7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The study of a youth on the edge of adulthood and his aunt, ten years older. Fabrizio is passionate, idealistic, influenced by Cesare, a teacher and Marxist, engaged to the lovely but bourgeois Clelia, and stung by the drowning of his mercurial friend Agostino, a possible suicide. Gina is herself a bundle of nervous energy, alternately sweet, seductive, poetic, distracted, and unhinged. They begin a love affair after Agostino's funeral, then Gina confuses Fabrizio by sleeping with a stranger. Their visits to Cesare and then to Puck, one of Gina's older friends, a landowner losing his land, dramatize contrasting images of Italy's future. Their own futures are bleak.
Starring: Adriana Asti, Francesco Barilli, Allen Midgette, Morando Morandini, Cristina ParisetForeign | 100% |
Drama | 86% |
Romance | 21% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.83:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
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
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).
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.
Blu-ray
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.
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