Big
Deal on Madonna Street: 20 Years Later
Picture: C-
Sound: C- Extras: C- Film: C+
It’s incredible how dry ideas run when someone actually
conjures up the idea to make a follow-up sequel to a film that is a
parody/send-up to a previous film. Talk
about a copy of a copy! Not only that,
but where Big Deal on Madonna Street
was just as brilliant as the film it spoofed (Rififi), but it more-or-less simply took on a comedic version of
the same plotline. This is much
different than most spoofs of today, which combines various sources and compile
them together into a film that essentially has little plot or for that matter,
point.
So how does this 20 year later sequel hold up? Well, in fact the film takes place 20 years
later, despite much more time happening since Big Deal on Madonna Street was released in 1958, 3 years after Rififi broke new barriers in crime
filmmaking. It holds up about as well
as someone might expect. Obviously we
are not expected near the same flare or charm as the original, but it’s perhaps
a step above what U.S. audiences are accustomed to on a normal basis
anyway. The film does star Marcello
Mastroianni, which is a big plus along with other great actors, but it seems
like they are just doing this for the heck of it more than anything else.
Picture quality is incredibly poor looking like a very out
of date analog transfer that looks closer to VHS quality. The 1.66 X 1 image is letterboxed, but does
not appear to be anamorphically enhanced. This does not help in making the film
accessible. Colors are poorly rendered
and softness is abundant. Sound is
equally weak with 1.0 mono being the only option. The only extra is the original Italian trailer and that makes
this DVD release from Koch a hard sale given that the quality and extras are
both poor, plus the film is a novelty item that will most likely only appeal to
those that are big fans of Big Deal on
Madonna Street.
- Nate Goss
