THE MOVIE

When teenage friends Alice Marano (Claire Danes) and Darlene Davis (Kate Beckinsale) want a different and unforgettable holiday after finishing high school, they head to Thailand. Looking for a little luxury on their shoestring budget, they sneak into a 5-star hotel to lounge by the pool. As they are about to get into hot water from hotel management, friendly Aussie Nick Parks (Daniel Lapaine) spins a story to get the two out of trouble. So begins a three way romance.

Convinced by Nick to leave Bangkok for Hong Kong, the two girls are caught at Bangkok Airport with a large quantity of heroin. They are both sent to the Thai prison, lovingly referred to by inmates as Brokedown Palace. Through a tape made by Alice, mercenary expatriate American lawyer Henry Greene (Bill Pullman) - known to inmates as 'Yankee' Hank - and his Thai wife are drawn to the girls' plight. As Darlene's middle-class family works hard for her freedom, Alice's broken family struggles with the required retainer. The deeper 'Yankee' Hank digs, the more corruption he finds within the Thai government. Driven by more than just greed, Hank is determined to free the two girls, whose guilt is far from proven.

Brokedown Palace is the story of the relationship between two girls as they are put through probably one of the toughest trials: prison in a foreign land, where nobody speaks your language and the established customs are unknown to you. It's a story about justice and government though as much as it's about two silly teenage girls making poor decisions. It is an Americanised look at the reality of drug smuggling through South East Asia. While not as harrowing as a film like Midnight Express, it's remarkably visceral given it's M rating. It strongly reinforces the Western view of Asian prisons as an unjust and corruptible system while propagating the American values of a fair trial and due process.

Claire Danes is strong as Alice, a confident woman that grown independent through a tumultuous upbringing. In his role Bill Pullman displays why, other than a few dismal blips on his career radar, he is a capable and credible character actor. It is a very attractive film despite its subject matter, showing the duality of Thailand perfectly: the beauty and exotic mystery as well as the danger of drug culture and the brutality of the prison system. It's a dramatic piece of fiction that attempts to cover the serious issue of how absolute power corrupts absolutely that succeeds more than it fails.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

The video is rendered in Anamorphic Widescreen format preserving the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio of the film. There is little to rave or complain about in the transfer. The majority of the negatives come from a few blemishes on the print used for the transfer. Most of the film is shot in low light and even the bright and flashy city streets of Bangkok or the glimmering luxury pool of the Royal Hotel seem to lack a little sharpness and lustre. This helps give the film a somewhat grittier edge. The single-sided, single layered disc does not have a layer change.

Colour reproduction is a little under whelming but as such there is no bleeding. In fact, if anything, colour is a little less than as powerful as it could have been. The transfer does display good detail and depth of field in the abundant low light of the prison system. Overall, apart from the occasional dirt on the print, the transfer is satisfactory.

Audio:

The default (and only) audio track is a 384kbps English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Although the audio selection is limited to just this soundtrack, there are numerous foreign language subtitle tracks to benefit those for whom English is not the primary language. The lack of an English translation to the Thai dialogue helps add to the disorientation and confusion of the main characters. The soundtrack is filled with contemporary music, infused with David Newman's score. The haunting 'theme' Silence by Delirium (featuring the vocals of Sarah Mclachlan) will float around in your head through the movie, even though it only appears twice. The rest of the soundtrack includes the commercial-radio friendly Nelly Furtado and Leonardo's Bride as well as indie princess P.J. Harvey.

Though the highlights come from the music, the dialogue track is integrated well into the total soundscape. The American English is comprehensible and the Thai is clear, if not understandable by those that don't speak the language. The surround tracks are a little quiet for the most part, with music bringing them to life. The boxing match meeting (from 43.06 - 44.32) also gives them some exercise. Similarly, the subwoofer channel is mostly used by the music in the mix. On the whole, it is uneventful and heavily focused on the front soundstage for a 5.1 track, excused by the selection of both scored music and songs.

THE EXTRAS

The disc starts up to static and silent menus with pictures from the film. Given the limited amount of choice or extras on the disc, the menu makes no promises. The Cast and crew bios are limited filmographies cleverly presented on mock-up of passports. The only other extra is the Theatrical trailer. Presented in 1.85:1 Widescreen video and Dolby 2.0 sound, it is a good trailer that focuses on the plight of the girls. Like any good trailer, it doesn't go into the back-story and provides just enough plot to make the film look interesting. The lack of other extras, such as director commentary, doesn't disappoint here as much as other films in Region 4 (Universal's Big Lebowski for example).

SUMMARY

Brokedown Palace is a surprisingly tense film largely carried by the talents of Danes and Pullman. The spectacle of Bangkok is put on show by some robust visuals, and put on trial by a plot that chastises the justice system. The film plays with some good themes without going to in-depth for an audience wanting fiction.

On DVD it is adequate, if not outstanding. The visuals show off the positive and negative aspects of Asia with few causes for complaint. The soundtrack is largely front biased and fits the nature of this film like a glove. The lack of extras did not leave me wanting by any stretch. We miss out on the English Dolby Surround track of the equally featureless Region 1 disc, but get in its place the subtitle tracks. For PAL formatting alone this disc looks the better option.