"Miss Jean Louise. Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."

-      Reverend Sykes

CRITIQUE

In the annals of great years in cinematic excellence, it’s hard to believe 1962 doesn’t get mentioned on a more regular basis. Sure, we’ve all heard about 1939, and as far as recent ‘great’ years are concerned you can’t turn a corner without a cinephile extolling the virtues of 2007. But 1962, it for some reason tends to get forgotten, and I’m not entirely sure why that is.

Seriously, look at this list: Lawrence of Arabia, Lolita, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Longest Day, Dr. No, Harakiri, The Manchurian Candidate, Gypsy, Cape Fear, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Jules and Jim, The Birdman of Alcatraz, Vivre sa Vie, Mutiny on the Bounty, Sanjuro, Knife in the Water, Sweet Bird of Youth, Ride the High Country, Carnival of Souls, L’Eclisse, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Cleo from 5 to 7, Billy Budd, How the West was Won, the list goes on and on. It’s as sensational a lineup as any you could ever imagine, all of those films and more ones we talk about and treasure a full half-century later.

In many circles (and in numerous hearts, for that matter) Robert Mulligan’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, from a script by the magnificent Horton Foote, could very well be at the very top of that list. It is as timeless a marvel as any in the cinematic canon, and to consider it as anything less than a monumental masterpiece is fairly close to blasphemous.

I’m not particularly sure what ‘top ten’ I’d pull out of those films I mentioned in regards to 1962, not remotely positive what order I’d choose to put them in. What I do know is that To Kill a Mockingbird would be in the top five, that I could guarantee, and if I’m being completely honest it would probably be battling it out with Lawrence of Arabia and Jules and Jim for position number one.

Why? What film has ever dealt with growing up as delicately and as realistically as this? What motion picture has tackled the idea of race and racism in such an honest and subtly heartfelt manner? What piece of cinema has traveled through the American South with such winsome grace both honoring the people at its core while also offering up commentary on the society in which they live that doesn’t feel forced, false or didactically overpowering?

The total has to be monumentally tiny, To Kill a Mockingbird easily the best of the bunch. The film preaches without ever being preachy, offers insight without using schmaltz and smarm to make said insights stick, everything moving as if with the seasons, ever-changing and malleable to the point it washes over you like a fondly remembered memory. Everything builds to a point where truth is unavoidable, facing it equally so, all of it playing out in a way that is direct and to the point yet personal and intimately sincere.

Peck deserved to win the Best Actor Academy Award if only for his closing arguments during the trial of black man wrongly accused for raping and beating a white woman, his words every bit as powerful now as they were in 1962 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The authenticity dripping from his syllables is unavoidable, the effect they have on the viewer equally so, Peck delivering every word with a conviction and an authority that’s intimately profound.

But the movie is more than just this one scene, more than just this one subplot. Peck’s Atticus Finch is a father for the ages, and the way he cares for his two children, Jem (Phillip Alford) and narrator Scout (Mary Badham), and gives them the tools to grow up into adulthood always manages to move me beyond words. He knows when to be stern, knows when to show kindness and knows when restraint is the best medicine of all, Peck crafting a fully formed figure that’s as divine as it is immediately recognizable.

One could go into all of To Kill a Mockingbird and its numerous intricacies for days on end, talking about the cinematography, the performances, the music, the editing and the script for something akin to a generation. I’m not going to do that here. Instead, I’m just going to let the movie and its storied legacy speak for itself. This is a movie that has earned its lofty reputation and then some, and for my part it’s a cinematic treasure I could happily dive into at a moment’s notice with no hesitation whatsoever.

THE VIDEO

To Kill a Mockingbird is presented on a dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video with a 1.85:1/1080p transfer. Sensational, there just isn’t any other way to say it, this transfer of Universal’s treasured classic is one of the best the studio has ever brought forth to Blu-ray. They’ve taken a lot of heat in the past for many of their transfers, some of it warranted (Spartacus), some of it not so much (Psycho, Conan the Barbarian), but even those who accuse Universal of excessive DNR and other enhancement techniques will be blown away by their handling of this particular title. Truth be told, if they bring forth all of their classic 100 Anniversary titles to Blu-ray with this much love and care all former hatred for the studio will disappear, probably for good, Universal showcasing that they’re taking this centennial celebration beyond seriously.

THE AUDIO

To Kill a Mockingbird comes to Blu-ray in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 as well as English and French DTS 2.0 and includes optional English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles. Elmer Bernstein’s score has never sounded better, that’s an undisputable fact. Better than that, though, is the fact that even though Universal has supplied To Kill a Mockingbird with a new lossless 5.1 mix, they have kept the feel and the sound of the film glorious intact and much in the way director Robert Mulligan intended. Yes, this mix is very frontloaded, but did you really expect it not to be? This is an extraordinarily detailed and fine mix, and by and large the studio has truly done themselves proud.

THE EXTRAS

The majority of the extras (but not all) are ported over from previous DVD additions (meaning they are in SD) and include:

·         Audio Commentary with Director Robert Mulligan and Producer Alan Pakula

·         Fearful Symmetry (1:30:13)

·         A Conversation with Gregory Peck (1:37:37)

·         Academy Award Best Actor Acceptance Speech (1:31)

·         American Film Institute Life Achievement Award (10:01)

·         Excerpt from Tribute to Gregory Peck (10:09)

·         Scout Remembers (12:01)

·         Original Theatrical Trailer (2:57)

·         100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics (9:13)

Where to begin… Well, first up, the audio commentary with both Mulligan and Pakula, two of the dearly departed greats, if you ask me, is superb, both men offering up copious amounts of information about the film’s production and what it meant to their respective careers. It’s fantastic, and any fan owes it to themselves to give it a listen.

The quartet of Peck-centric features are equally wonderful, the highlight obviously being the feature-length A Conversation with Gregory Peck. But the other shorts, all excerpts of one form or another, are also quite great, my personal favorite being the actor’s short, sweet and absolutely perfect Best Actor acceptance speech. Also quite interesting is the relatively recent interview piece with actress Mary Badham, the actress’ memories of her time on the set and of playing Scout surprisingly fresh.

Finally, the only new addition to the set is the 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics featurette, and it’s so chock-full on interesting tidbits I was almost shocked it could deliver them all in under ten minutes. The best bits involve nuggets on grain that DNR-haters should definitely watch, while a segment looking at how technology now allows the almost seamless fixing of cuts, tears and splices that used to be unfathomable is pretty great itself. The disc also comes with a great U Control feature which offers Cecilia and Anthony Peck narrating different Picutre-in-Picture segments you can’t afford to miss.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If Universal delivers Blu-rays as stunning as this during their 2012 centennial celebration than all nasty and vindictive words I and many others have said about them in regards to their hi-def transfers will disappear into the ether. This release of To Kill a Mockingbird is, in a word, perfection, and I can’t urge the buying of it any less passionately.