L’Automobile (1971/Raro DVD)/Top Gear 17 (2011/BBC Blu-ray)

 

Picture: C+/B-     Sound: C+/B-     Extras: B-     Film/Episodes: B-/B

 

 

If you love cars, you will want to check out these next releases.

 

 

Originally an Italian telefilm when international television in the free world was in its last golden period, Alfredo Giannetti’s L’Automobile (1971) stars Anna Magnani as an older woman bored with life and thinking on what that has meant as she comes across an idea that suddenly excites her: owning a car.  In a world of (literally, likely by the choice of the makers) subcompact boring grey economy cars, she eventually lands on a Fiat 850 Sport Spyder convertible and finds a new fun with life and energy in it.

 

Magnani is great here, giving a serious acting performance at first, then slowly showing her knack for great comic acting.  Her character never holds back what she is thinking and Giannetti also wants to make a political comment on the limits of consumerism, but it is not as effective as the same things said by Godard in Weekend (1967) or what Tati said in PlayTime (also 1967, see Blu-rays elsewhere on this site) or Trafic (1972) better.  Still, I enjoyed this and this has some very funny moments.  This is also one of the best Italian classic releases Raro has issued to date.  Extras include a PDF of a booklet on the film Raro would have otherwise included as a print booklet, a trailer and a video introduction by Mario Sesti.

 

40 years later, we go to Top Gear 17, the latest season of the revived BBC classic offering more great cars and fun.  This time, highlights include the very oversized Marauder (a vehicle that makes the Hummer look like an economy car), a revival of the Jaguar E-type including a tribute to the original, a report on another XK-E revival, the new Aston Martin Virage, a brief first look picture of the Aston Martin Zagato, the amazing new McLaren MP4-12C, the new Jaguar XKR-S, the Lotus T125 formula racer, a production revival of the Jensen Interceptor and the stunning Lamborghini Avantador, their new V12 superexoticar.

 

The trio of Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson are as great as ever and it is pretty much the best TV series of its kind on either side of the Atlantic.  Glad these seasons continue to come out on Blu-ray.  Extras on this double set include a bonus episode from the new U.S. Top Gear I am not a big fan of, but is reviewed elsewhere on this site, internet preview clips and behind the scenes of celebrities in reasonably priced cars, including Rowan Atkinson and others I will save as a surprise for those who get the set.

The 1.33 X 1 image on L’Automobile has good color and was shot on 35mm film by Director of Photography Pasqualino De Santis, looking better than most telefilms today and so good, you could mistake this for a theatrical film release.  The DVD has some softness issues and the DVD limits what the print offers, even if the print shows it age in parts.  I would love to see a Blu-ray of this one.  The 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Gear once again offering some older footage at times, stylized shooting when the cars are initially tested and other minor anomalies as an HD production.  Otherwise, there are great shots of the cars and even locales in various segments that always make this fun to watch.

 

Both releases offer lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks, but L’Automobile is clean and clear monophonic sound for its age (though all the dialogue is dubbed as was typical for Italian productions until recently) and has a score by no less than Ennio Morricone, while Gear is Stereo with some healthy Pro Logic surrounds.

 

For more Top Gear, try these links:

 

10 DVD

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8537/Top+Gear+10+%E2%80%93+The+Co

 

11 - 13 DVD, 14 & 15 Blu-ray

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10784/Top+Gear+%E2%80%93+Seasons+1

 

16 Blu-ray

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11120/David+Cronenberg%E2%80%99s+Fas

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo