Virgin Territory – DVD Review

There are certain genres that should never be mixed when it comes to the world of feature films. For instance, mixing a horror script with that of a drama doesn’t make much sense now does it? The absurdity would be the same if one were to combine an action film with the plot of a romance. These same rules should apply when trying to take time periods in film and put them out there for the viewers to see. In what was one of the only failures, in my eyes, of the late Heath Ledger’s career; A Knight’s Tale tried to take a medieval time period and throw in some modern day mannerisms and music. Virgin Territory does the exact same thing and let me just tell you that I wasn’t fond of it when Ledger did it either.

Florence, Italy way back when the awful plague known as “Black Death” was upon all those within sight. Those who had the money to do so moved away from the horrible plague and lived out in the country where they would not be affected. A young woman named Pampinea has just lost her father and now must deal with the financial troubles he left her with. Her father had arranged a marriage for her to a wealthy Russian count, but he was not able to see it through before he passed. Now her estate lies in the hands of a heartless Italian aristocrat named Gerbino. She can continue her lush way of life if she merely marries him and becomes his wife. Rather then face such hell, she leaves and joins the convent where she meets Lorenzo who she learns that she truly loves. But with all going on, will she be able to be with her one true love or be forced to take the hand of someone she cannot stand the sight of?

Don’t be fooled by that short description because there is a hell of a lot more going on in Virgin Territory, but that’s the gist of the main story. There is a ton of other stuff happening including little festivals, people living out in the woods, random nudity all over the place, and about six other romantic sub-plots that keep things so mushed up that you won’t know if you’re coming or going. Let us not forget the very lackluster sword fights and maidens in bosom-popping dresses that at least were able to keep my attention. There are also problems with priests, penny pushers, and romantic little games that were supposedly played way back then. Or at least that is what every medieval film would like you to believe. It isn’t hard to follow along with everything, but you’ll find yourself not really wanting to after the first fifteen or so minutes.

Yeah, things begin developing quickly in this film.

What bothers me most is what I mentioned earlier: mixing two different time periods together. The music is the most noticeable problem because it doesn’t fit whatsoever. It is too modern and too rock band-ish to be anywhere near the soundtrack of a film that takes place before electricity. More often then not I found myself being frustrated by the music in the background then by what was happening on screen. Although watching what was on screen didn’t suit me too much either. It amazes me that a DVD can boast the names of Tim Roth, Hayden Christensen, and Mischa Barton and not see one ounce of talent in close to a hundred minutes of film. Roth is excused because he’s been in a lot of other films and has proven his worth. Christensen though shows his shallow talent pool here by proving he is nothing more then Anakin Skywalker, aka young Darth Vader. I don’t know how much talent Barton ever had, but it doesn’t appear it was much according to Virgin Territory.

The film is shown in 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and it is shown quite nicely with bright colors and great backgrounds making for a rich picture. It does look rather old though and actually made me think of old Young Lady Chatterly films from the seventies and eighties.

The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and even though not everything matches exactly; things still sound very good and all the speakers are used to their utmost ability.

Behind The Scenes Of Virgin Territory – The cast and crew take turns sitting down to talk about how it was making the film. Some subtitles would have been nice for producer Dino De Laurentiis because his accent is incredibly thick. There are some behind the scene shots and information on what exactly the story is supposed to get across. This feature lasts eleven minutes and thirty seconds.

Censored Scenes Of Sexuality – Ok! Well, these are extended versions of scenes that were deleted for being labeled too risqué by the MPAA. I’m not sure if that is accurate, but it’s the way the DVD makes them come across, but I don’t see what’s so wrong with them. There’s a scene with a half naked angel lowering herself from the sky to the bed of a man, one where a line-up of guys are about to get their stuff measured, and another scene of a fully nude woman coming out of the water to make out with a guy. Three minutes and forty seconds of softcore porn that Cinemax wouldn’t even find dirty enough to show. For the most part you’re getting exactly what you see in these scenes from the film itself, but a little more nudity.

David Walliams: Cart Pusher – Here is yet another scene from the film. It simply shows the cart pusher wheeling a dead body down the road and he comes across Lorenzo (Christensen) and has an amusing (?) conversation with him. This scene lasts two minutes and fifteen seconds.

Trailer

Robert Cavalli Costume Designs – Sketches of costumes from the film

Trailers – Rock Of Love: The Complete First Season

Virgin Territory tried to be something moving and good, it really did. You can tell that by the way it brings a real decent look at the seventeenth century and has a nice Shakespearian aura by having a narrator pop up at times to bring about the importance of each scene. But after that it falls into a pit of nothingness filled with random music, unfunny one-liners, and gratuitous nudity that is meant to keep all male eyes focused on something instead of turning it off. The cast doesn’t help their own case because Roth is the only person who shows one shred of acting ability here, and his performance is taken down by those around him. Each special feature was a little stranger then the next, and some extra nudity is not the way to get me happy about clicking on the following extra in the bunch. While the film tried and isn’t awful, it’s not something I’d recommend or even watch again. You want to believe that people in successful films learned how to read dialogue and stand on their marks on the floor by the time their tenth or twelfth film has come around. Sadly that is not the case.

Also there is an awkward scene involving two men, two women, and a cow. Yep!

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Starz / Anchor Bay presents Virgin Territory. Directed by: David Leland. Starring: Hayden Christensen, Mischa Barton, Tim Roth. Written by: David Leland. Running time: 97 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Released on DVD: August 26, 2008. Available at Amazon.com