Diamonds for Breakfast Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Diamonds for Breakfast Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 18, 2019

Christopher Morahan's "Diamonds for Breakfast" (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video. The only bonus feature on the disc is a collection of other trailers for releases from the label's catalog. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Very exciting visuals

If you study closely Marcello Mastroianni’s legacy you will eventually realize that it was actually defined by the recurring presence of a single character. Mastroianni was so good that all he had to do is tweak a few tiny details from its profile to make it look right for just about every new project that he was hired to do, so throughout his career he essentially played the same character over and over again. It did not matter if it was a shy romantic (Le Notti Bianche), an incompetent thief (Big Deal on Madonna Street), a cheeky baron married to the wrong woman (Divorce Italian Style), or a famous director who has lost his creative mojo (8½) -- this character loved life and very rarely missed an opportunity to embrace it with open arms. It is true. Even the ‘serious’ dramas that the iconic actor did, like The Organizer and The Skin, are frequently fractured by comedic sequences in which Mastroianni’s character would do something special to remind that life is an incredible gift which must be lived to the fullest. He really was one of its ultimate promoters.

In Christopher Morahan’s thriller Diamonds for Breakfast Mastroianni actually plays two characters, both Russian, though one appears only a few times while the mind of the other temporarily unplugs itself from the present. (It is not as complicated as it sounds). The connection between these characters is established when the Grand Duke Nicholas Vladimirovitch Goduno, a notorious gambler, playboy, and descendent of the great Imperial Romanov family, accidentally learns that the Soviet authorities have agreed to have his family’s confiscated crown jewels featured in an upcoming exhibition in a prestigious museum in London. The discovery rocks Goduno’s world -- because he is up to his neck in debt, not because he actually cares about the history that is associated with the jewels or their sentimental value -- and he crafts a brilliant plan to steal them. But it isn’t a job that he can pull off alone, which is why he immediately begins shopping for assistants. Soon after, Goduno ends up with a team of female professionals – Rita Tushingham, Margaret Blye, Francesca Tu, and Elaine Taylor – whose one and only weakness might be that they are too hot. At least this is the immediate impression that the loopy Soviet official Popov (Warren Mitchell), who has been sent by the Kremlin to monitor the exhibition, and the clueless guards from the museum’s control room get after they begin encountering the girls while they execute Goduno’s plan.

The focus of attention is on the robbery, but there is a lot that happens in the film that is basically extra wild fun of the type that you would encounter in the classic swinging ‘60s comedies. Goduno slips on a banana peel, hits his head, and gets a visit from his legendary royal relative. While leading her fellow professionals, Bridget (Tushingham) frequently goes on unhinged but quite hilarious political rants that appear to have been inspired by some sort of an illegal substance. Honey (Blye) is so good in the game of seduction that at one point her performance begins to look awfully legit. And Popov routinely acts as if he has downed a full bottle of vodka on an empty stomach which has accidentally activated the autopilot function of his brain. There really is some quite peculiar behavior on display.

But it all comes together rather nicely because of Mastroianni’s ability to flood the film with great energy and laughter. In fact, once it becomes clear that this will be one of those films that would not dramatically lower the viewer’s IQ, the craziness actually becomes quite attractive. Everyone is loose, having a ball, and not at all concerned if occasionally a few improvisations miss the mark. It is the best way to describe the film – it is as much about a robbery as it is about a group of actors enjoying themselves while working together to please the man behind the camera.

Gerry Turpin’s cinematography is solid, though admittedly unremarkable. His contribution to Bryan Forbes’ far more conventional caper Deadfall, which was shot at some quite wonderful locations, is a lot easier to praise.

Diamonds for Breakfast Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Christopher Morahan's Diamonds for Breakfast arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Video.

The release is sourced from a very nice and very healthy 2K remaster. Frankly, aside from a few areas where some careful encoding optimizations could have been done to further strengthen the visuals and help existing nuances the rest of the film looks very nice. For example, depth is consistently very pleasing -- even during the darker footage from the night club where light is intentionally restricted -- while clarity gravitates around what I would consider 'reference level'. Density levels are also strong, but this is the one area where there is still some room for minor improvements. The color grading job has introduced solid and healthy primaries; the ranges of nuances are convincing, with only a few outdoor sequences revealing slight fluctuations in the background highlights. Image stability is good. Last but not least, there are no traces of compromising digital adjustments, such as sharpening or contrast boosting. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Diamonds for Breakfast Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

I had a bit of trouble following some of the quick exchanges during the action sequences because some of the characters have quite thick accents while a few intentionally exaggerate their 'foreign' accents. Also, Diamonds for Breakfast is a period production with some typical for the era that it comes from limitations, so occasionally the native clarity of the exchanges also fluctuates a bit. In other words, viewing the film late at night without English SDH subtitles might present some challenges to a few viewers. This being said, there are no serious technical issues to report. Stability is good and there are no background issues and/or purely digital distortions.

Diamonds for Breakfast Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - a collection of trailers for other Kino Video releases.

Diamonds for Breakfast Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Marcello Mastroianni is the leader of a very hot team of professional female thieves who are on a mission to steal a collection of crown jewels that once belonged to the great Romanov family in Christopher Morahan's Diamonds for Breakfast. The film is hilariously unhinged and oozes that very specific energy and warmth that the bulk of Mastroianni's work is remembered for. I have never owned a copy of it in my library, so Kino Video's release fills an important gap. The technical presentation of the film is very good, but given its native production qualities it is a bit disappointing to see that optional English subtitles were not provided on the disc. RECOMMENDED.