6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Foreign | 100% |
Drama | 64% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Antonio Pietrangeli's "Adua e le compagne" a.k.a. "Adua and Her Friends" (1960) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video U.S. The supplemental features on the disc include a video introduction by Italian film historian Maurizio Poro and a segment from the omnibus "Amori di mezzo secolo" a.k.a. "Mid-Century Loves" (1954). The release also arrives with a 12-page illustrated booklet featuring Bruno Di Marino's essay "Prospectus" and more. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
Adua and her friends
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Antonio Pietrangeli's Adua and Her Friends arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video.
I've owned four different releases of Adua and Her Friends and from what I can tell Raro Video's Blu-ray release uses as a foundation the old Italian restoration of the film that was initially introduced via the Cinema Forever series. During the DVD era, this Italian release, which was not English-friendly, offered the best technical presentation of the film on the home video market. Unfortunately, the old master apparently has some of that very light scanner noise and sharpening that make a good number of these classic Italian films look a bit harsh when they transition to Blu-ray. The relatively good news here is that the scanner noise is not too prominent and, more importantly, no recent attempts have been made to tone it down with powerful digital tools. (Take a look at Cecchi Gori's release of Seduced and Abandoned to see how poor the end result can be after such corrections). Unsurprisingly, while it is quite obvious that the film could have a far more pleasing organic appearance, it is very much watchable and on larger screens there are actually some quite obvious improvements in terms of detail over the existing R1 DVD release. (Screencaptures #21-25 are upscaled and have been taken from the R1 DVD release mentioned above). Contrast levels remain stable. During the darker sequences, the Blu-ray release also eliminates the macroblocking that is visible on the DVD release. There are no large debris, cuts, stains, or scratches. Overall image stability is also very good. Finally, I noticed quite a few artifacts popping up here and there that could have been avoided with better encoding. All in all, this is undoubtedly the best English-friendly technical presentation of Adua and Her Friends that I have seen, but there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the film can have a far more convincing organic appearance. Currently, there are simply too many of the typical limitations that we've come to expect from older masters produced in Italy during the DVD era. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 2.0. For the record, Raro Video have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.
The audio track is excellent. Depth and clarity are outstanding, and Piero Piccioni's energetic score easily breathes throughout the entire film. The dialog is crisp, stable, completely free of background hiss, and very easy to follow. For the record, there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.
After owning four different releases of Antonio Pietrangeli's Adua and Her Friends, I am fairly certain that Raro Video's Blu-ray release will remain the definitive English-friendly release of this excellent film. Unfortunately, the film can and should look much better on Blu-ray. This being said, if you have already seen the film and are wondering if the Blu-ray release offers any improvements over the old non-anamorphic British DVD release and the more recent anamorphic U.S. DVD release, the answer is yes, it most certainly does. So, even though what we have here is an imperfect Blu-ray release, the film is a minor masterpiece and should have a reserved spot in the library of anyone with even a passing interest in Italian Neorealism.
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