Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Conversation Piece Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 17, 2016

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

The great Burt Lancaster plays a retired American professor who lives alone in a giant palazzo in Rome. He spends most of his time reading and enjoying his large collection of expensive paintings.

The beautiful and unusually aggressive Marchesa Bianca Brumonti (Silvana Mangano, Theorem, Riso Amaro) appears and announces that she would like to rent the top floor apartment in the palazzo. She is accompanied by her outspoken daughter Lietta (Claudia Marsani), her daughter’s boyfriend (Stefano Patrizi, Liberi, Armati, Pericolosi, Quale Amore), and her notably younger bi-sexual lover Konrad (Helmut Berger, Salon Kitty, The Secret of Dorian Gray). The surprised professor attempts to explain that the place is not for rent, but the persistent Marchesa quickly makes it clear that she always gets what she wants. The overwhelmed professor then quickly chooses to surrender.

Soon after the Marchesa and her family move into the new apartment, the ceiling literally cracks and then almost collapses. The concerned professor immediately visits the place and discovers that the Marchesa and a team of workers have started redecorating it with ultra-modern pieces. Despite his protests, eventually the Marchesa once again forces the professor to raise a white flag.

Meanwhile, bored by the daily activities in the palazzo, Lietta, her boyfriend, and Konrad organize a small pot-orgy. Attracted by the loud music, the professor surprises the participants but is lectured by the perpetually angry Konrad. Shortly after the party ends, the professor is forced to intervene yet again after two of Konrad’s communist pals attack him and break his nose.

Luchino Visconti’s tragicomedy Conversation Piece is a chamber version of his legendary The Leopard. It is about the end of an era and the arrival of a misunderstood freedom that will change everything and nothing.

The film is structured as an elaborate theater play. It was a brilliant decision on Visconti’s part as the contrasts between the main characters become that much more obvious. The professor is a dinosaur representing the old-fashioned, exhausted and looking for peace upper class in an Italian state where the unstable socio-political climate has forced people to choose sides. The brash Marchesa is part of the new elite – too flashy, lacking the intellectual humility of her predecessors. Konrad is the radical revolutionary whose anger is compromising him better than any of his opponents could.

The beauty of the film comes from its impressive ability to be outrageous and stylish at the same time. Visconti isn’t kind to its characters, but not a single one of them is abused. As naïve or bizarre their behavior might be at times, their integrity is never questioned.

Originally titled Gruppo di Famiglia in un Interno, Conversation Piece was completed in 1974. At the time Visconti was nearly paralyzed after a stroke and was forced to direct the film from a wheelchair. The Italian director completed his final film, L'Innocente a.k.a The Innocent in 1976.

Conversation Piece was lensed by the great cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis, who also collaborated with Visconti on the legendary La caduta degli dei (Götterdämmerung) a.k.a The Damned (1969) and a few years later Morte e Venezia a.k.a Death in Venice (1971).

In 1975, Conversation Piece won Best Film and Best Foreign Actor (Burt Lancaster) awards at the David di Donatello Awards.

Conversation Piece Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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).

Conversation Piece Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Conversation Piece Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original Italian trailer for Conversation Piece. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (4 min).

• Luchino Visconti: The Quest for the Impossible - this really good documentary was also included on Gaumont's Blu-ray release of Conversation Piece. Included in it are interviews with scenarist Enrico Medioli, Cterina D'Amico, daughter of scenarist Suso Cecchi D'Amico, script supervisor Renata Franceschi, actors Helmut Berger (Konrad) and Stefano Patrizi (Stefano), and producer Jean-Claude Missiaen, amongst others. The documentary was produced by new documentary film produced by Dominique Maillet for Gaumont. In Italian and French, with optional English subtitles. (57 min).

• Allessandro Bencivenni - this archival video interview with critic and screenwriter Allessandro Bencivenni was also included on Raro Video's U.S. release of Conversation Piece. Allessandro Bencivenni discusses the production history of the film and its placement in Luchino Visconti's body of work, as well as some key themes from the film. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (10 min).

• Booklet - illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by film historian Pasquale Iannone.

Conversation Piece Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.