|
|
|
This Property is Condemned: Imprint Collection #433
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Via Vision Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (5th October 2025). |
|
The Film
 Sydney Pollack’s "This Property Is Condemned" (1966) stands as a lush yet conflicted piece of Southern melodrama, a film that vibrates with atmosphere but struggles to reconcile its theatrical roots with cinematic realism. Adapted from Tennessee Williams’ one-act play, the story unfolds in a decaying fictional Mississippi town during the Great Depression, where the arrival of a railroad official, Owen Legate (Robert Redford), upends the fragile dreams of a young woman, Alva Starr (Natalie Wood). Beneath its romantic veneer lies a quiet despair—a sense that both the characters and the town itself are relics of a bygone promise, condemned not just by economics but by longing. Pollack’s direction, still early in his career, shows both ambition and uncertainty. The film captures the sweat and sensuality characteristic of Williams’ world—the faded grandeur of the American South, populated by desperate souls clinging to illusion. Yet Pollack’s polished Hollywood touch occasionally works against the material’s rawness. Where Williams’ plays thrive on claustrophobic tension, Pollack expands the story into a more traditional romantic tragedy, softening its edges and leaving some of the emotional stakes underdeveloped. Still, his collaboration with cinematographer James Wong Howe yields visual poetry: sunlight filtered through dusty windows, overgrown train tracks cutting through forgotten streets, and a color palette that mirrors Alva’s doomed romanticism. Natalie Wood gives one of her most expressive performances here, balancing coquettish charm with aching vulnerability. Her Alva is a woman defined by stories—stories told about her, and stories she tells herself to survive. Wood embodies this with a mix of fragility and bravado, creating a tragic figure whose yearning for escape feels painfully authentic. Robert Redford, by contrast, and in one of his earliest roles, plays Owen with a restraint that borders on detachment; his moral clarity and stoicism make him an outsider not just in the town, but in the film’s emotional rhythm. Their chemistry flickers rather than burns, emphasizing the distance between dream and reality that Pollack seems intent on exploring. The supporting cast—particularly Kate Reid as Alva’s domineering mother—grounds the story in a world of faded respectability and manipulation. Reid’s performance adds a layer of bitterness and survival instinct that enriches the otherwise romantic narrative. Yet the script, co-written by Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Coe, and Edith Sommer, often feels caught between Williams’ poetic despair and the studio’s desire for a marketable love story. What emerges is a film that feels both sincere and constrained—an adaptation that mourns what it cannot fully express. Ultimately, "This Property Is Condemned" is less successful as an adaptation than as an emotional tone poem. It’s a film about decay—of a town, of a family, of a dream—and Pollack captures that sense of slow erosion with an elegiac beauty. While it lacks the bite and daring of Williams’ best screen translations, it remains a fascinating early work from Pollack, marked by visual grace and an undercurrent of melancholy that hints at the more mature dramas he would later perfect. In its unevenness lies its charm: a portrait of yearning dressed up as a romance, condemned perhaps by its compromises, but redeemed by its sincerity.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.78:1 HD 1080p 24/fps and mastered with AVC MPEG-4 compression. The film looks pretty solid, with accurate color reproduction, natural looking skin tones, and bold black levels. The moody photography comes across exceptionally well and overall the print is clean and free from any imperfections.
Audio
A single audio track is included in English LPCM 2.0 mono mixed at 48kHz, 2304Kbps, 24-bit. Dialogue is clean and clear, the film's subtle sound mix is well presented despite the lack of overall depth you get with a mono track. Optional subtitles are included in English for thje hearing impaired.
Extras
Imprint has released the film with a decent collection of supplements that include: A feature-length audio commentary by film historian Gillian Wallace Horvat, newly recorded for this release, Horvat takes us through the production process from the development of the play to the eventual sale to a studio, she takes us through an extensive process of making the film and shares a lot of production information. "Personal Investment: Sydney Pollack on American Cinema and 40 Years in Hollywood" is a featurette (43:06) which uses a vintage interview of the director talking about the film, the creative process, and on working with a collection of wonderful actors. "The Times of Natalie Wood: An Appreciation by Gavin Lambert" featurette using a vintage interview (31:29), this takes a detailed look at Wood's career and her impact on cinema. "Natalie Wood: A Tribute by Peter Bogdanovitch" is a featurette using a vintage interview (19:25), in this clip Bogdanovitch explores his interactions with Wood and on the conspiracies surrounding her death among other things.
Packaging
Packaged in a keep case housed in a cardboard slip-case, this edition is limited to 1500 copies world-wide.
Overall
|
|||||
|