A Special Day Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

A Special Day Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 26, 2015

Nominated for Oscar Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor in a Leading Role, Ettore Scola's "A Special Day" a.k.a. "Una giornata particolare" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interview with the Italian director; new video interview with Sophia Loren; archival interview filmed for the The Dick Cavett Show; and Edoardo Ponti's short film "Human Voice" (2014). The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring film critic Deborah Young's essay "Small Victories". In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"There's a line in your album that a man must be a husband, a father, and a soldier. I'm not a husband, a father, or a soldier."

It is the monumental day everyone in the Eternal City has been waiting for. Adolf Hitler and his generals have arrived to meet Benito Mussolini and form a union that will redraw the map of Europe.

Somewhere on the outskirts of the city, Antonietta (Sophia Loren, Boccaccio '70), a jaded housewife in her late forties, has just sent her entire family to greet the special guest. She has been up for hours and already feels tired but plans to clean up the tiny apartment she shares with her husband (John Vernon, Dirty Harry) and six children.

Gabriele (Marcelo Mastroianni, La Dolce Vita) is Antonietta’s neighbor and quite possibly the only other person in the entire building. He is quietly stamping letters and placing them next to a loaded gun.

When Antonietta’s mynah bird escapes and flies on the opposite side of the building, she comes knocking on Gabriele’s door. Together they catch the little bird and then begin talking. During the rest of the day, they warm up to each other and share secrets that profoundly change their outlook on life.

Excluding the long prologue which features documentary footage from Hitler and Mussolini’s historic meeting and a few panoramic shots that show the large crowds heading to the fascist parade, the entire film takes place inside the building where Antonietta and Gabriele reside. Unsurprisingly, in a way the film feels like an elaborate theatrical play.

The two protagonists could not be any more different. Antonietta is a conservative woman who believes in Mussolini’s vision and admires his character. She also respects her husband, a clumsy fascist officer, even though he frequently mistreats her. When he does she thinks about her life and some of the bitter disappointments she has endured, but most of the time she is too tired to be unhappy. Gabriele is a progressive bachelor who has recently been fired from his position in a local radio station. For a long period of time he has been leading a double life, but his secret has been exposed and now he is blacklisted by the authorities. These important details are revealed in different parts of the film while Antonietta and Gabriele slowly bare their souls.

There is a physical attraction between them, but initially it is fueled only by a seemingly inexorable need to share their frustration. They both sense that the other person has been living with the frustration for a long time. Then a surprising confession creates a temporary gap between them and with it the attraction is shifted in an entirely different context. The rest of the film is essentially a very quiet condemnation of the values and beliefs that defined the Italian state during Mussolini’s era.

Ettore Scola, the director of A Special Day, entered the film business as a screenwriter in 1953. He worked closely with the likes of Mario Mattoli, Antonio Pietrangeli, and Dino Risi before he completed his first film, Let's Talk About Women, in 1964.

A Special Day is widely regarded one of Scola’s best films. It is a delicate but bold film featuring unforgettable performances from two of Italy’s greatest actors, Loren and Mastroianni, who both considered it a high point in their careers.

Scola shot the film with the great cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis, who is probably best known for his numerous collaborations with Luchino Visconti (The Damned, Death in Venice, L'Innocente).

Criterion’s Blu-ray release of A Special Day is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration of the film. Director Scola and cinematographer Luciano Tovoli (The Passenger, Suspiria) supervised the color grading process to restore the unique look of De Santis' photography. Last year, the restoration won Venezia Classici Award for Best Restored Film at the Venice Film Festival.

A Special Day Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ettore Scola's A Special Day arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"The restoration was undertaken by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia--Cineteca Nazionale in Rome in 2014. This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the 35mm original negative at L'immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, where, under the supervision of director Ettore Scola, the film was also restored.

Color correction: Ettore Scola, Luciano Tovoli."

A Special Day, the first film from the great Italian director Ettore Scola to transition to Blu-ray in the United States, looks magnificent in high-definition. Obviously, the most sizable improvements are in the area of color reproduction. There is a prominent diffused gray tint that gives the film a very distinctive period look. It is the type of look one would expect from faded photographs -- there are no true whites but grays and blacks appear in different varieties. Detail, clarity and depth are outstanding. Notable fluctuations exist only during the archival footage that is seen in the prologue. Grain is evenly distributed and resolved. The film looks very sharp, but there are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is outstanding. Lastly, the film is notably healthy -- there are no debris, cuts, damage marks, dirt spots, stains, or torn frames. All in all, this is a fabulous restoration of A Special Day whose enthusiastic reception at the Venice Film Festival in 2014 is obviously well deserved. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

A Special Day Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main features.

There is little in the film in terms of dynamic movement that would make an impression on you. However, Armando Trovajoli's gentle score does open up the film in select areas. (A Special Day is essentially a chamber piece so dynamic intensity really is quite limited). Depth is excellent. The dialog is very crisp, clean, stable, and always easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.

A Special Day Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - restored original trailer for A Special Day. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• Ettore Scola - in this brand new video interview, Ettore Scola discusses his career as a journalist at Marc' Aurelio, his work as a screenwriter and his first feature film, Let's Talk About Women, his political orientation, Italy's fascist past and Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini's historic meeting, the archival footage in the beginning of A Special Day and cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis' unique photography, his work for the great producer Carlo Ponti, his interaction with Sophia Loren and friendship with Marcello Mastroianni, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Rome in May 2015. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (22 min, 1080i).

• Sophia Loren - in this brand new video interview, Sophia Loren recalls her initial encounter with director Ettore Scola and her fear of playing Antonietta in A Special Day, and discusses her special relationship with Marcello Mastroianni, the delicate love scene, the film's reception at the Cannes Film Festival, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in Geneva in June 2015. In English, not subtitled. (15 min, 1080p).

• The Dick Cavett Show - presented here is an archival interview with Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni which was filmed for The Dick Cavett Show while the two stars were in New York to promote A Special Day. The long interview is broken into two episodes which were originally broadcast on October 10 and November 4, 1977.
  
  1. Part I (October 10, 1977) - the two actors discuss their professional relationship and friendship, their chemistry before the camera (in various films), the lives they left behind after they entered the film business, the delicate nature of A Special Day and its characters, some of the popular cliches the film avoids, etc. In English, not subtitled. (29 min, 1080i).
  
  2. Part II (November 4, 1977) - in this episode, Sophia Lauren talks about her work with Charlie Chaplin, Marcello Mastroianni's inability to work early in the morning, the key themes in A Special Day, etc. Marcello Mastroianni explains how he was approached by Federico Fellini to play his character in La Dolce Vita, why he isn't a Latin Love Machine (hilarious segment), why bigotry was still alive and well in Italy during the '70s, etc. In English, not subtitled. (29 min, 1080i).

• Human Voice/La Voce Umana (2014) - presented here is Edoardo Ponti's (son of Sophia Loren and producer Carlo Ponti) short film Human Voice, which inspired by Jean Cocteau's 1930 play La voix humaine. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (26 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - illustrated leaflet featuring Deborah Young's essay "Small Victories". (The author is based in Rome and is the international film editor of the Hollywood Reporter).

A Special Day Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A jaded housewife and a blacklisted radio announcer meet on a historic day in the Eternal City and share secrets that profoundly change their outlook on life in this quiet but very moving film from the great director Ettore Scola. Hopefully, this new Blu-ray release of A Special Day is one of many from Criterion as Scola is one of the true giants of Italian cinema. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.