7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A man takes his revenge on the family responsible for his wrongful sentence to ten years of hard labor.
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Peter Carsten, Marcella Michelangeli, Guido Lollobrigida, Antonio CantaforaForeign | 100% |
Western | 21% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Vengeance Trails: Four Classic Westerns.
There may be a popular category of film described by the unwashed masses with the term "Spaghetti Westerns", but some of the
supplements included in this new Arrow collection prefer the more geographically (and/or gastronomically) diverse "Euro Westerns" as a rubric. The
four films aggregated in this collection probably could easily fit into the "Spaghetti Western" mold, since there are in fact Italians by the
bucket load involved in the productions, and as is discussed in some of those aforementioned supplements, there's little doubt that the huge success
of Sergio Leone's films helped to spark the international craze for such efforts, whatever you want to call them. The films offer production dates
ranging from 1966 to 1970 and feature several iconic names associated with the genre, including Franco Nero, George Hilton and Klaus Kinski, and as
the back cover of the slipbox mentions, all four have at least a subtext involving revenge to help catapult the dramatic momentum.
And God Said to Cain is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet separates this film from its three "siblings" to provide the following information:
And God Said to Cain is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 [sic] with Italian and English mono audio. The Italian version of the film was restored by Movietime. Additional work was undertaken by Arrow to restore the English main and end titles and the English mono soundtrack.While it's maybe a little odd that the insert booklet doesn't overtly reference this having been sourced off of the negative, as is the case with the other three films in this set, the back cover of the actual keepcase does state that this is another 2K restoration from the negative and this another presentation where quality is secure, with detail levels generally very commendable and the palette nicely suffused, especially in the outdoor scenes. While some of the other transfers looked just slightly brown to my eyes, this one has a somewhat jaundiced appearance that seems to have yellow undertones at times, something that can occasionally push reds toward orange territory. A lot of this story plays out in very dark circumstances, which obviously can offer challenges for consistent detail levels to shine through. In that regard, there are some longer sequences late in the film that were either shot day for night or filtered toward blue, and these are arguably the roughest looking moments in the presentation, where detail levels aren't as fulsome and where shadow definition in particular can be minimal. Grain looks naturally and encounters no resolution issues. My score is 4.25.
And God Said to Cain features DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mixes in Italian and English, and this is the one film in this set where, if I did perceive any amplitude differences between the tracks, they were exceedingly minor. Both tracks offer nicely full bodied delivery of dialogue, effects and score (repeated use of organ cues sound especially powerful), though I have to say lip movements are often almost comically out of step with sounds in either language, which makes me wonder what languages some of the performers (other than Kinski) may have been speaking on set. Optional English subtitles are available.
And God Said to Cain may be the most interesting film in this set for some viewers, not necessarily due to the involvement of Klaus Kinski, but more so due to the fact that director Antonio Margheriti, himself no stranger to the horror idiom, is able to invest the film with such a deliberately Gothic atmosphere. The overarching darkness of the settings may not promote the greatest fine detail levels, but technical merits are generally solid and the supplementary package very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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Hai Phuong
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