Cinema Paradiso (1988/Miramax/Lionsgate U.S. Blu-ray)/Life Is Beautiful (1997/Miramax/Lionsgate Blu-ray)/Incendies (2010/Sony Blu-ray + DVD)/To Be Twenty (1978/Raro Video DVD Set)
Picture:
B-/B-/B & C/C+ Sound: B-/B/B
& C+/C Extras: C-/C/B/B- Films: B/C/B/B-
Our
latest set of foreign film releases are all interesting titles of note. First we have the second Blu-ray edition of Cinema Paradiso (1988) to look at, this
time the U.S. Miramax/Lionsgate U.S. edition.
We recently reviewed the Australian Blu-ray version at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11080/Cinema+Paradiso+(1988/Umbrella+R
Both
offer the same short “International Version” and this edition includes a
trailer and menus, but it does not totally outperform the previous
Blu-ray. More on that in a moment below.
Despite
all the awards and box office Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful (1997) received, I found it to be a very problematic
film. The story of a man and his son
living happily in Italy until they are deported to a Nazi Concentration Camp is
not intentionally disrespectful, but the film is overly simple, wants to have
some kind of happy ending (or partially so) that does not ring true and avoids
dealing with the genocide and despite Benigni’s talents, cannot overcome
predictability and strange sentimentality.
It has a strategy where the first few reels have to do with how happy
their life is, then the Nazis arrive and you can guess the rest. It has not aged well, but also has managed to
take with it many similar Holocaust films that people liked upon release, but
don’t remember or talk about. At least
it is ambitious and the money is in the production. Extras include Academy Award TV Commercials,
Theatrical Trailer and the featurette Making
Life Beautiful.
The
Academy Award Best Foreign Film nominee Incendies
(2010) is an amazing film based on the play by Wajdi Mouawad about a brother
(who wants to just forget about the past entirely) and sister whose mother
passes. Instead of leaving a simple
will, she leaves a mystery through a friend who instead offers them two
envelopes. One is for their father they
never knew they had and the other is a brother they did not know existed. However, it will not be as simple as a visit
for she must travel from Canada
to the Middle East and this is fraught with
risks. The more she discovers, the more
bizarre it gets, but much more follows up to its powerful conclusion, a great cast
and Writer/Director Denis Villeneuve is one of the best films of the year. The story is one 0f the ultimate statements
on what is wrong with The Middle East that is unique from the rest of the
world, yet the tale has a universality about it, though it could happen
anywhere and anyone. Fine filmmaking
worth going out of your way for, I was very impressed. Extras include BD Live interactive functions,
Remembering The Ashes: Through Their Eyes
featurette and feature length audio commentary track by Villeneuve.
Finally
we have another film by Fernando Di Leo from Raro Video. To Be
Twenty (1978) has had several editions because of censorship issues, but it
is a very interesting film and one worth taking out the time to see both
versions of. Essentially, two beautiful
young ladies (Gloria Guida and Lilli Carati) meet and find out they have much
in common towards the end of the counterculture. It is a comedy with some sexuality and even
offers more highly charged political humor in the Italian version that
usual. However, there is a big twist in
the last reel that wants to be a surprise, make a big statement and be
shocking, yet it is not as surprising considering the content that preceded it
despite being a comedy with the liberated brand of sexuality and nudity.
The U.S. edition
actually takes that final reel and recycles it as a totally different incident,
then moves on to make the film an even more sex and nudity emphasized film as
the dubbing dumps almost all the political dialogue and with few hints of
politics trivializes it. Also, new music
and more music have been added to make it more of a fun teen movie romp of the
time. This works in its own way, but is
absolutely a trashing of the original film.
However, it is amusing in its own ways and I am glad it was included
here.
Extras
include that U.S.
version of the film on a second DVD, a nicely illustrated booklet that includes
technical info and analysis by Nathaniel Thompson, Bio/Filmography text, Photo
Gallery, Original Screenplay and Twenty Years
For A Massacre documentary. This is
definitely a set worth going out of your way for.
The 1080p
1.66 X 1 Paradiso and 1.85 X 1 Life digital High Definition image
transfers are from older HD masters and this results in the image looking older
and softer. As compared to the 1.78 X 1
HD Australian Blu-ray, this new Paradiso
disc is clearer, a little sharper, a little brighter, has some more depth and
detail, but comes up short in color accuracy and color range. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Incendies is best with fine
color, depth and definition without the usual color gutting and other
embarrassing embellishments we are seeing on far too many films. Director of Photography André Turpin does an
impressive job of bringing a varied, believable visual style throughout the
film, but the anamorphically enhanced DVD also included is no match for the
Blu-ray. The anamorphically enhanced 1.85
X 1 image on both versions of Twenty
look good, but the slightly shorter, reedited U.S. version actually has better
depth, clarity, detail and notable color throughout to the point that some of
that footage should have been edited into the original Italian version as this
is a good looking film.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on Life and Incendies are
fine performers throughout, though more surprising for the older Life, these are impressive soundtracks
for dramas with so much dialogue. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Paradiso has a little more clarity, detail and depth than the
standard DTS on the Australian Blu-ray, but the sound is too much towards the
front channels still, so we can only hope the film will sound more dynamic when
longer cuts arrive on Blu-ray down the line.
That leaves Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono in both Italian and English dub on Twenty that more than show their age
with some distortion, obvious looping in
- Nicholas Sheffo
