Long Walk, The (Blu-ray Review)
- Review Date: Apr 15, 2022
- Format: Blu-ray Disc
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Director
Mattie DoRelease Date(s)
2019 (April 26, 2022)Studio(s)
Yellow Veil Pictures/Vinegar Syndrome- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A-
- Audio Grade: A-
- Extras Grade: B+
Review
When it comes to making films about time travel, the most obvious option is to make an overtly science fiction-oriented premise, often mixed with comedy or action, for it to really sell. But off the beaten path is a film like The Long Walk, a 2019 Laotian film that uses none of those characteristics to tell a time traveling fable of sorts. It’s a genre-less tale that relies heavily on story and character, much more so than the logic of how everything works. We’re never given a concrete answer as to how and why it happens because we’re so focused on the outcome of the characters that, ultimately, it doesn’t matter. This is one of the reasons that The Long Walk is so special. In spite of not dealing with it directly, it’s one of the best time travel films ever made.
The premise is that a lonely man living in a poor section of Lao is seeing ghosts, particularly because he’s taking it upon himself to end the suffering of those with terminal illnesses, making him a Kevorkian type of character—doing what he feels is right despite the moral ambiguities. As such, many of the people around him whisper that he has the ability to speak to the dead—even the local police go to him occasionally for help, which he refuses. Meanwhile, he’s being followed by the spirit of a young girl who doesn’t speak. They take walks together and she follows him into different situations, and has done so since he was a small boy under the care of his sick mother and abusive father. Because of this connection between them, he can step through time, going back to try and help his young self and his mother, which winds up directly affecting the present.
The Long Walk is meticulously well-shot and acted, but its best attribute is that it doesn’t fit snugly into any one box. It’s a ghost story, a family drama, a personal journey, a horror film, a science fiction film, and many other things. It tells a compelling account of a character who is not angelic, but whose motivations you can empathize, perhaps even sympathize with. After all, who wouldn’t want to go back in time and help their younger selves during particularly difficult times in their young lives? It’s wish fulfillment, to be sure. It also moves slowly, perhaps a tad too slow, but with a sure-handed director at the wheel (Mattie Do, whose previous films include Chanthaly and Dearest Sister). Regardless of the outcome, the journey of The Long Walk is worth the taking, revealing truths about who we are and what we could become based solely on our upbringing and how we deal with it as adults.
The Long Walk was captured digitally by director of photography Matthew Macar. Yellow Veil Pictures brings the film to Blu-ray and it’s a solid presentation. Because of the nature of digital, images are a bit on the flat side. Plenty of depth has been built in and the shots are beautifully composed, but there’s a sterile nature to the photography that doesn’t entirely serve the film that well. Everything is crisp and sharp, as one might expect, and the color palette offers a nice range of hues, particularly gradations of blue and green, and natural flesh tones. Blacks are deep with good contrast and the image is stable.
Audio is offered in Laotian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 Dolby Digital. Optional subtitles are included in English and French, as well as English subtitles for one of the audio commentaries, though the English track is selected automatically when viewing the film. In the 5.1 track, dialogue exchanges are clear and precise and there’s good separation for subtle sound effects and ambient moments. It isn’t a track that’s constantly active, but it’s highly immersive.
The following extras are included, all in HD:
- Optional Introduction by Mattie Do (4:47)
- Audio Commentary with Mattie Do, Douangmany Soliphanh, and Tot Lina
- Audio Commentary with C. Robert Cargill and David Lawson, Jr.
- Mattie Do in Conversation with Alexandra Heller-Nicolas (52:31)
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Mattie Do:
- Tea (3:05)
- School (1:56)
- We Did Our Best (:56)
- Burger (1:16)
- Theatrical Trailer (1:43)
The first audio commentary features director Mattie Do, producer Douangmany Soliphanh, and actress Vilouna Phetmany (who identifies herself here as Tot Lina). It’s a relaxed, low-tech commentary as the three watch the film in Do’s living room, discussing many aspects of it as it goes along. It also comes with optional subtitles since all three speakers tend to go back and forth between English and Laotian. The second audio commentary features screenwriter and podcaster C. Robert Cargill and producer David Lawson, Jr., who are both fans of the film and speak highly of it while viewing it, highlighting many of its positive characteristics. The conversation between Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Mattie Do took place on October 31, 2020 via Zoom with a number of other participants present. It’s a casual Q&A of sorts with Heller-Nicolas steering the conversation between her and Do, with one other participant occasionally popping with questions of his own. Next are four deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by Mattie Do herself. Last is the theatrical trailer.
The disc sits inside a clear amaray case with an insert featuring one of the film’s posters on one side and the other poster on the reverse. Also included inside is a 16-page insert booklet featuring the essay Wandering Ghosts: Mattie Do’s The Long Walk by Shelagh Rowan-Legg, a recipe for the cocktail “The Long Sip”, and production credits.
The Long Walk is certainly going to be one of those films that film fans will discover over time, and thanks to Yellow Veil Pictures, there’s a nice Blu-ray of it available for them to find it. If you’re a fan of cinema that’s dark, deeply affecting, and doesn’t fit into normal parameters, The Long Walk is worth your time. Highly recommended.
- Tim Salmons
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