Director: Miroslav Slaboshpitsky
MPAA Rating: NR
Run Time: 126 Minutes
Purchase: Amazon
Miroslav Slaboshpitsky’s The Tribe was one of my absolute favorite films of last year and one that stuck with me long after I left the theater, so naturally I was excited when one of my favorite distributors, Drafthouse Films, picked it up for release, knowing that they would do right by this unique emotional experience.
If you’re unfamiliar with the film, the narrative in The Tribe is told entirely through sign language, with no translations or subtitles. It relies purely on the actions and emotions of the actors to accurately convey what’s happening in the story and it does so to great effect.
The Tribe is now out on Blu-ray, and if you haven’t checked this one out yet, I would highly recommend picking this one up. Because I already reviewed the film itself (which you can check out here) this will be more of a product review of the Blu-ray itself and why this movie is worth your hard-earned cash. Full disclosure, this product was given to me for free for the purposes of this review, but honestly I would have picked it up anyway because I was such a big fan of the film.
Like all of Drafthouse Films’ releases, The Tribe comes with a reversible cover that I immediately flipped around, which reveals the awesome Mondo version of the poster created by Alan Hynes. Here’s a look:
Also included in the packaging is a fantastic booklet featuring behind-the-scenes stills, a statement and interview from the director, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, and an excerpt from the script. One of the most intriguing things about The Tribe is learning more about how this film was crafted and the backstory behind some of the scenes that I yearned to know more about the first time I watched.
This excerpt in conjunction with the full commentary, featuring the director and film critic Devin Faraci, provided some great insight into how this dark and, at times, visually stunning film was made. The commentary is chock full of interesting tidbits and anecdotes on the making of the film, and it’s one of the few film commentaries I actually voluntarily listened to.
Like all Drafthouse releases, the disc is region free, has some awesome-looking menus, and contains a DRM-free digital copy of the movie for watching on the go. The transfer is gorgeous and although watching this film at home didn’t have quite the same impact as experiencing it in the theater, the silence did prove to be slightly less awkward; my theater experience consisted of me trying to remain completely still for the film’s duration, due to how quiet it was without audible dialogue.
Also included on the Blu-ray is the 2010 short film Deafness from Slaboshpitsky, which clearly sets the tone for what will become The Tribe. That short, in and of itself, is great, and if I saw that six years ago, I would have been demanding he turn it into a feature; fortunately, he sort of did.
Rounding out the disc is an interview with the film’s lead actress, Yana Novikova, who gives more insight into the making of the film and the always-welcome set of trailers. All in all, this is a well-rounded set of bonus content with the only thing missing being a behind-the-scenes video featurette, but my suspicion is they simply didn’t make one or else it would have been included.
I love The Tribe, and this is a proper Blu-ray release for one of the best and most underrated films of last year. Again, if you haven’t given this one a look yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up on Blu.
