Cinema
Paradiso: 25th Anniversary Edition
(1988/2 versions/Arrow Blu-ray Set)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B
Giuseppe
Tornatore's incredible film Cinema
Paradiso
(1998) finally gets the Blu-ray treatment it deserves with this
impressive new release from Arrow. A beautifully made and well acted
film, Cinema
Paradiso
is a must see for filmmakers and movie lovers for that matter. An
accomplished film in the festival circuit, the film won the Best
Foreign Language Film Oscar, 5 BAFTA Awards including Best Actor,
Original Screenplay and Score, the Grand Prize of the Jury at the
Cannes Film Festival and many more. People still just love this
film.
A
well-executed coming of age period drama, the film centers around an
accomplished filmmaker who recalls his childhood where he fell in the
love with cinema and his unique and very special friendship with the
cinema's projectionist (Philippe Noriet).
Cinema
Paradiso
also stars Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Isa Danieli, Leo
Gullotta, Marco Leonardi, and Pupella Maggio.
This
edition includes two versions of the film: The Theatrical Cut (02:03)
or the considerably longer Director's Cut (2:53) - this is the first
time the Director's Cut has been issued on Blu-ray disc. As for the
presentation, we are treated here by a newly restored transfer from
the original 35mm camera negative tat looks fantastic. The film is
presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen and a nice
sounding uncompressed original PCM Stereo 2.0 audio track and
optional English subtitles, all from the original camera and
soundmaster materials.
The
presentation is fantastic and up to standards with a 1080p high
definition transfer and a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.67:1 (original
1.66:1) and a superb lossless Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track
that is nearly flawless. Also included are Italian tracks in LPCM
Mono and 2.0. The film simply looks great in this release, superior
to other releases I've seen in the past.
Special
Features...
Giuseppe
Tornatore's A Dream of Sicily
Documentary
A
Bear and a Mouse in Paradise
Documentary
The
Kissing Sequence
Original
Trailer
Booklet
featuring new writing on the film
A
solid film and a solid presentation, this one is worth the price.
For
more on the film, you can read about the two Blu-ray editions of the
shorter versions we previously reviewed, including an import....
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11080/Cinema+Paradiso+(1988/Umbrella+Region+Free+B
...and
the U.S. Miramax edition...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11229/Cinema+Paradiso+(1988/Miramax/Lionsgate+U.S
They
were fine for their time, but Arrow's version outperforms them on
every level.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
