Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Before the Revolution Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 18, 2012

Nominated for Silver Ribbon Award for Best Actress, Bernardo Bertolucci's "Prima della rivoluzione" a.k.a. "Before the Revolution" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features include original theatrical trailer; extract from the Italian TV series Cinema d'oggi; interviews with editor Roberto Perpignani, assistant cameraman Vittorio Storaro, and Bernardo Bertolucci; Q&A session with Bernardo Bertolucci; and more. The release also arrives with a 20-page illustrated booklet. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Those who have not lived the years before the revolution cannot realize the sweetness of life." Talleyrand

Set in Parma, Bernardo Bertolucci’s second feature film tells the story of a young man with a bourgeois background, Fabrizio (Francesco Barilli), who falls madly in love with his older aunt, Gina (Adriana Asti, A Brief Vacation).

The real focus of attention, however, is not so much on Fabrizio and Gina’s affair, but on the young man’s identity struggle. Angered by the unjust socio-political conditions in his country, Fabrizio is faced with a difficult dilemma: choose Marxism and join the proletarian movement or be part of the bourgeois intelligentsia.

For a while, it looks like Fabrizio would side with the Marxists. While spending time with Gina, he often talks about the imminent revolution that will profoundly change his country. He is also openly hostile to organized religion, seeing and treating it as a distraction, an unfortunate escape for the masses from reality.

But as Fabrizio’s relationship with Gina becomes more intense, his anger also begins to subside. Eventually, he begins questioning himself and his involvement with Gina, which has caused him to largely ignore his beautiful fiancée Clelia (Cristina Pariset).

Meanwhile, Gina also slowly begins to drift away from Fabrizio. The time spent with him is a nice distraction from boredom, but she is fully aware that their relationship is doomed. Still, she finds Fabrizio irresistible because he is not yet a real man – he is driven by his passion, honest about his feelings, and unattached to the values that subdue men as they grow old and create families.

A casual liaison effectively separates Fabrizio and Gina. Fabrizio begins to reevaluate his political beliefs and allegiances and concludes that he has "a nostalgia for the present". He realizes that while dreaming about the perfect future he has ignored the beauty of the imperfect present. Gina, who has been suffering from anxiety attacks, reunites with an old friend who gives her comfort but not the love she needs.

Fabrizio and Gina meet one last time, in the Parma Opera House, both still attracted to each other but fully aware that their lives have profoundly changed.

Loosely based on Stendhal's 1839 novel The Charterhouse of Parma, Before the Revolution is arguably one of the most beautiful films about maturation ever made. Bertolucci was only 23 years old when he completed it and like Fabrizio very much struggled with his identity. He had also embraced political ideas and beliefs, some quite radical, and fallen in love with an older woman. As times changed so did his enthusiasm for the new world he dreamed about and disdain for the world he lived in.

The film chronicles this transitional period in which a young dreamer is slowly defeated. At times it bursts with energy, and it looks like Bertolucci tries to deliver a scolding political statement with it, but there are also sequences where the film comes to a standstill, the energy and anger suddenly disappearing in a sea of beautiful close-ups of the two lovers.

Because of the unevenness, the film could be somewhat ambiguous, but only to those viewers who have never experienced what Bertolucci and his protagonist have. To be clear, there is an ongoing clash of ideas on display, reflecting the identity struggle, and these ideas constantly affect the tone and tempo of the film. However, anyone who has ever truly believed that real change is possible and then been disappointed will immediately recognize how incredibly accurate the film is.

The unique camera work and framing clearly show the enormous influence Jean-Luc Godard’s work had on Bertolucci. Yet the film clearly has its own identity and style.

Note: In 1964, Before the Revolution was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1965, it was nominated for Silver Ribbon Award for Best Actress (Adriana Asti) at the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Awards.

