Director Bruno Barreto's talent has been greatly overlooked in America as evidenced by the dismal failure of a terrific film, "Carried Away", which starred Dennis Hopper in his best performance so far!  Barreto was a master storyteller with that film, never allowing characters to take the easy way out of complex situations, instead, requiring them and the viewer to do a lot of soul-searching.  In "BOSSA NOVA", he does the opposite with his story and characters.  The film, "BOSSA NOVA" was also overlooked in theaters, but the special presentation that COLUMBIA TRISTAR hasa given it with their dvd release should certainly win over many fans.  Originally scheduled for release months ago, the dvd was delayed for some technical improvements. Whatever the problems were, they're not visible in this stellar presentation.

    Amy Irving, the director's wife, stars in "BOSSA NOVA" as an American trying to get past the death of her husband, while teaching English in Rio. Romance is given a jump start when she meets a man working through his divorce.  Complicating matters further is the fact that his wife may still be in love with him.  The plot, like the music of the title, is somewhat loose,  gently intermingling three separate stories, all with interesting characters and potentially interesting dilemmas.  All of these characters are in search of love, even though, for the most part, it's elusive.  They search for it at work, on the internet, everywhere!  Unfortunately, the characters never really make any hard, concrete decisions.  However, Barreto is trying to make a light, frothy film wherein characters don't really have to worry much about the consequences of their actions.  In fact, Barreto opts for romance over reality in virtually every aspect of the film.  This is made evident in the opening shot, where a beautiful woman is swimming in the ocean and her comments evoke memories of "The Graduate" scene with Hoffman in the pool.  More than anything, "BOSSA NOVA" is a beautiful postcard from Rio.  It's eye-candy!

        With that in mind, the image of this transfer is exceptionally sharp!  The wonderful cinematography offers one striking shot after another, at times, resembling the best work of Robert Surtees.  We're actually disappointed that the cinematographer, Pascal Rabaud, wasn't involved with the commentary.  But, then again, hardly and dvds offer their insight in commentary.  The transfer compliments Rabaud's compositions, even with some infrequent grain.  There are no artifacts and fleshtones are generally natural looking.

The Dolby Digital 5.0 soundtrack is perfectly suited for Barreto's intentions.  While the directional effects aren't constant, they're effective.  Although the dialogue compliments rather than overshadows the images, it's always clear and focused.  The music is wonderful and it comes to life, engulfing the audience in key scenes due to the well constructed mix.  Fans of the score will also be pleased that it's offered on an isolated track in dolby digital 5.0(We listen to it almost daily!)

The commentary with Barreto and Irving helps to explain the development of the film and the obstacles faced in bringing it to actual production, let alone completion.  However, even with two people commenting, there are long lapses in dialogue.

The commentary is most effective when chosen as an option for the deleted scene segment.  The one scene is actually offered with 16:9 enhancement(a rarity for extras!)  The scene is a dance number with Irving, and while it works well by itself, Barreto was right in his concern regarding its necessity to the plot.  Barreto points out how much he hated cutting it out, similar to the way that Brad Silberling commented on hating to cut "his babies" out, referring to deleted scenes from "City of Angels".  A featurette with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage is also included.  There are also trailers for some other wonderful COLUMBIA TRISTAR dvd releases.  "TANGO," "EAST/WEST," "CENTRAL STATION," and "BOSSA NOVA" are included.  It's disappointing that none of them feature their original aspect ratio or 16:9 enhancement.