The Sea of Trees - Blu-ray

Film: Arthur Brennan (Matthew McConaughey) has made a decision: He doesn't want to live anymore. He travels to Japan specifically to die a suicide in the Aokigahara forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. Just like many others before him, which has given this area the name Suicide Forest. Just as he begins to swallow pills, he sees the wandering Takumi Nakamura (Ken Watanabe). He too was going to kill himself here, but ended up choosing life. But now he's lost and can't find his way out of the forest. Arthur can't help but help the desperate man. Together they search for the way back - an almost impossible undertaking that makes Arthur see his past, but also his future, with different eyes.

The Sea of Trees is the second film in recent months to focus on the Aokigahara Forest. While The Forest went more down the creepy horror route, Gus Van Sant's new film is a quietly oppressive drama. When it premiered at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, the film was met with little enthusiasm. Reviews were mixed and festival audiences reportedly voiced their displeasure with loud boos. Admittedly, the production is a bit unwieldy. Especially at the beginning, Van Sant takes a long time to get the story rolling. And even later on, the story is told rather with the handbrake on.

The almost esoteric self-discovery story of a broken man finding his way back to life in the face of death may also not suit the broad mass taste. But even if all that may be true, The Sea of Trees is far from being a bad movie. The oppressive atmosphere that Van Sant builds up with his visual language alone makes the drama a particularly stirring work. Matthew McConaughey's restrained, thereby very strong acting also contributes to the fact that one is touched by Arthur's fate - even if the story walks on very well-trodden paths.

Those who like quiet, intriguingly filmed and well-acted dramas and tend to appreciate the smaller arthouse works of Gus Van Sant will also recognize the strengths of The Sea of Trees. You have to engage with the story and its very slow narrative flow, no question. But if you succeed in doing so, you will certainly not understand why this film was so badly received at Cannes. From me there is a much more conciliatory conclusion: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The oppressively morbid atmosphere of the film comes through the atmospheric color scheme very well. The image sharpness is overall on a good level and in some moments a pleasant image depth is also detectable. The sound is overall - like the production itself - very restrained, but seems very appropriate to the story. Therefore, the bottom line is also for the audiovisual implementation a satisfied: good!

Extras: As a bonus, the disc has, in addition to the trailer, a short making of documentary (approx. 7:57 min.) offered, which, however, does not have a subtitle option and can therefore only be recommended for those viewers who are proficient in English.

Conclusion: The Sea of Trees is very low-key and downright ploddingly realized, especially in the first few minutes. However, those who can get into the narrative flow are guaranteed to be captivated by this emotionally poignant story, played with intensity by Matthew McConaughey in particular. It's a somewhat unwieldy, but also moving drama that's available on Blu-ray in atmospheric picture and sound quality. The bonus material is a little lean, but does little to change the overall conclusion: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp