“The Big Chill” may be an ’80s film, but it still resonates to those who are adults and for those who truly understand this film, will find it to be a nostalgic, yet delightful film.
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TITLE: The Big Chill – The Criterion Collection #720
YEAR OF FILM: 19683
DURATION: 105 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color, 1:85:1 Aspect Ratio, Dolby Digital 5.1, with English subtitles
COMPANY: The Criterion Collection
RELEASED: July 7, 2015
Directed by Lawrence Kasdan
Written by Lawrence Kasdan/Barbara Benedek
Executive Producer: Lawrence Kasdan, Marcia NAsatir
Producer: Michael Shamberg
Associate Producer: Barrie M. Osborne
Cinematography by John Bailey
Edited by Carol Littleton
Casting by Wallis Nicita
Production Design by Ida Random
Set Decoration by George Gaines
Costume Design by April Ferry
Starring:
Tom Berenger as Sam
Glenn Close as Sarah
Jeff Goldblum as Michael
William Hurt as Nick
Kevin Kline as Harold
Mary Kay Place as Meg
Meg Tilly as Chloe
JoBeth Williams as Karen
Don Galloway as Richard
After the shocking suicide of their friend, a group of thirtysomethings reunite for his funeral and end up spending the weekend together, reminiscing about their shared past as children of the sixties and confronting the uncertainty of their lives as adults of the eighties. Poignant and warmly humorous in equal measure, this baby boomer milestone made a star of writer-director Lawrence Kasdan and is perhaps the decade’s defining ensemble film, featuring memorable performances by Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams. And with its playlist of sixties rock and R&B hits, The Big Chill all but invented the consummately curated soundtrack.
Filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan may be known more for his writing, from most recently his work on “Solo: A Star Wars Story” to “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Wyatt Earp” and “Silverado”.
But his directorial work in the ’80s, from directing “Body Heat”, “Silverado” and “The Big Chill” are films that people who grew up around that time will remember.
For the 1983 film “The Big Chill”, the film was nominated for “Best Picture – Producer Michael Shamberg”, “Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Glenn Close” and “Best Writing, Screenplay written Directly for the Screen – Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek”.
The film had an amazing ensemble cast starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams.
And the film would receive the Criterion Collection treatment.
The film begins with Harold Cooper (portrayed by Kevin Cline) with his son and wife, Dr. Sarah Cooper (portrayed by Glenn Close) receiving a phone call that their friend Alex, who had been staying at their vacation home in South Carolina had committed suicide.
This would lead to a reunion with their college friends from the University of Michigan who are attending the funeral.
Sam (portrayed by Tom Berenger) is a TV actor; Meg (portrayed by Mary Kay Place) is a real estate attorney in Atlanta; Michael (portrayed by Jeff Goldblum) is a journalist for “People”; Nick (portrayed by William Hurt) is a Vietnam vet and a former radio host and addicted to drugs; Karen (portrayed by JoBeth Williams) looks like a happy housewife from suburban Detroit, but in truth is unhappy with her marriage. And they are joined by Alex’s young girlfriend who lived with him, Chloe (portrayed by Meg Tilly).
After the funeral, everyone heads to Harold and Sarah’s vacation house where everyone stays for the weekend.
And from this weekend, everyone remembers Alex but also, everyone is reminiscing about their past but confronting the issues they have as adults in the ’80s.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“The Big Chill” is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1:85:1. According to the Criterion Collection, the new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a wetgate Oxberry film scanner from the 35 mm original camera negative at Cineric in New York. The color correction was done at ColorWorks in Culver City, California and the restoration at MTI Film in Los Angeles. The entire process was supervised by director of photography John Bailey, and the final result was approved by director Lawrence Kasdan.
For the most part, the film looks very good considering its age. Colors looked great, the film while not perfectly pristine, no major damage to the film and this is the best I have ever seen. Also, the film has its grain and no noticeable DNR which was great to see. It’s important to note that if you want to see the best picture quality of the film, Blu-ray is the way to go!
