7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A retired American teacher leading a solitary life in a luxurious palazzo in Rome meets a lively marchesa and her companions, including her daughter and her lover. He rents them an apartment, and his quiet lifestyle is changed in a profound way by his colorful new tenants.
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Helmut Berger, Silvana Mangano, Claudia Cardinale, Dominique SandaDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Italian: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Luchino Visconti's "Gruppo di famiglia in un interno" a.k.a. "Conversation Piece" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original Italian trailer for the film; Dominique Maillet's documentary "Luchino Visconti: The Quest for the Impossible"; and archival video interview with critic and screenwriter Allessandro Bencivenni. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by film historian Pasquale Iannone. In English or Italian, with optional English or English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
The professor
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luchino Visconti's Conversation Piece arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
This film was initially released on Blu-ray by Raro Video in the U.S. (see our review here) and consequently by Gaumont in France (see our review here). The first release is very disappointing. Because of various digital adjustments the entire transfer has a very harsh digital appearance; detail and depth are seriously compromised. The second release is sourced from a different master that is largely unmanipulated and as a result the film has a much better balanced organic appearance. This new release has been sourced from a brand new 2K restoration that gives the film an equally pleasing appearance. However, it also introduces a different color temperature that supports a different range of nuances. Brightness levels have been adjusted as well and now the entire film looks notably darker (you can compare screencapture #2 and screencapture #4 from our review of the French release). As far as the dynamic range is concerned, I think that I like the French release better because on it the majority of the film has what I consider to be proper vibrancy. As far as the overall color scheme is concerned, however, I think that I prefer the primaries on the newest release. My only concern is that the brightness levels might have been toned down a bit too much and as a result the vibrancy that the film should have has been suppressed. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Image stability is very good and there are no distracting debris, scratches, damage marks, or torn frames to report in our review. (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 are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH (for the English track) and English (for the Italian track) subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
I viewed the film with the original English track and thought the quality was outstanding. I think that depth, in particular, might be a bit better here than it is on the French release, though the difference will likely remain unnoticed. There are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report.
I have some reservations about the color temperature of the new 2K restoration of Conversation Piece, but I think that Eureka Entertainment's release might be the best option for English speakers that want to own a copy of this film. The technical presentation is unquestionably better than that of Raro Video's release, and this release also has Dominique Maillet's excellent documentary from Gaumont's release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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