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Category:    Home > Reviews > Western > Action > Drama > Revenge > Spaghetti > Italy > Sex > Melodrama > Shorts > Django Prepare A Coffin (1968)/The Story Of Sin (1975/MVD Visual/Arrow Blu-ray w/DVD Sets)

Django Prepare A Coffin (1968)/The Story Of Sin (1975/MVD Visual/Arrow Blu-ray w/DVD Sets)



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



Now for yet more interesting foreign films of the past from Arrow...



Django Prepare A Coffin


American audiences hear ''Django'' in a title these days, they no doubt make a connection to Tarantino's Django Unchained, which grew its inspiration from 1960s - 70s Spaghetti Westerns, such as Django Prepare A Coffin (1968) directed by Ferdinando Baldi. Also starring Ferdinando Baldi (They Call Me Trinity) as Django, rather than Franco Nero (who played the role in the two most famous films in the series, reviewed elsewhere on this site) another man who was famously known for the role, the revenge film has great action, inspiring cinematography and editing, and a fantastic score.


The film also features Terence Hill, Horst Frank and George Eastman.


Hired as an executioner for a Politician who is framing innocent men to get his hands on their property holdings, Django (Baldi) soon finds himself gunned down by the man who hired him and his wife murdered in cold blood. Using the other men who were wronged by his enemy as his allies, Django pulls off the ultimate revenge scheme in this wild Revenge Western.


Presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen 1.66:1 aspect ratio and two LPCM Mono tracks - both in Italian and English, the film looks pristine on Blu-ray. Predominantly yellow tones dominate the exterior scenes and interiors have high contrast and nice detail on the subjects.


Also included is a standard definition DVD with the same widescreen specs and a mono track that is fine for the format, but secondary to the Blu-ray. New English subs were also done for this release and an English SDH track on the English audio version.


Special Features...


Django Explained - A new interview with Spaghetti Western expert and author Kevin Grant


Original Trailer


FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet by critic and Spaghetti Western expert Howard Hughes



If you're a fan of westerns, this is definitely worth the price tag!



The Story of Sin


A film by Walerian Borowczyk, Story of Sin (1975) is a visually stunning erotic journey starring Grazyna Dlugolecka, Jerzy Zelnik, Olgierd Lukaszewicz, Roman Wilhelmi, and Marek Walczewski. While not partially this reviewer's cup of tea, this loaded release from Arrow Films will certainly please fans of the genre with a fantastic restoration with quite a lot of detail and loads of extras that shed light on the film's production.


The story tells the lustful and perverse story of a woman who stars a repressed sexual life, but soon meets a young man and falls in love but soon that love ends in divorce. After having a child, she soon finds herself on a journey spanning Rome, Germany, and France on a search for her husband - who she soon finds out has remarried a very rich woman. Things from here get even more complicated as gets involved with two con men and soon slips into a desperate life of prostitution. Certainly not a cherry or uplifting film, The Story of Sin is just that - and may be hard for some to stomach.


Presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and a nice sounding Polish LPCM Mono track, the presentation on the disc is quite clean and impressive. A new 2K restoration from the original 35mm negative are used for this film as well as of Borowczyk's ground-breaking Polish shorts: Once Upon a Time (co-directed by Jan Lenica), Dom (co-directed by Lenica) and The School, with optional audio commentaries by art historian Szymon Bojko (Once Upon a Time), composer Wlodzimierz Kotonsk (Dom) and Daniel Bird (The School) original film negative, along with a new subtitle translation, the film has never looked or sounded as good as it does here. Also included is a standard definition DVD of the film with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio and a 1.0 Mono track, the film looks good on both formats included but shines particularly bright on Blu-ray.


Special Features include...


Feature length audio commentary by Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger


New introduction by poster designer Andrzej Klimowski


The First Sinner, a new interview with Story of Sin lead actor Grazyna Dlugolecka


The Music Box, film critic and documentarian David Thompson on the use of classic music in Borowczyk's films


Stories of Sin, a video essay by Daniel Bird (co-founder Friends of Walerian Borowczyk) concerning the director's obsessions


Miscellaneous, a video essay on Borowczyk and Lenica's contributions to newsreels and documentaries on art history


Street Art, a short news reel documentary about poster art co-written by Borowczyk

Tools of the Trade, an interview with Juliusz Zamecznik, son of photographer and graphic artist Wojciech Zamecznik


Poster Girl, an interview with poster artist, illustrator and print maker Teresa Byszewska, who appears (briefly) in Dom


Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Andrzej Klimowski


FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully illustrated collector's booklet featuring new and archival writing, including an exclusive interview with the producer of Story of Sin, director Stanislaw Rozewicz; a text by art historian and one-time Borowczyk collaborator, Szymon Bojko; and excerpts from Borowczyk's memoirs presented in English for the first time.



- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/


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