As for audio, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original 35mm magnetic tracks. For the alternate 5.1 surround presentation, stereo music masters were used in tandem with elements from the 3-track dialogue, music and effects stems. The full soundtrack was then remastered and remixed at Chace Audio in Burbank, California, under the supervision of Kasdan. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, Audio Cube’s integrated workstation and iZotope RX3.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Big Chill” comes with the following special features:
- Success in the System – (12:19) An interview from 2014, filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan discusses the challenges of creating personal work within the Hollywood studio system and his career as a screenwriter and writer/director.
- “The Big Chill”: A Reunion Thirtieth Anniversary Q&A – (13:02) The Toronto International Film Festival reunion in 2013 featuring Kasdan, Berenger, Close, Kline, Place, Tilly and Williams.
- Deleted Scenes – A trailer for “In the Heat of the Night”.
EXTRAS:
Featuring a 6-page fold out with the essay “These Are Your Parents” by Lena Dunham and “Surviving” by Harlan Jacobson.
When I first watched “The Big Chill”, I was only a young teenager at the time, and to be truthful, I didn’t really understand it. Watching it as an adult, I understand it perfectly.
In life, we grow up with friends that we were close with but then we eventually live separate lives. Some go on to have families, others have careers and everyone moves on.
I can only imagine if I was reunited with my college friends, while it’s one thing to discuss the past, I think so many of us have changed compared to when we were younger, some can remain close, others who would be distant. And of course, differences back in the ’80s and ’90s, compared to today where most of us rely on Facebook or social media to keep in track with our friends/classmates.
And I think that “The Big Chill” is a film that people can watch and easily gravitate to and understand each character.
Harold and Sarah Cooper look like the normal suburban couple that has it all. But we learn that Sarah had an affair five years prior to this reunion, with Alex, their friend who committed suicide.
Sam Weber is an actor who is known for his action roles but as he is older, he can’t pull off action scenes as much as he thinks.
Meg Jones is a lawyer ho has dedicated her life as an attorney but wants to have a baby before it’s too late.
Karen Bowens represents that person who loved someone in high school but things didn’t work out and now they are married to someone else, and is unhappy. In this case, Karen and Sam were always close. But now as adults, Sam regrets not putting much into his failed marriage, while attracted to Karen, knows she has a family and doesn’t want to ruin it.
Nick Carlton is the forgotten friend that no one hears from and a facade that he is successful but in truth, he’s in a mess and getting by with drugs.
Michael Gold represents the friend who always wanted to pick up on girls and is still that same guy as an adult.
MChloe is the young person and girlfriend of the deceased who didn’t grow up with the others, so she’s a bit younger and naive, but she eventually grows closer to one of the men during the weekend.
Each of these characters, we can understand and also think about our own friendships and people who are similar or find a mix of each character within ourselves.
If anything, the film is like real life.
The late film critic Roger Ebert of the “Chicago Sun-Times” wrote, “‘The Big Chill’ is a splendid technical exercise. It has all the right moves. It knows all the right words. Its characters have all the right clothes, expressions, fears, lusts and ambitions. But there’s no payoff and it doesn’t lead anywhere. I thought at first that was a weakness of the movie. There also is the possibility that it’s the movie’s message”.
And for the most part, Ebert hit it right in the money. For such an enjoyable film, there is no payoff, it’s like real life, if one would stay with each other through the weekend.
We all experience these uncertainties of life. Life goes on. But while life is going on, we tackle new challenges but also the prospect of the next chapter in our lives as we grow older and have a new uncertainty in life that we either tackle head on, while others crash.
Watching this film, I laughed but I also thought about my own friends, those who are still living, those who aren’t. Wondering if a weekend would be as entertaining or have we all changed so much since we all hung out with each other? I do think about the past and I do occasionally become nostalgic because my college years were the best times of my young adult life. But I do expect that times would have been tough for some of them since graduating.
“The Big Chill” may be an ’80s film, but it still resonates to those who are adults and for those who truly understand this film, will find it to be a nostalgic, yet delightful film.