WILD AT HEART "Wild at Heart" is never on streaming in US

Jasper

Bureau HQ
TULPA MOD
Apr 12, 2022
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847
Friends, please endeavor to discuss cultural streams and such in more general terms, without getting into overt, overly specific references to contemporary hot button politics. I am positive that doing so will not prove particularly difficult or impede discussion in any significant way.

Things can and do unexpectedly snowball. I only ask that you take an artful and poetic approach to such subjects. We've done very well with this so far.

Thank you kindly.
 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
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547
Also, of course, back in the 1950s, Elvis was viewed by most respectable people as the downfall of western civilization and the corruption of an entire generation of youths. Now, his music is just about the safest thing to play in an elevator that you could name this side of Kenny G. Funny how perspectives change.
That's a natural process that happens with just about any kind of cultural product; something that might have seemed controversial at first eventually becomes acceptable to the general population. In more recent times, think, for example, of Eminem, who used to be considered quite a controversial figure, but now almost everyone accepts him and doesn't consider him a threat in any way.

I think that there are two main reasons for this: first, society generally progresses towards more tolerant views and eventually accepts art for what it is - art - and second, people just get used to things.
 

Tulpa

Bureau HQ
TULPA MOD
ADMIN
Apr 11, 2022
583
791
Friends, please endeavor to discuss cultural streams and such in more general terms, without getting into overt, overly specific references to contemporary hot button politics. I am positive that doing so will not prove particularly difficult or impede discussion in any significant way.

Things can and do unexpectedly snowball. I only ask that you take an artful and poetic approach to such subjects. We've done very well with this so far.

Thank you kindly.

Just to add, it's not that anyone did something wrong, as Jasper already said.

It's fine to debate sensitive issues as long as it relates to the actual thread topic and doesn't turn into a debate fixated on that sensitive issue at the expense of the original topic.

Also, it's a good time to remind folks we have a members' only area. It has a section for general chat that users want to keep away from the open forums as well as a section for off-topic current affairs discussions on more contentious issues.

If any discussions get sidetracked for too long, we'll move them to Ghostwood anyway. If they're relevant/complementary towards the thread topic (in this case, loosly defined as "Wild At Heart") then it's fine.

So far, most digressions on this site have been positive and contribute to the original discussion. You can't discuss art without situating it in the broader sociopolitical context, after all.

We just want to avoid discussions flying off in unrelated (and toxic) directions far away from the original debate.
 

eyeboogers

Glastonbury Grove
Apr 14, 2022
104
159
I actually completely agree with all of that Mr.Reindeer, and I think that Lynch is very much poking at the ridiculous idea of 1950's culture as a "Kansas" to return to. Wild at Heart is all about the tug of war between wanting to stick to your ideals, although one becomes experienced enough to realize they might be unattainable and corrupted. As in maybe those idealised 1950's never really existed, but maybe something similar could. Even in a world that is wild at heart and weird on top.
 

Mr. Reindeer

White Lodge
Apr 13, 2022
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I actually completely agree with all of that Mr.Reindeer, and I think that Lynch is very much poking at the ridiculous idea of 1950's culture as a "Kansas" to return to. Wild at Heart is all about the tug of war between wanting to stick to your ideals, although one becomes experienced enough to realize they might be unattainable and corrupted. As in maybe those idealised 1950's never really existed, but maybe something similar could. Even in a world that is wild at heart and weird on top.
That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying! I will say, I think that every time I watch W@H, I get something different out of it, or at least have a slightly different feeling about it than I can recall having on any previous viewing. Perhaps part of that is the fact that it constantly asks you to view it through the lens of the “modern world,” whatever that may mean whenever you’re watching it. Ironically enough, it is also probably the Lynch film that feels the most of its era, as it feels so quintessentially 1990s, which in itself inspires some level of nostalgia watching it now (Megadeth!). And yet, upon release, it was actually ahead of its time since the 1990s had barely even gotten started yet!
 

