Big Little Lies (Blu-ray) (2017)

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General		Extras
Category	Crime Melodrama	Production Notes-Inside the Episode (Episode 1) (1.20) Production Notes-Inside the Episode (Episode 3) (0.59) Production Notes-Inside the Episode (Episode 4) (1.16) Production Notes-Inside the Episode (Episode 5) (0.45) Production Notes-Inside the Episode (Episode 6) (0.58) Production Notes-Inside the Episode (Episode 7) (1.05) Featurette-About Big Little Lies (7.25)
Rating
Year Of Production	2017
Running Time	371:16
RSDL / Flipper	No/No Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jean-Marc Vallée
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Reese Witherspoon Nicole Kidman Shailene Woodley Zoë Kravitz Laura Dern James Tupper Adam Scott Alexander Skarsgård Iain Armitage Darby Camp Cameron Crovetti Nicholas Crovetti Ivy George
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	Yes
Subtitles	English French Spanish Danish Finnish Norwegian Swedish	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Big Little Lies is a seven part mini-series adapted from a book of the same title written by Liane Moriarty. The script is fairly faithful to the book, although the setting was changed from the coast of Sydney to the coast of Monterey, California (a decision apparently made to give the series more ‘worldly’ appeal). The plot revolves around a group of parents who all have young children attending the same school. At the very onset there is a death of one of the parents although the identity is not given away. The series then rewinds to several months prior to the death and gradually works through the events and social interactions between the parents leading up to the death. The final episode culminates with the fancy dress night at the school when the death occurs. Only at the very end is the identity of the deceased parent revealed and how and by whom did the death occur.

    As a person with considerable years under my belt I can remember watching (and thoroughly enjoying) David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. A girl is found ‘dead, wrapped in plastic’ and a sheriff is sent to Twin Peaks to investigate the murder. As the show progresses the question of who killed Laura Palmer pretty well takes a back seat as the viewer becomes engrossed in the quirky residents of Twin Peaks and their social interactions. As with Twin Peaks, much of Big Little Lies involves delving into the relationships and social interactions of the main characters while the identity of both the murder victim and the murderer more or less take a back seat. Big Little Lies does not have the same quirkiness in the characters as Twin Peaks but the social interactions between the main protagonists in Big Little Lies is scripted, acted and filmed with such finesse that I found myself absorbed in the story every bit as much as Twin Peaks.

    In today’s gender equality society I have to concede that the actresses stole the show and deservedly so. The three main female protagonists gave stellar performances that brought the show to life. Reese Witherspoon played Madeline Mackenzie, a divorced and re-married mother with an older daughter from the first marriage and a younger daughter from the second marriage. Madeline is one of those people who means well but tends to make other people’s business her own thus coming across as a bit crazy. Madeline is really the character that links all the other characters and Witherspoon nails it on the head. Jane Chapman is another key character in the series. Jane is a single mum with a young son and a mysterious background which slowly reveals itself bit by bit with each episode. I had not seen Shailene Woodley (who played Jane) in any shows before Big Little Lies but was impressed by her acting talent. Last but not least of the trio is Nicole Kidman who plays Celeste Wright, a once career driven woman who gave it up for marriage and raising her children. Celeste’s much younger husband is both physically abusive and controlling and as the show progresses Celeste starts to question her marriage and life choices. Nicole Kidman has always been a great actress and her portayal of Celeste is yet more proof of her great presence on the screen.

    To keep the males happy there were several lesser roles including several male actors, all of whom performed admirably. Alexander Skarsgård played Perry Wright, Celeste’s husband and Adam Scott played Ed McKenzie, Madeline’s second husband while James Tupper played Madeline’s first husband, Nathan Carlson. I am also always amazed at how well child actors can perform so must give credit to the performances Iain Armitage (Ziggy Chapman) and Ivy George (Amabella Klein). .

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Production Notes (6.23)

Featurette (7.25)

Menu

    The menu features the sound of waves crashing on a beach.

    A comparison with the R1 Blu-ray statistics shows identical features and running times so I would go with R4 release just to keep it local.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

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