Gloria Foster, Lawrence Tierney
John Sayles' sprawling examination of urban decay, greed and corruption City of Hope (1991) takes place in a mid-sized American city somewhere in New Jersey, featuring a terrific ensemble cast that features an interweaving narrative of the people who lives there, which at first brought to mind Richard Linklater's Austin-centric oddity Slacker, only not as freewheeling, but the way we are initially introduced to characters, following one or more then being passed off to another set of characters certainly brought Slacker to mind. At the heart of the story is an old dilapidated apartment that stands in the way of an urban renewal development. Its owner, Joe Rinaldi (Tony Lo Bianco, God Told Me To), a corrupt developer, feels pressure to torch the apartments to allow for the new development, backed by the equally crooked Mayor Baci (Louis Zorich, The Don is Dead) and high-ranking cop O'Brien (Kevin Tighe, Roadhouse). Joe's estranged son, Nick (Vincent Spano, Over the Edge), a drug addict and degenerate gambler, who becomes a pawn in the power politics of the city by virtue of a botched robbery he accompanies his low-life pals Bobby (Jace Alexander, Eight Men Out) and Zip on, which is set-up my garage owner/small time local hood Carl (director John Sayles), which gives an opening to the politicians to apply additional pressures on Joe to torch the building in order to save his wayward son from prosecution, having already lost one son years ago. There's also an idealistic city councilman Wynn (Joe Morton, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) finds himself torn between what he thinks is right, and what his Black constituents want, in the wake of two black teens accused of assaulting a white professor while he's out jogging, the teens in turn accusing him of being a pedophile.
We have a buddling love interest for Nick by way of divorcee Angela (Barbara Williams, Watchers), the ex of a corrupt and violent beat-cop named Rizzo (Anthony Denison, Waitress!), Gina Gershon (Bound) shows up as Nick's siter, we get a strong complement of black community members by way of Gloria Foster (The Matrix) as the teen grandma, Angela Bassett (TV's American Horror Story) as Wynn's devoted wife, Frankie Faison (Silence of the Lambs) and Tom Wright (Creepshow 2) as stand-ins for the black power movement in the neighborhood, both of whom often chastise Wynn for his political ambitions. We also get Chris Cooper (Lone Star) making an appearance as well as Sayles regular David Strathairn (Dolores Claiborne) as a mentally-ill homeless man who wanders the streets repeating ad copy from tv commercials and what he hears around down, he's the last face we see in the film, and it's haunting turn during a moment of tragedy that lingered on my mind long after the credits rolled.
There are so many characters here, about three dozen all told, but the threads are woven quite expertly by Sayles, and driven by top-notch performances across the board, an impeccable ensemble drama that does excellent work depicting the rampant greed, corruption and interconnectedness of local municipalities, from the crooks to the crooked politicians, on down the line through corrupt cops, delinquent teens, and everyday schmoes. It's nihilistic in a way but it's also fraught with brief glimpses of hope, of our better angels, but also of a rigged political and class system that no one seems to be able to escape, it's terrific urban drama from a master American filmmaker.
It's been great to see more of Sayles flicks getting recent Blu-ray releases, with not only this but MGM issuing the historical baseball scandal-drama Eight Men Out (1988) and Criterion issuing Lone Star, which is far and away my favorite of Sayes flicks, on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.
Audio/Video: John Sayles' City of Hope (1991) makes it's not only worldwide debut on Blu-ray, but first physical media release since VHS from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, presented in 1080p HD framed in 2.39:1 widescreen. The flick looks terrific in HD, the source looks wonderful with nary a blemish and the grain is tight and well-managed. Colors look terrific, blacks are solid, and the cinematography by Robert Richardson (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) looks ace. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles, the track is clean and well-balanced, the cityscape sounds terrific, lots if urban noise and commotion, dialogue is crisp and clean, there are no issues with distortion or source-related issues.
The sole extra is an Audio Commentary by Filmmaker John Sayles which is also terrific, his tracks are always deep-vicing and informative mini film schools, I only sampled the track a few times, but look forward to a dedicated viewing with the commentary in the near future.
The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original one-sheet movie poster artwork, which I recall from watching this at either Cinemapolis or Fall Creek Pictures in Ithaca, NY as a teen when I was first really getting into indie, foreign and arthouse flicks, kudos to Sony for bringing it to Blu-ray for a much needed revisit!
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Filmmaker John Sayles
Screenshots from the Sony Blu-ray:
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Amazon
Moviezyng - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
Physical Media Land - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!