Before the Revolution Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.83:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bernardo Bertolucci's Before the Revolution arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the BFI.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray disc:

"Before the Revolution was transferred in High Definition from the original 35mm camera negative and scanned on Spirit Datacine by RBC. The mono soundtrack was remastered and restored from a 35mm optical soundtrack. Digital restoration systems were used to stabilize frames and to remove dirt, scratches, and warps, improving both picture and sound.

BFI Technical Producers: James White and Douglas Weir."

The Blu-ray release of Before the Revolution represents a massive upgrade in quality over the old R2 2DVD set Italian distributors RHV (Ripley's Home Video) produced. Detail is dramatically improved, both during close-ups (see screencapture #5) and during panoramic shots (see screencapture #16), while clarity is simply on an entirely different level. There are sequences, such as the one screencapture #2 is taken from, where there are entire objects that can be seen now (when Gina walks in, for instance, she throws a small coin on the bad which is impossible to see on the DVD release). Color grading and color stability are also dramatically improved, with the blacks, in particular, looking far better defined. There is a whiff of extremely light sharpening occasionally creeping in, but when projecting the film it is virtually impossible to spot. Grain is present throughout the entire film, but with improved compression most likely it would be even better exposed. If a Criterion Blu-ray release of this film eventually materializes, this will be one area of the presentation that will be interesting to compare. All in all, this is a competent release that is guaranteed to please fans of the film. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Before the Revolution Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Italian LPCM 2.0. For the record, the BFI have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. I did a number of comparisons with the lossy track from the R2 DVD and clearly depth, dynamic range and stability far better on the lossless track. Anyone with a decent audio system will immediately notice how far richer Ennio Morricone's score and Verdi's excerpts sound (in addition to not being PAL-pitched). Also, the dialog is crisp, stable, and completely free of background hiss. The English translation is excellent.

Before the Revolution Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Blu-ray

• Trailer - original Italian theatrical trailer for Before the Revolution. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

DVD

• Before the Revolution: Working Copy - a series of comparisons between the working and final versions of the film. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (31 min, PAL).

• Trailer - original Italian theatrical trailer for Before the Revolution. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (3 min, PAL).

• On the set of Before the Revolution - an extract from the Italian TV series Cinema d'oggi with short comments by young Bernardo Bertolucci. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (5 min, PAL).

• Interview - in this long and very informative video interview, Bernardo Bertolucci recalls how Before the Revolution came to exist, and discusses the film's themes and construction, the relationship between the two protagonists, the connection between the film and Stendhal's 1839 novel The Charterhouse of Parma, etc. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (46 min, PAL).

• The Workshop of the Young Masters - three video interviews. In Italian, with optional English subtitles.
  
  -- Roberto Perpignani - editor Roberto Perpignani discusses the style and editing of Before the Revolution. (12 min, PAL).
  
  -- Vittorio Storaro - assistant cameraman and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro discusses the rapport between camera, movement, rhythm, music and Bernardo Bertolucci's writing style, as well as key sequences from the film. (6 min, PAL).
  
  -- Ennio Morricone - the legendary composer discusses the soundtrack of Before the Revolution. (9 min, PAL).

• Bernardo Bertolucci in conversation with David Thompson - Q&A session recorded at the BFI Southbank on April 9, 2011. In English, not subtitled. (12 min, PAL).

• Booklet - 20-page illustrated booklet featuring Pasquale Iannone's essay "Before the Revolution"; extracts from 'Bernardo Bertolucci: Before the Revolution, Parma, Poetry and Ideology' by Jean-Andre Fieschi originally published in Les Lettres Francaises; Richard Roud's "Report from the Third French Critics' Week at Cannes, 1964"; and Philip Strick's "Before the Revolution".

Before the Revolution Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bernardo Bertolucci's Before the Revolution is arguably one of the most beautiful films about maturation ever made. It truly is the work of a genius. For years, the 2DVD set by Italian distributors RHV (Ripley's Home Video) was one of my favorite European releases, but this wonderful Blu-ray release finally does the film justice. Let's just hope that sooner rather than later Before the Revolution will also appear on Blu-ray in North America. It would be a crime if it does not. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.