Dom

White Lodge
Jul 10, 2022
654
667
To be honest, Wild at Heart drags on too long. The last hour is like a conversation that loses its thread and no one can remember what he was talking about at the beginning. It's not a long film by present day standards (where most films are way too long!) but somehow Wild at Heart feels long, which is an editing pacing issue.

Possibly the problem is that the film structure is, in some aspects, too faithful to the book. Books have the advantage of having parts and chapters. A book can have a character locked up in prison for six years at the end of one chapter and start the next chapter six years later. Substantial time shifts late in a film are harder to manage, especially when you've had a road movie timeline where one episode follows another in the space of just a few days.

Now, to be clear, I'm not demanding that all films be fast-paced (the thing I dread is that moment when people start saying 'You should stick to Marvel movies!') or that films can't shift pace, but Wild at Heart has a particular rhythm that drives it and that rhythm fizzles out quite abruptly, so you have: episodic road movie, abrupt stagnation at Big Tuna, failed heist plot line, Sailor in prison, Sailor leaves prison and walks away from Lula and Pace, Sailor meets Glinda and runs back to Lula. There's also all the extra Santos and Reindeer stuff Lynch added plus the Perdita and Juana Durango material. It's just a bit unmanageable and probably something(s) needed cutting out or merging at the scripting stage. It's frustrating, because I really like the first half of the film.

I've read the book, which is simpler and less weird, so the Lynchian elements are embellishments on a fairly simple story about a likeable couple on the lam and the domineering mother and plucky private detective who pursue them. Lynch adds that wonderful sense of brooding evil to the film that the novel lacks, although the many additional characters, such as Santos and Mr Reindeer, being pulled out of the shadows possibly crowds things too much.

For me, the film feels like it needs another pass in the edit suite to smooth things out a bit. That it apparently premiered straight out of the edit suite is telling. The later significant cuts were to Johnny's murder, which was another Lynch addition, as I seem to remember reading that Johnny is in later Sailor and Lula adventures and he was certainly alive when he accompanies Lula's mother to collect her after Sailor's incarceration late in the book.

I hope the film gets the Blu-ray treatment - possibly a remaster being in progess is why the film is currently not available. Lynch has spent a good deal of time down the years seeing that his films aren't subject to lots of different distributors' whims and that there is only a definitive version of which he approves in circulation. Otherwise you get the situation with Dario Argento's Suspiria, where there are two significantly visually different 4K transfers used in different territories (the American Synapse transfer being the DoP's approved version, which I imported from Italy, while the rest of Europe has the green-biased CultFilms transfer.) And Lady Snowblood on Arrow video and Criterion is breathtakingly different.

I like Sailor and Lula and I hope one day their other adventures will be adapted. I haven't seen the Perdita Durango film with Rosie Perez and Javier Bardem, but I hear that is one sick, messed up film that makes Wild at Heart look like The Apple Dumpling Gang!! :D
 

eyeboogers

Glastonbury Grove
Apr 14, 2022
104
159
So here is why I disagree with Dom about the films pacing. Wild at Heart is a movie centered around a romantic relationship, and the film's structure mimics that. At the beginning it is all fiery passions, all fast paced and disregarding any parent with apprehensions. Then later stone cold reality sets in, and things grind to a halt, and an evaluation, is it all worth it?. At the end of the film it is even time for Sailor to commit to marriage and a (already existing) kid or to turn his back on love and responsibility forever. So, I totally agree that the film slows down drastically once the couple arrives in Big Tuna, but it would be a much, much less interesting film if Lynch had ignored this structure and prioritised the thrills. It is the difference between Tarantino (whose entire career is build around ripping off "Wild at Heart") and Lynch.

Definitely check out "Perdita Durango" Dom, your description is accurate, and it is a ton of fun.
 

Dom

White Lodge
Jul 10, 2022
654
667
So here is why I disagree with Dom about the films pacing. Wild at Heart is a movie centered around a romantic relationship, and the film's structure mimics that. At the beginning it is all fiery passions, all fast paced and disregarding any parent with apprehensions. Then later stone cold reality sets in, and things grind to a halt, and an evaluation, is it all worth it?. At the end of the film it is even time for Sailor to commit to marriage and a (already existing) kid or to turn his back on love and responsibility forever. So, I totally agree that the film slows down drastically once the couple arrives in Big Tuna, but it would be a much, much less interesting film if Lynch had ignored this structure and prioritised the thrills. It is the difference between Tarantino (whose entire career is build around ripping off "Wild at Heart") and Lynch.

