7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A reporter and a young woman try to solve a series of child killings in rural Italy.
Starring: Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milián, Irene Papas, Marc PorelHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 61% |
Mystery | 17% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Italian: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
BDInfo
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: While care has been taken to not reveal any out and out spoilers in the following summary, contextualizing some of Don’t
Torture a Duckling means that hints are unavoidably dropped, meaning if you’re a good “between the lines” reader and don’t want any
surprises given away, you are encouraged to skip down to the technical portions of the review, below.
At least some Italian Roman Catholics have the kind of relationship with their religion which might cause them to post a social media status about
it along the lines of “it’s complicated”. While some American Roman Catholics are probably still reeling in the wake of the abuse scandals
documented so disturbingly in Spotlight, many Italians have had love/hate
relationships with both their overall religion and their individual priests in any number of films for decades, and among those Italians might be
numbered Lucio Fulci, who himself contributed to this somewhat odd canon of “questioning” films with his own output. While Fulci biographer
Troy Howarth goes to some lengths to discount any ideas that Fulci or at least Don’t Torture a Duckling is anti-Catholic (in his
commentary included on this Blu-ray as a supplement), there’s little doubt that Fulci didn’t necessarily conform to standard ideas of respect and
awe when it came to both religious iconography and in fact the concepts that iconography seeks to “describe”. Don’t Torture a Duckling
was Fulci’s first real breakthrough in his native Italy, and according to Howarth it remained Fulci’s own personal favorite of his films. In a number
of ways it’s a rather interesting giallo, and one which might even be thought of as an anti-giallo, at least in terms of its setting
(far removed from the typical urban environment many gialli employ). Don’t Torture a Duckling takes place in a remote Italian
village, and as such there’s more of a rustic quality to the proceedings than in many other gialli, along with an underlying sense of
“community” that is often missing in gialli that actually exploit the fractured aspect of living in a big city. The film begins with a kind of
bizarre sequence which introduces a seemingly troubled woman named Maciara (Florinda Bolkan) on a scenic hillside next to a really impressively
long elevated highway, a scene which suggests both the isolated environment of the film as well as perhaps a subliminal suggestion that this
setting is a long drive away from modern civilization. Maciara is digging in the dirt on the hillside, and the film’s first (of many) shocking
revelations is that she’s disinterring the skeletal remains of an infant. Armchair sleuths who are already aware there are going to be a series of
horrifying deaths in this film may take this opening scene as a salient clue, but Don’t Torture a Duckling is virtually bursting at the seams
with red herrings, and so it’s best not to come to any premature conclusions about what’s actually going on.
Don't Torture a Duckling is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains a much longer and more detailed account of this film's restoration, written by Torsten Kaiser, Technical Director of TLEFilms Film Restoration and Preservation Services. Mr. Kaiser goes into quite a bit of interesting information, including the fact that Don't Torture a Duckling was filmed utilizing the supposed cost saving technique of Techniscope, which reduced production costs by halving the standard exposed area of a single frame of 35mm film from four perforations to two. This created a whole cascade of subsequent issues, including the need for standard 4-perf prints to be created in what amounts to a "blow up". Kaiser also gets into what sounds like an interstitial situation where initial scans weren't up to snuff, but the original camera negative's fragility meant it couldn't leave Italy. Those interested are strongly encouraged to read Mr. Kaiser's full account, but to get down to basics, here's the gist of the sources utilized:
Don't Torture a Duckling was digitally restored in 2K throughout the entire workflow. For this restoration the original 2-perf Techniscope Eastman camera picture negative and a 4-perf 35mm duplicate negative were used. Since the film elements could not leave the country, the scanning was done at LVR Digital in Rome, Italy on a 2K DSX Cintel Scanner.This brief quote really only hints at what sounds like a major technical challenge, including differences between the 2-perf OCN and a 4-perf intermediate negative used as a reference, as well as color timing challenges due to the fact that this was filmed on Eastman Kodak color stock but had its prints processed on Technicolor print stock.
Don't Torture a Duckling features LPCM Mono tracks in both Italian and English. As was the case in Italian cinema in those days, the entire film was post-looped (in both languages), and so as Mr. Kaiser's notes mention, audio synch can be at least slightly loose at times. Both of these tracks show occasional boxiness, along with some passing minor distortion in moments like what sounds like a pan pipe cue in Riz Ortolani's score, but there's nothing here I'd term overly problematic or even very distracting. Dialogue comes through the gauntlet fine, though I personally found the English language voice acting pretty lackluster.
- Part 1 (1080i; 20:13)
- Part 2 (1080i; 13:12)
- Florinda Bolkan (1080p; 28:20)
- Sergio D'Offizi (1080i; 46:21)
- Bruno Micheli (1080i; 25:38)
- Maurizio Trani (1080p; 16:03)
Don't Torture a Duckling has a lot of patently provocative material, but it may undercut its serious aspects with some unneeded elements and a way overheated finale. But this is a really fascinating combination of giallo tropes with a rather trenchant undercurrent of social (and, yes, religious) criticism that certainly indicates Fulci was more than just the "godfather of gore". With an understanding of the immense technical challenges this restoration required, technical merits are strong, and as is often the case with Arrow releases, the supplements are outstanding. Recommended.
Una lucertola con la pelle di donna
1971
Un gatto nel cervello | Glow in the Dark Cover & Mini Portrait of Lucio Fulci Limited Edition to 3000
1990
Nude per l'assassino
1975
Profondo rosso | Special Edition
1975
Standard Edition
1982
L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo | Remastered
1970
Il profumo della signora in nero
1974
E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilŕ | Glow in the Dark Cover | Limited Edition to 3000
1981
Sei donne per l'assassino
1964
1980
Cosa avete fatto a Solange?
1972
Lo squartatore di New York
1982
Zombi 2 / Zombie Flesh Eaters
1979
I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale / Carnal Violence
1973
Special Edition | Sette note in nero | 4K Restoration
1977
La bestia uccide a sangue freddo / Asylum Erotica
1971
Featuring The Girl Who Knew Too Much / La ragazza che sapeva troppo
1963
Special Edition | La morte cammina con i tacchi alti
1971
La morte ha sorriso all'assassino
1973
Reazione a catena
1971