The Romantic Englishwoman manages to be both a moody, atmospheric film with some lengthy stretches without dialogue, as well as an effervescent, droll battle of the sexes. Losey’s direction balances the opposing sensibilities with style, using reflective surfaces as a visual motif of the dual nature of the film’s characters.
Caine and Jackson are quite good, allowing both their spoken and unspoken dissatisfaction with one another to show in interesting ways. Thomas throws their tenuous relationship into even further whack with his casually malicious behavior, which Berger plays with a smug charm.
Simply put, The Romantic Englishwoman is a delight, engaging the viewer on multiple levels.
The Blu-ray Disc
The Romantic Englishwoman is presented in 1080p high definition with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This is another high-def winner from Kino, presenting a transfer with excellent clarity, solid amounts of fine detail and natural colors. Film grain is pleasant and intact, and the image is almost always sharp and stable, save for a few fantasy shots that are deliberately in soft focus. The print used has a few stray marks here and there, but overall, doesn’t show its age.
Audio is presented in an uncompressed monaural track that’s free from any hissing or crackling, and presents voices and effects in an adequate, clean manner.
Special Features
All we get is a collection of four trailers for other Kino releases, but not this one, and a gallery of production stills.
The Bottom Line
An unexpected delight, The Romantic Englishwoman has something for fans of drama, comedy, reality-bending films and sharp performances, and it looks excellent on Blu-ray.
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