Definitely check out "Perdita Durango" Dom, your description is accurate, and it is a ton of fun.
Will do. Thanks! And I appreciate your point of view. Hopefully what I said about WAH doesn't sound too negative: I have a great deal of fondness for the film and don't have any of the issues many people have with it. Aside from feeling it could have done with a little finessing, I'm on board with the whole thing. I was still at school when it got shown on Sky Movies. I owned it on an appalling quality pan and scan VHS and later on a widescreen VHS, which was better, but still as crap as any VHS could ultimately be!

The film was part of my 'film lover adolescence.' My parents - particularly my Mum, back then - used to be very concerned about their 16-17-year-old son (me!) watching unsuitable films. My Mum was cross that I rented and watched When Harry Met Sally when I was 13! And I admit I watched the lot when it came to unsuitable films: I watched so many 18-rated films when they weren't around. German late night TV in the early 1990s had some astonishingly prurient material that you'd probably be arrested for watching now!

I loved Heathers and WaH, which I saw on Sky Movies. I watched Blue Velvet for the first time in German (I had no idea what they were saying, but the film was still great! :D) and saw Eraserhead and The Elephant Man in German first time too!! I also got to know lots of actors and actresses from cult exploitation movies - stuff that would be verboten now - such as Ulrike Butz, Christina Lindberg and Stellan Skarsgård! I discovered Laurent Boutonnat's early Mylène Farmer music videos on VH-1. I was gobsmacked when Arte showed Walerian Borowczyk's La Bête! Seriously, how the Hell did he get away with making that!?!!! Many years later, I was one of the many who crowdfunded Arrow Academy's Camera Obscura collection of restorations of his films.

I loved Mark Frost's Storyville when it was shown on BBC2's Moviedrome strand - I cannot believe the film is almost impossible to find on shiny disc! Zalman King's films had fair a bit of crossover with Lynch's films in terms of casting in that period and I loved the atmosphere of a lot of those too. Weirdly enough, Wild Orchid 2 was one I really liked. It felt like it could be another side story from the world of Lost Highway! Zalman King films have vanished from shelves too.

But Wild at Heart and Heathers were my two top late night films. The UK is a country that has gone out of its way to make its modern cities grey, concrete and drab. They speak of 'England's green and pleasant land' (US movies always going out in the sticks for their portayals of the UK) but the experience for most Britons was 'England's grey, unpleasant land!' Many of us born in the mid-1970s grew up in a combination of grey concrete and undeveloped scrub land left over from demolition work clearing ruined buildings in 1945. My home city was very much a concrete, drab place, whose post-war town planning had been badly corrupted. I lived on the city outskirts next to what had been the largest housing project (we say 'council estate') in Europe when it was built - in fact, at 47, I'm back in my old house now, which we moved into when I was two and a half years' old. The estate had already fallen into crime and fly-tipping was rife. It's a bit better these days.

A little up the road, we had the moors. That was a barren, bleak, gorgeous in its own way, National Park, but even the small towns on the moors had fallen prey to 'concretopia'. So Wild At Heart, for me was my first real, grown up road movie. It was my first experience of those vast, open spaces still around on the North American continent. It gave me a world that seemed vast and made me a passenger on Sailor and Lula's journey. I can't understate how amazing the North American landscapes look to someone who has grown up on a small archipelago.

The film feels the most dated of Lynch's movies to me - many of his films feel like 'anywhen' movies - while Wild At Heart has the feel of the early 1990s, where the 1980s were still a major influence. I'd argue the 1990s, as we think of them, didn't really get started until about 1993, with the first three years, culturally, being the tail end of the 1980s party.

I'll have a look for Perdita Durango. Possibly the French 4K will be my best option...
 

AXX°N N.

