Deadwood: Season 1 (2004)
1.85:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital 5.1
HBO Video, $99.95

Since the silent era, the Western has been a source of inspiration for cinematographers, many of whom have done great work capturing the genre’s varied landscapes and complex themes. When Dances With Wolves and Unforgiven helped revitalize interest in the form, the Western began going through an artistic (if not commercial) renaissance, with some of the finest cinematographers in the world bringing new perspectives to the tradition in films such as Dead Man (Robby Müller, BVK), Wyatt Earp (Owen Roizman, ASC) and Wild Bill (Lloyd Ahern II, ASC).

The latest entry in this cycle is the HBO series Deadwood, a visually sumptuous and thematically provocative drama that explores moral issues with the kind of rigor one associates with the best of the genre. Series creator David Milch examines the role of law in society by depicting a town that has no law; we come to understand the concept through its absence, an audacious dramatic approach. The series is extremely gory yet contains a deep sense of moral purpose. We are made to feel every bullet wound and consider the ramifications of each violent act, and even the blackest of the characters is revealed to have more layers than one might initially expect.

HBO’s recently released DVD boxed set presents the first 12 episodes of Deadwood in pristine letterboxed transfers that will come as a revelation to viewers familiar with the show only through standard-definition broadcasts. The visuals consistently match the conceptual ambition of the scripts, and the chiaroscuro interiors, sunlit Western landscapes, and seamless integration of CGI effects look fantastic in this presentation.

The show’s look is established in its pilot, shot by Lloyd Ahern II, ASC and directed by Walter Hill. Frequent collaborators, Ahern and Hill are modern masters of both the Western and the action film, and the pilot has the meticulous visual detail that is on display in their other forays into the genre. Ahern’s work strikes an unusual balance between stylized beauty and harsh realism, much as the spoken language of the series alternates between ornate Victorianism and profanity. The images eschew sweeping vistas in favor of cramped, dirty spaces, and Ahern finds the poetry in those spaces by giving the series a look that owes something to the tradition of film noir.

Film students would do as well to study the pilot for Deadwood as they would a classic John Ford or Howard Hawks Western. Throughout his career, Ahern has proven adept at defining characters by their placement in the landscape (Geronimo), and at shooting intense bursts of action in confined spaces (Trespass, Turbulence), and both skills are put to fine use on Deadwood. The pilot is a minor masterpiece of visual storytelling, as dozens of characters and several narratives are established with style, clarity and humor.

As with the HBO series the Sopranos and Six Feet Under, the pleasure of watching Deadwood increases significantly as the narrative progresses. In subsequent episodes, cinematographers David Boyd, Xavier Pérez Grobet and James Glennon, ASC follow Ahern’s lead yet also bring their own approaches to the material. All of the cinematographers are distinctive stylists who are as proficient at freewheeling action as they are at the painterly compositions that characterize the show’s quieter moments.

Given Deadwood’s emphasis on language, the DVD commentary track by series creator Milch is surprisingly dull. There are long, empty spaces where he says nothing, and when he does speak, it is often to mumble something incoherent or irrelevant. Fortunately, Milch opens up in a pair of interviews in which Keith Carradine (who plays Wild Bill) talks with him about the show’s approach to historical accuracy and its use of language. These conversations are entertaining and informative, as Carradine is an excellent interviewer with an obvious passion for the series.

On the series’ fourth episode, Carradine provides his own commentary track, along with co-star Molly Parker. Like Milch’s track, this commentary initially has a lot of dead spaces, but as the episode progresses, the actors relax and provide a number of insights into their characters and the series.

Additional supplements include two other entertaining actor commentary tracks, one by Brad Dourif and Robin Weigert, and another, more irreverent track by Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane; a rather standard behind-the-scenes documentary featurette; and a featurette on the history of the real Deadwood. Overall, the extras in this presentation are a bit disappointing, but the impeccable transfers of the episodes, which yield new rewards upon repeat viewings, make this boxed set a worthwhile purchase.

— Jim Hemphill