20 sigarette Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

20 sigarette Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 15, 2011

Winner of Young Cinema Award for Best Italian Film and Pasinetti Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, Aureliano Amadei's 20 sigarette a.k.a 20 cigarettes (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors Cecchi Gori. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original Italian theatrical trailer; audio commentary by director Aureliano Amadei; raw footage from the shooting of the film; storyboard comparison; deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by director Aureliano Amadei; and TV spots. In Italian, with optional English and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Iraq-bound Italian soldiers

It was an offer 28-year-old Aureliano Amadei (Vinicio Marchioni) simply could not refuse - working as an assistant director on a documentary film about the war in Iraq. He did not know much about the war, aside from the fact that President Bush had started it, but shooting a film and getting paid to do it sounded a lot better and a lot more exciting to him than being in Rome. A day after he was approached with the offer, Aureliano packed his bags, made love to his girlfriend, and then left Italy.

In Iraq, Aureliano felt at home. The Italian soldiers who escorted him to the military base where he was to spend a month looked exactly like him - young and enthusiastic, happy to be employed. They constantly joked and talked about girls and football. Aureliano felt that many of them could have been his best friends back in Rome.

A day after he landed in Iraq, Aureliano joined director Stefano Rolla (Giorgio Colangeli) and his small crew – only a couple of young soldiers - and they headed to Nasiriyah, a relatively quiet town. They were supposed to reach a small Italian base on the outskirts of Nasiriyah, interview some of the soldiers there, film the area, and then come back.

Aureliano and the crew reached Nasiriyah without a problem. However, moments after they entered the Italian base and shook hands with the soldiers, a suicide bomber drove a large truck into the heart of the base and killed everyone but Aureliano.

Director Aureliano Amadei’s 20 sigarette a.k.a 20 Cigarettes documents a true story – his trip to Iraq in November 2003, when he was nearly killed by a suicide bomber. After he returned to Rome, he wrote a book about his experience and later on directed 20 sigarette, his first feature film.

The film is formally divided into two parts. The first has a light, comic tone. Aureliano is seen having a rather difficult time trying to decide whether to extend his relationship with his sexy Brazilian lover or officially commit to his Italian girlfriend (played by rising star Carolina Crescentini). When the important offer arrives, he immediately agrees to go to Iraq because it is a way out for him from the complicated situation.

The second part is drastically different. It is gritty, very dark, with the footage from Iraq looking as if it has been borrowed from a real documentary. After the action moves back to Rome, Aureliano is seen in the middle of a strange media storm, surrounded by people who have absolutely no idea what he has experienced in Iraq, but eager to congratulate him and be seen next to his hospital bed.

20 sigarette is not a political film. It simply documents the tragic experience of a young man whose only perceptions and expectations about Iraq were created by the media. Like many other young men, he landed there with plenty of hope - he was employed and convinced that he could make a difference. Before he could finish a pack of cigarettes, he nearly lost his life.

The film boasts excellent production values, Cinematographer Vittorio Omodei Zorini’s sharp lensing, in particular, reminds about Barry Ackroyd’s terrific work on Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker. Mario Iaquone and Giuseppe D'Amato’s sound effects are also top-notch.

Note: In 2010, 20 Sigarette won numerous awards at the Venice Film Festival, including Young Cinema Award for Best Italian Film, Pasinetti Award for Best Film, and Kodak Award. This year the film also won three David di Donatello Awards, including Best Visual Effects and Best Editing (Alessio Doglione).

20 sigarette Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Aureliano Amadei's 20 sigarette arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors Cecchi Gori.

The footage from Italy and the footage from Iraq have very little in common. The former looks crisp and fresh, favoring plenty of bright colors. Detail is excellent and contrast and clarity levels consistent up to the moment when Aureliano boards the plane. The latter looks raw and gritty. When natural light is restricted clarity levels occasionally fluctuate, while colors come in all sorts of wild variations. Of course, the notably gritty look and various fluctuations are intended - just like the audio effects that enhance the visuals after the suicide bomber destroys the Italian base. Artifacts, ringing, and banding do not plague the high-definition transfer. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review either. All in all, the presentation is of exceptionally high quality. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

20 sigarette Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Cecchi Gori have provided optional English and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature. Please note that you have to set the disc's main menu in English -- as soon as the disc loads up, you will be asked to select an Italian or English interface/menu -- to be able to use the optional English subtitles.

The Italian DTS-HD Master Audio track is great. The shootouts and especially the explosions sound fantastic. During the second half of the film, after Aureliano and the film crew enter Nasiriyah, there are also some outstanding surround effects. Many of these surround effects are on par with the ones heard on The Hurt Locker Blu-ray release. The dialog is crisp, clean, and easy to follow. The English translation is very good.

20 sigarette Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - an outstanding audio commentary by director Aureliano Amadei, who explains in detail what took place Nasiriyah and how he coped with his injuries after he returned to Rome. The Italian director also discusses why he decided to tell his story, how 20 sigarette came to exist, etc. The audio commentary is entirely in English. An Italian version of the commentary is also available if you set the main menu in Italian.

• Deleted Scenes - a gallery of deleted scenes, with an audio commentary by director Aureliano Amadei. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (9 min, PAL).

• Backstage - raw footage from the shooting of the film. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (13 min, PAL).

• Storyboard - storyboard comparison. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (4 min, PAL).

• Trailer - the original Italian theatrical trailer for 20 sigarette. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, PAL).

• TV Spots - two TV spots for 20 sigarette. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (1 min, PAL).

20 sigarette Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

20 sigarette tells a tragic true story - that of its director, Aureliano Amadei, who in 2003 traveled to Iraq to shoot a documentary film and was nearly killed by a suicide bomber. The film is incredibly well acted and impressively lensed. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Italian distributors Cecchi Gori, looks and sounds great. It also contains a wealth of excellent supplemental features, including a very informative audio commentary, in English, by director Aureliano Amadei. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.