Waiting Room
Apr 14, 2022
270
619
Would anyone agree with my assessment (which I've held for a long time, and which I say as an admirer) that WAH is a film saved in editing? I say that because of all Lynch's work, I think I noticed the editing unto itself most with WAH, and feel that a lot of the experience of the film is evoked or facilitated through its stylistic choices re: editing. The movie is full of quick flashes of visuals, scenes have a certain pulsing or strobing quality, the film has a distinct difference of speed in different segments--although beyond that I find it hard to describe what I mean, but I really feel it when watching. There's a certain chaotic nerve to it.

This isn't to say the presence of editing is absent in Lynch's other works--FWWM for instance has an elegance and elegaic quality to it I attribute to the editing; it's just that the kinetic nature of it and how much soft tissue was cut seems different. Compared to other Lynch projects with available deleted scenes, I find WAH's the least interesting and am thankful they were cut. WAH's process, given its genre trappings as a road movie, seems to have been "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks," and in a way the final film doesn't feel all too much like a super sprawling journey, given that they settle down for a solid half of the film.
 

Mr. Reindeer

White Lodge
Apr 13, 2022
737
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Would anyone agree with my assessment (which I've held for a long time, and which I say as an admirer) that WAH is a film saved in editing? I say that because of all Lynch's work, I think I noticed the editing unto itself most with WAH, and feel that a lot of the experience of the film is evoked or facilitated through its stylistic choices re: editing. The movie is full of quick flashes of visuals, scenes have a certain pulsing or strobing quality, the film has a distinct difference of speed in different segments--although beyond that I find it hard to describe what I mean, but I really feel it when watching. There's a certain chaotic nerve to it.

This isn't to say the presence of editing is absent in Lynch's other works--FWWM for instance has an elegance and elegaic quality to it I attribute to the editing; it's just that the kinetic nature of it and how much soft tissue was cut seems different. Compared to other Lynch projects with available deleted scenes, I find WAH's the least interesting and am thankful they were cut. WAH's process, given its genre trappings as a road movie, seems to have been "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks," and in a way the final film doesn't feel all too much like a super sprawling journey, given that they settle down for a solid half of the film.
Interesting. I actually like the W@H deleted scenes a great deal, some of them much moreso than some of the material that actually made it into the film. The extra Cousin Dell material, all the Calvin Lockhart scenes, the extended Freddie Jones scene, etc. But you’re probably right that they didn’t belong in the film. They function better as tie-in short films...in a weird way, Lynch’s habit of overshooting his films sort of predicted the ancillary content/extended universes of the streaming era. I find myself sometimes just watching one of the aforementioned deleted scenes at random when I have a few minutes to kill as kind of a “Wild at Heart vignette.” I’d say Blue Velvet is probably the one where I find the deleted scenes the least enjoyable/memorable. Not that there isn’t some great stuff in there (in particular, Jeffrey watching the rape is a fascinatingly icky facet of the character), but the film definitely benefited from losing almost all that stuff.

The Freddie Jones scene might be the best example of what you’re talking about in W@H. I love the full version of the scene, but in editing, Lynch just cuts it down to one sped-up line and a few squawks, turning an entire scene into a quick comedic beat. Definitely punchier and tighter and overall more effective the way it is.

BTW, it also occurs to me that in addition to the streaming issue, this is the one film of Lynch’s outside of The Straight Story which has yet to get a 4K remaster. I wonder why that is. It was one of the earlier ones where he personally oversaw the remaster for DVD, I believe (after the 2002 Eraserhead release, and I think maybe he was involved in the 2002 MGM Blue Velvet disc? I can’t remember).
 
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eyeboogers

Glastonbury Grove
Apr 14, 2022
104
159
I think the style of editing, the intercut flashes, the tearing of reality with otherworldliness was present in "Dune", there are even hints of it in "The Elephant Man". So, I don't neccesarly think it is the result of a salvage operation (any more so than any films editing process always is). Instead, I see it as all the sparks that went off in Lynch's head when he read the Gifford book, without any intention of directing it.
 

eyeboogers

Glastonbury Grove
Apr 14, 2022
104
159
I'll have a look for Perdita Durango. Possibly the French 4K will be my best option...
For "Perdita Durango" I'd say the lower the resolution the better. 640p bit-torrent or alternately a used VHS tape will bring you to closest to the director's intented aesthetic for this one.
 

