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In observance of Judy Garland's 90th birthday last week, I watched "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" (2001). This is actually the second biopic made of Garland's life; the earlier effort was made in 1978 and titled "Rainbow." I think "Me and My Shadows" is easily the superior picture, with an overview of Garland's entire life and career, where "Rainbow" only covered the years from 1922 through 1939.
This is one of the best biopics about a Hollywood personality that I've seen to date. Oh, it has some of the typical shortcomings of the genre; for instance, in this sort of picture a fair amount of the dialogue has to deliver a lot of exposition, to try and impart as much information as possible to the viewer in a limited amount of running time. This results in conversations that often don't sound entirely natural. And of course there's so much biographical material that has to be left out in a picture that runs just over three hours but attempts to depict an entire life in those few minutes. However, for the most part the events dramatized in the script are fairly accurate. Oh, there are a few bits that aren't true-to-life, but overall this is a decent biography and is far, far more accurate than any number of other biopics I've seen in the past.
The two actresses who play Judy are each excellent in their own way, giving decent impressions of Garland in her earlier and later years. Funny---Blanchard and Davis do not really look alike, but nevertheless they each look like Garland during certain phases of her life. The film only makes one major misstep, and that is the point where the young Blanchard transitions over to the older Davis. This change was made far too early in the picture, when Garland was shooting "Meet Me in St Louis." Davis is absolutely not convincing as Garland at this age; she looks far too old and her characterization seemed off as well---too cynical and bitter for ingénue Judy, who after all was only in her early twenties at that time. It would have made much more sense for the transition between actresses to be made when the film reached the year 1950, the year Judy left MGM and was set to begin the concert-performing phase of her career. I do think this is a substantial problem, but on the other hand it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the picture TOO much.
(One other minor pet peeve, which DID annoy me no end! Man, who was responsible for the orange fright wig used in the "Meet Me in St Louis" scenes! Holy cow, it's horrible---not even remotely close to the colour of Garland's hair in that picture.)
I suppose the one problem with a picture like this is how can anyone, no matter how skilled, depict a unique talent like Garland? The film at least did not attempt to have the actresses mimic Garland's singing voice---nearly all of the musical numbers on the soundtrack are mimed to recordings of Garland's voice. But more than that, I'm not sure that anyone could accurately portray what made Judy so unique. When reading about the actress one comes across the same statements again and again---she seems to have had a magnetic personality, and everyone who met her was instantly drawn to her. Garland had a personal charisma that was overwhelming, and such a trait is difficult to portray on-screen. Still, overall I'll say this film is an admirable attempt to give an overview of the Judy's life, and I'll happily recommend it for anyone who wants to learn a little about the star, or is interested in glimpses of golden-age Hollywood.
Though I had seen this film when it was first broadcast, it's been quite some time since I last viewed it, and I was happy to watch it again. This new DVD release (it only came out a few weeks ago) runs 18 minutes longer than the previous DVD did, and to the best of my knowledge is the longest cut of this film that exists. This new DVD is also presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio to fit modern widescreen televisions, even though the film was shot in standard 35 mm with a 1.33:1 ratio. Now, I thought this would be a problem, because of course this means the top and bottom of the film frame had to be trimmed. However, when viewing the picture at no time did I get the impression that the image was cropped; the composition seemed just fine. This makes me wonder if the film was originally shot in "open matte" 35mm, with some extra space left at the top and bottom of the frame for safety. (Before the advent of widescreen television some US television films were intended for theatrical release overseas, and in those cases they were shot open matte. Don't know if this is the case here, but at any rate the picture looks fine.) The only complaint I have about the display is when viewing on a HD set, the DVD picture has a black border on all four sides. You'll need to use the "zoom" feature on your TV remote to get the image to fill the screen properly.
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Reviews with images
Extended Cut Debuts in America on DVD
"Life With Judy Garland: Me & My Shadows" is the highly respected miniseries about famed actress and singer Judy Garland. It is among the best TV biopics produced, thanks to solid production values, a detailed script and strong performances. The strongest performance comes from Judy Davis, who is nothing short of remarkable as Judy Garland. Her vocal mannerisms, appearance, gestures and costumes are all spot on. Tammy Blanchard is equally impressive as the younger Judy Garland, and both won deserved Emmy awards for their work. Even though the two actresses look little alike, the transition from one to the other is so smooth you forget within seconds it has occured.This is the 2nd American DVD release of this film. The first one, by Miramax, contained the network broadcast version and a handful of solid extras. This release forgoes the special features but includes the highly coveted extended cut, which contains 18 minutes of scenes re-edited into both parts of the film. This cut was previously available in North America only on a double VHS set issued by Alliance Atlantis, which was never sold in stores and has long been out of print. The picture has also been carefully reframed in widescreen. Contrary to some reports, it is not simply matted. Comparison with the 4x3 release reveals previously unseen image on either side of the screen in many shots. Unfortunately, despite these perks that the original disc did not include, this is hardly a definitive release.The picture, although a new widescreen transfer, is non-anamorphic. That is, it is not "enhanced for 16x9 televisions". Watching it on a widescreen TV without the use of a zoom feature will result in blackness surrounding the entire image. Viewing on an older 4x3 television is fine, as it is simply letterboxed, but in 2012 there really is no excuse for non-anamorphic video to still exist, as widescreen televisions have become the new standard.In addition, all 188 minutes are housed on a single sided, single layered disc. More than 3 hours of content should definitely call for a dual layered disc, and without it the bitrate suffers. As a result, the image is not as sharp as that of the previous DVD, despite its newer source. Echo Bridge is obviously a value home video company, but a film of this caliber really deserves better treatment.Despite these qualms, the disc is certainly worth it for the low price tag, especially to see the additional scenes. It makes fine viewing for those with older televisions and is a great compliment to the first DVD if you have it. Definitely do not get rid of your old disc, but for first timers it's well worth checking out.
