Review: Tideland
Blu-ray: Tideland (2005)
Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland) is a young girl living in squalor with her drug addicted parents. When her mother (Jennifer Tilly) passes away due to an overdose, her father (Jeff Bridges) takes her to a dilapidated remote Texas house where her Grandmother lives. It is at this house where her strange journey takes many unexpected and fantastical twists, ranging from the amusing to the macabre, with each one drawing you deeper into the metaphysical rabbit hole through which Jeliza-Rose is travelling.
You don’t just watch a Terry Gilliam film, you experience it. Tideland is no exception to this. With its abundant use of dutch angles and swooping camera moves, the viewer is at times shown the proceedings as though through the eyes of an etherial being watching over everything…Jeliza-Rose’s mother perhaps?
To give away any more of the narrative would be to dispel the wonder, shock, and often, the repulsion, of what transpires as Jeliza-Rose uses the disembodied heads of her dolls as her friends and confidants. Each one of them narrated in their own particular style by Jodelle Ferland who gives an incredible performance, eliciting empathy from you as she is drawn into an ever darker world.
Touching on some hard-hitting topics such as necrophilia, incest, drug addiction and cannibalism, Tideland may well at first glance seem like a depressing experience. Yet it is with the magical touch of Terry Gilliam that even the most downbeat of scenes always has a lighter edge to it that at minimum raises a smile.
Set aside 2 hours (that’s without even touching the superb extensive special features) and prepare yourself for a cinematic experience that will resonate with you long after the latest big budget tent-pole release has drifted from your mind.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Commentary by writer-director Terry Gilliam and co-writer Tony Grisoni
- Introduction by director Terry Gilliam
- Getting Gilliam, a 45-minute documentary on the making of Tideland by Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice)
- The Making of Tideland featurette
- Filming Green Screen featurette with commentary by Gilliam
- Interviews with Terry Gilliam, producer Jeremy Thomas and actors Jeff Bridges, Jodelle Ferland and Jennifer Tilly
- Deleted scenes with commentary by Gilliam
- B-roll footage
- Gallery
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring two choices of original artwork
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Neil Mitchell
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Review by Dave (host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Arrow Films.
