The Road to Mother

[AVSCraig]

The Road to Mother
Studio: Kino Lorber 
Release Date: May 5th, 2020
Rating:  Not Rated
Blu-ray Disc
Video Resolution/Codec:1080p AVC/MPEG-4
Aspect Ratio(s):2.35:1
Audio : Russian: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles/Captions:English

Film : 4/5

Plot – the story of a young Kazakh boy and his family from his birth on the Steppes of Kazakhstan to the present time.  The film shows the effects of the Soviet take over of Kazakhstan and is apparently based on a true story. 


My thoughts : I’m a fan of foreign films based on true stories, so I picked this up soon after it was available. It’s an interesting and at times heartbreaking story. The cinematography is excellent, as is the soundtrack. Showing what the people of Kazakhstan went through under Soviet collectivization and WWII from the Kazakh point of view was extremely well done in my opinion.

The Road to Mother was the official submission of Kazakhstan for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 90th Academy Awards in 2018.

Video 9/10
The picture looks excellent for the most part. Color is somewhat desaturated at times, which I assume is the look they were going for. I can’t find technical details but I’d guess this was shot digitally. Overall this is a highly detailed and pleasing picture.

Audio 8.5/10
The Russian DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack sounded quite good on my system. WWII battle scenes had decent LFE. Dialog was crisp ( even though I don’t speak Russian ) and surround channels were used quite a bit. No complaints on my setup.

Conclusion – an extremely interesting look at what life was like for one family in Kazakhstan from 1922 until present day. Recommended.

https://www.theroadtomother.com/ 

Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS4500 4K Ultra High Definition Front Projector
( Calibrated by Kris Deering )
Stewart Filmscreen – 128” diagonal StudioTek 130 G3 2.35:1 screen
Stewart Filmscreen – 122” diagonal Cima Neve 16:9 screen
Panamorph Paladin DCR lens
Lumagen Radiance Pro Video Processor
Denon X8500H receiver
Parasound Halo A 52+ amp – powering the left / center / right / wide speakers
Oppo UBD203 4K Blu Ray player
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
9.6.4 Speaker System -  Martin Logan Motion 40’s ( 2 ), Motion SLM XL center speaker, Motion FX surrounds ( 4 ), Motion LX16 wide channel speakers  ( 2 ) , Motion 4 heights ( 4 )
Two  SVS PC 12 Plus cylinder subs
Four SVS SB2000 subs
AC Infinity AIRCOM T8 component cooling fans ( 3 )
GIK Acoustic Panels
PFP M1500 – UPS