Mr. Reindeer

White Lodge
Apr 13, 2022
737
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Characters telling each other stories is something that is built into the fabric of Barry Gifford’s writing, so that was certainly part of the DNA of the film from the get-go. A lot of cutting away to stuff that took place in the past, so I think the film was destined to call attention to the editing artistry moreso than many just by its nature. But I’ve been thinking about this all day since reading Axxon N.’s post, and I agree that the ebb and flow of the film as constructed by Lynch and Dunham is rather elegant in a way I’d never really consciously appreciated. It’s been awhile since I read the script, but if I’m remembering right, I think this one and FWWM are the ones where Lynch moved scenes around the most in post.
 
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AXX°N N.

Waiting Room
Apr 14, 2022
270
619
"Saved in editing" was maybe poor choice of idiom, but I was struggling to put it into words.

The lack of restoration is also interesting given that Lynch went all-in with WAH during the Lime Green set, to the point that it's sort of its centerpiece.
 
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Cappy

White Lodge
Aug 4, 2022
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539
The cover of the recent blu ray release looks gorgeous. Was it painted by Bill Sienkiewicz? Thinking about biting the bullet and purchasing this...
 

LateReg

Glastonbury Grove
Apr 12, 2022
139
376
Great thread going here, I just now discovered it. There's a lot I agree with, and a lot I disagree with, and maybe one thing that might come down to perspective but which I think is factually incorrect. But that's Wild At Heart for you, a messy, walking contradiction of a film.

I don't detect any homophobic streak, either, despite finding the slur to be an incredibly jarring (and thereby effective?) moment. Like Dom said, I think the first half of the film is magnificent, a wild ball of manic energy that I prefer to the film's second half. But like eyeboogers said, I think the second half of the film slows down with a purpose, and just because I don't enjoy it as much doesn't mean that it isn't working for me on some level.

Mostly, I agree with Axxon here, that the film is highlighted by its editing, especially in the first half. Someone brought up how Lost Highway is the key to understanding Lynch's subsequent films, but I think that Wild At Heart is just as important in Lynch's development as a viscerally psychological filmmaker. The editing here still seems new every time I watch it, establishing psychic links between its storylines (simultaneously occurring, past and present, real and imagined) in an exciting way, as raw as it is elegant, that seems to inform all of Lynch's subsequent films. The editing is what I always pinpoint as the film's most thrilling aspect, coming across as if Lynch was discovering something for the first time that he'd latch onto for the rest of his career.

The part of this that may be a matter of perspective but which I find incorrect is the claim that the film has fallen out of favor. This film was never in favor. Whereas Eraserhead immediately emerged as a cult film, Dune was viewed as an outright failure, and Fire Walk With Me was mostly negatively received before being embraced, Wild At Heart has always been and remains Lynch's most polarizing film. It was an unpopular winner of the Palme, and is just as likely to place in the top 3 as it is in the bottom 3 in any given ranking of Lynch's filmography (whenever I encounter a new list, I'm always most curious about Wild At Heart's placement). It seems to be a favorite of certain types of Lynch fans, or perhaps non-fans, partly due to its wildly upbeat (and loud) nature and ties to a certain style of filmmaking that came to be embraced/popularized by early Tarantino; for these same reasons, many despise it. I share eyeboogers' belief and Reindeer's claim that Wild At Heart is indeed an ahead-of-its-time, quintessential 90s film, an influence that perhaps doesn't quite receive its due. It seems to be a film that is more admired internationally than it is in the US, and also one that is more likely to score a high ranking in the pages of Total Film rather than the comparatively highbrow Film Comment. Like many here, I've gone back and forth on the film's overall merit, usually ranking it near the bottom of Lynch's filmography, if only by default, since all of his films have improved and grow in stature with time, but have come to look forward to watching it on a filmography rewatch more than almost any other Lynch film (for the editing, for the energy, for the Elvis stuff, to see at what point I get exhausted, etc.). It's my girlfriend's favorite Lynch film, and a non-Lynch fan friend of mine also ranks it as his favorite; my best friend hated it when he first saw it in the late 90s, but upon revisiting it in the mid-2000s couldn't believe how much he loved it (and shortlisted Crispin Glover's performance as one of the best of the 90s, lol). I feel it has always been this way. It's simply a divisive film as accessible as it is confrontational, with an equal amount of admirers and detractors, as well as a bit of an outlier of unsung importance in Lynch's filmography.

