Captain Fracassa's Journey Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Captain Fracassa's Journey Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 27, 2011

Nominated for Golden Bear Award and winner of David di Donatello Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design, Ettore Scola's "Il viaggio di Capitan Fracassa" a.k.a "Captain Fracassa's Journey" (1990) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer, new video interviews with director Ettore Scola; cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, and Vincent Perez. In French, with optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

I see women

It is sad but true – the films of the great Italian director Ettore Scola, who has won numerous awards at Cannes, Venice and Berlin, are not available for purchase in the United States.

A long time ago, while we still had NoShame Films, a terrific boutique label which specialized in classic and cult Italian films and managed to release such important films as Michelangelo Antonioni’s never before seen on this side of the Atlantic Story of a Love Affair (1950), Pietro Germi’s The Railroad Man (1956), and Valerio Zurlini’s Violent Summer (1959) and Girl with a Suitcase (1961), among others, I secretly hoped that they would manage to bring at least one of director Scola’s films, but, sadly, they could not survive, and I was left looking at various international releases which were rarely worth importing and always extremely expensive. Then, after NoShame Films disappeared, for a while I kept hoping that perhaps some of the major studios will finally bring a few of director Scola’s films to DVD, or Criterion would consider his films for their Eclipse series, but again, no one seemed interested. So, finally, earlier this year I gave up and reluctantly began ordering the few Scola films that were still available on DVD via various French and Italian labels. Imagine how surprised I was when in April I was informed that Gaumont were planning to release not one but three restored Scola films on Blu-ray (after they had already released the Italian director's outstanding The Night of Varennes (1982)) - What Time Is It? (1989), Splendor (1989), and Captain Fracassa's Journey (1990). The moral of this story is: I have yet another reason to like Blu-ray.

Captain Fracassa’s Journey is set in 18th century France and follows the Traveling Company of Scenic Arts, a group of extremely poor but very ambitious performers who are on their way to Paris. They hope to impress Louis XIII, get employed, and have better lives. The performers are Matamore (Jean-François Perrier), Leandre (Massimo Wertmüller), the Tyrant (Toni Ucci), Lady Leonarde (Lauretta Masiero), Zerbina (Tosca D'Aquino), Pulcinella (Massimo Troisi), Isabella (Emmanuelle Béart), and Serafina (Ornella Muti).

A massive storm, however, forces the performers to take shelter in a crumbling castle. Pietro (Ciccio Ingrassia), the only servant there, introduces them to the owner of the castle, Jean-Luc Henri Camille, Baron of Sigognac (Vincent Perez), who, like his guests, is totally broke. A few hours later, after the Baron of Sigognac falls asleep, Pietro begs the performers to save his master from the solitude and misery of the castle and take him with them to Paris. The Baron of Sigognac, Pietro explains, will help them get employed, because years ago his reckless father had the merit of saving the life of Henri IV, father of Louis XIII, during the Siege of Paris. King Louis XIII will embrace as a brother the son of his father’s savior and restore to him all his goods and properties as well as pride and dignity. In the morning, the Traveling Company of Scenic Arts and the Baron of Sigognac leave the castle.

Soon after, Serafina and Isabella fall madly in love with the Baron of Sigognac. The more direct Serafina spends more time with him, but it is Isabella who loves him more. Meanwhile, after Matamore tragically dies, the Baron of Sigognac decides to take his place and become a performer.

Based on Théophile Gautier’s novel, Captain Fracassa’s Journey is an excellent film that blends fantasy and reality in a way that should make it appeal to both children and adults. The film is colorful and very entertaining but at the same time tackling various social issues with a degree of seriousness which other similarly themed period films typically lack.

The film essentially tells two different love stories. In the first, Serafina and Isabella fall in love with the handsome Baron and he is forced to choose one of them. In the second, the Baron falls in love with theater and becomes a different man. There is an interesting twist at the end of the film that brings the two stories together.

The cast is truly excellent. Perez, who in 1990 also appeared in Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), is terrific as the naive and often clueless about Serafina and Isabella’s feelings Baron. Beart and Muti, both looking gorgeous, are also outstanding, especially during the second half of the film where they undergo important character transformations. Troisi, a truly great Italian actor who most American viewers probably remember from his last film, Michael Radford’s charming Il Postino (1994), is also excellent as Pulcinella.

Note: In 1991, Captain Fracassa's Journey was nominated for Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. During the same year, the film also David di Donatello Awards for Best Cinematography (Luciano Tovoli) and Best Production Design (Paolo Biagetti and Luciano Ricceri).

Captain Fracassa's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ettore Scola's Captain Fracassa's Journey arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors Gaumont.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from a brand new master. Unsurprisingly, the film looks probably the best it ever has (there is a very old Italian DVD release of Captain Fracassa's Journey by Cecchi Gori, but I don't have it in my library to compare). Detail is pleasing, clarity satisfying and color reproduction excellent. Occasionally, however, the image becomes quite thick, mostly during the indoor scenes, where blues or grays are prominent. This thickness comes largely from the mild denoising corrections that have obviously been performed (see screencapture #14). This is not to say, however, that the corrections have wiped out all of the grain, and detail with it, but I would have preferred to have the high-definition transfer as raw as possible. I still like what I see a lot as the image conveys plenty of depth and fluidity, but there is no doubt in my mind that it could have looked even stronger. It would have been better to have the film look slightly dated (and this does not mean lacking detail, but possibly having some pulsating noise popping up here and there when obviously a state-of-the-art 4K transfer is unrealistic to expect) than trying to make it look perfectly stable.

Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern. There are no compression artifacts, aliasing, or other purely transfer related anomalies to report in this review either. Finally, there are no damage marks, warps, or debris. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Captain Fracassa's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Gaumont have provided optional English and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is very good. It has a fairly strong dynamic amplitude, which allows Armando Trovajoli's baroque score to breathe. There are no distortions in the high-frequencies while the bass is never flat or uneven. The dialog is crisp, clean, and stable. Keep in mind, however, that some of the actors are overdubbed as some of them speak Italian (there are two versions of the film, French and Italian). It would have been best if Gaumont had included the Italian audio track as well, but most likely they don't have the rights for it.

Captain Fracassa's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Carnet de voyage - a video interview with director Ettore Scola. In Italian, with optional French subtitles. (22 min, 1080/50i).

• A propos de Fracase - a video interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli (Suspiria, Single White Female). In French, not subtitled. (24 min, 1080/50i).

• Entretien avc Vincent Perez - a video interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli (Suspiria, Single White Female). In French, not subtitled. (16 min, 1080/50i).

• Bande-annonces - trailers for the four Ettore Scola films Gaumont have released on Blu-ray (1080p):
  
  -- La nuit de Varennes a.k.a The Night at Varennes
  -- Le Voyage du capitaine fracassé a.k.a Captain Fracassa's Journey
  -- Quelle heure est-il? a.k.a What Time Is It?
  -- Splendor

Captain Fracassa's Journey Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ettore Scola's Captain Fracassa's Journey is a wonderful period film about love and baroque theater that should appeal to a wide range of viewers. Recently restored, the film is now available on Blu-ray via French distributors Gaumont, who have also restored the Italian director's What Time Is It? and Splendor. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.