Review of Nora

Introduction

`Nora` is one of those films that comes along every once in a while, it`s low key, has a limited Cinema run, scoots off with some awards and leaves most people undecided if they actually liked it.

Based on a true story of the turn of the century novelist James Joyce`s relationship with Nora Barnacle the film cleverly chooses to focus on a period in there lives around to turn of the 20th century rather then being a `till death do us part` portrait of there lives.

The film failed to find favour with many fans of Joyce`s work (and reviewers) due to it focusing on Nora and her turbulent relationship with Joyce rather then directly on Joyce.

Video

The film contains some lovely visuals and the acting by Ewan McGregor (Joyce) and Susan Lynch (Nora) is first class (even if McGregor does come across as slightly to young and dashing for Joyce) and the quality of the transfer to DVD is pretty good considering the films budget.

It`s let down however by being a non-anamorphic transfer so you do loose a good amount of focus and detail when it`s blown up to fill a Widescreen set. That said the transfer is better then some poor anamorphic transfers I have seen.

Audio

Again the audio is the bare minimum they can get away with being a Dolby Stereo affair, however considering the budget and nature of the film this is satisfactory and is clear and crisp.

Features

There are a scattering of badly edited interview snips (mildly interesting) and a trailer and that`s your lot.
It might have been nice to see a little more about Joyce`s live in the extras.

Conclusion

The DVD is quite poor technically but still somehow comes across as well presented and tidy, maybe it`s the heavy use of calming orange all over the cover ;-).

The film is one of those films that wont even appeal unless you know something of the subject matter (i.e. have actually read Joyce) however if you get to see the film you realise that reading Joyce is not a pre-requisite.

I personally found myself quite captivated by the film and watched it twice to put this review together (no small feat for a film I keep putting off reviewing) however the film is not perfect and not for everyone.

If you have an interest in Joyce`s work or nice independent films then I can recommend this as worth a watch.