I currently own both the Twilight Time and the Shout Select editions of the film on Blu-ray, and both seem to be cut from the same or similar source. Twilight Time went out of print long ago, but Shout Select, with the beautiful cover, is readily available. While there's room for improvement and a better edition is sure to come, the Shout Blu-ray offers a great presentation, loaded with valuable extras. I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up if you have the urge.
 
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Mr. Reindeer

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Apr 13, 2022
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Excellent post. In terms of the original critical and audience reaction, I would add that Wild at Heart (and its Palme d’Or win) was arguably the biggest factor in turning the tide against Lynch, shifting the perception from him as brilliant maverick to one-trick-pony almost overnight. Of course, there were other factors: burnout on Peaks hype and frustration with lack of answers, and the fact that Lynch was overexposed, he was dating Isabella Rossellini and was suddenly on all sorts of magazine covers and talk shows. But I think Wild at Heart was really THE moment where critics really turned on Lynch, and it took a decade for him to come back from that.

I think both the Shout Factory and Twilight Time Blu Rays are from the Lynch-supervised 2004 remaster. It’s not 4K, but it’s a Lynch-approved master and it’s not awful by any stretch. The Shout Factory extras have the deleted scenes which were previously only available on the long out of print Lime Green Set, as well as a new interview with Barry Gifford which is pretty interesting. He talks about his early life moving around a lot as a kid, how the characters of Sailor and Lula found him, and his thoughts on the film vs. the book. It also has the uncensored shot of Bobby Peru’s head being blown off included as an extra. The only extra unique to the Twilight Time edition is a music-and-effects only track, which isn’t something I tend to revisit, but I can see the appeal if you’re a big fan of Angelo’s music since some cues were not included on the soundtrack release.
 
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Dom

White Lodge
Jul 10, 2022
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The Shout Select version looks great, but I can't play it in the UK. Hopefully the film will get a decent release here at some point. The only version currently available is a German one from Universal, which I doubt is a Lynch-approved transfer!
I agree about it being the moment critics decided to go after Lynch. Sadly the film they used to put the boot in was FWWM. After Collateral, critics decided to go after Michael Mann, trashing Miami Vice. It's as if, en masse, critics decide to give directors a kicking periodically.
 

Mr. Reindeer

White Lodge
Apr 13, 2022
737
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The Shout Select version looks great, but I can't play it in the UK. Hopefully the film will get a decent release here at some point. The only version currently available is a German one from Universal, which I doubt is a Lynch-approved transfer!
I agree about it being the moment critics decided to go after Lynch. Sadly the film they used to put the boot in was FWWM. After Collateral, critics decided to go after Michael Mann, trashing Miami Vice. It's as if, en masse, critics decide to give directors a kicking periodically.
FWIW, I believe Blu Rays are typically region free. I’ve bought European Blu Ray releases and have always been able to play them fine on my player in the US. I don’t think this is ALWAYS the case, so I don’t want to steer you wrong…it’s probably a slight gamble. But I just glanced at my copy and I don’t see any marks regarding region encoding on the case or the disc.
 

LateReg

Glastonbury Grove
Apr 12, 2022
139
376
FWIW, I believe Blu Rays are typically region free. I’ve bought European Blu Ray releases and have always been able to play them fine on my player in the US. I don’t think this is ALWAYS the case, so I don’t want to steer you wrong…it’s probably a slight gamble. But I just glanced at my copy and I don’t see any marks regarding region encoding on the case or the disc.
In this case, the Shout disc is Region A locked. Unfortunately.
 
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