Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Il Bidone Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 14, 2014

Federico Fellini's "Il Bidone" (1955) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and video interview with French writer, producer and director Dominique Delouche. Also included with this release is a 36-page illustrated booklet featuring the words of the legendary Italian director, rare imagery, and more. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"Pray for me..."

Augusto (Broderick Crawford, Fritz Lang's Human Desire) is the eldest of the three con men. He speaks only when spoken to and most of the time looks jaded. His partners are the energetic Picasso (Richard Basehart, La Strada, Titanic), who has told his girl (Giulietta Masina, La Strada) that he is a businessman, and the compulsive liar Roberto (Franco Fabrizi, The Italian Connection, Satyricon).

The men travel through the countryside and cheat the poor. Occasionally, they would also visit the slums and sell fake housing certificates to the naive. A portion of the money they earn is then spent in the city’s posh night clubs. The men are well respected there because they always drink the best champagne and tip generously.

For the most part Augusto, Picasso and Roberto are happy with the gigs, but they want more. They want to be as successful as the big-timers, who have other people working for them while they throw lavish parties to entertain themselves. During one such party Augusto attempts to talk to the host, a man like him who started from the bottom, but his business proposal is quickly rejected. It hurts him to admit it, but he understands perfectly why his offer isn’t taken seriously - - he is in a different league, the wrong league where small-time con men like him belong.

Augusto’s life changes dramatically when he accidentally meets his daughter Patrizia, whom he hasn’t seen since last Christmas. She is with friends and has to go. He promises to call her and spend some time with her. A few days later, they meet again and she reveals to him that she would like to continue studying, while working as a cashier to pay for her tuition. But to get the job she needs to deposit 300,000 lire which she does not have. Later that day Augusto promises to pay the deposit, but a former ‘client’ recognizes him and after a quick stop at the local police station his life begins to spin out of control.

Il Bidone a.k.a. The Swindle, the second entry in the great Federico Fellini’s Trilogy of Loneliness, is very much a film of two contrasting halves. The first is infused with light humor and sees Italy as a country that is slowly recovering from a devastating war. Life is neither easy nor fair there, but there is a feeling that with the new order, as flawed as it may be, life will eventually get better.

Halfway through the film, however, the humor disappears and Fellini takes out his whip. Italy is now a collapsed state where the poor and the naive are forgotten. Some have come to the cities looking for a new start but have quickly been pushed to the slums and then abandoned; others have chosen to remain in their rural homes but they have also been left to survive on their own. Living in extreme poverty, both groups have become easy targets for scammers like Augusto and his friends.

This sobering look at life in post-war Italy reminds of the works of the great Roberto Rossellini. Also during the second half, where Augusto undergoes a serious character transformation and is eventually forced to reevaluate his life, there are familiar religious overtones that point to Rossellini’s enormous influence. (In fact, the entire final act easily could have appeared in a Rossellini film).

The film’s episodic structure is most appropriate. In a way it supports the idea that there is no honor amongst thieves by imitating the gradual collapse of their friendship. Initially Fellini follows closely the three con men, but as the humor disappears Picasso and Roberto are slowly isolated and Augusto left alone with his thoughts.

The energetic music score was composed by the great Nino Rota (Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, Rene Clement’s Purple Noon).

Il Bidone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Federico Fellini's Il Bidone arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

The high-definition transfer is beautiful. Close-ups boast outstanding depth, especially when there is an abundance of natural light (see screencapture #2), while the nighttime/darker footage impresses with excellent clarity (see screencapture #3). Contrast levels are stable throughout the entire film. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. The film also looks sharp, not sharpened, and vibrant. The whites and grays are stable and beautifully balanced, while the blacks are solid and natural. A couple of extremely light scratches are visible, but there are absolutely no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or stains. Obviously, imperfections have been carefully removed. Lastly, there are a few inherited shaky frame transitions (clearly source related), but there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. All in all, this is a lovely presentation of Fellini's classic film that is guaranteed to please its fans. (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).

Il Bidone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 1.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is solid. The soundtrack by the great Nino Rota benefits the most from the lossless treatment as the music is indeed very well rounded yet quite vibrant. Also, there are no distortions during the woodwind and brass solos. The dialog is clean, stable, and easy to follow. The English translation is excellent.

Il Bidone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Federico Fellini's Il Bidone. In Italian, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Dominique Delouche - in this video interview, writer, producer and director Dominique Delouche (Man of Desire) recalls his first encounter with the legendary Federico Fellini which occurred after a disappointing screening of his La Strada. Mr. Delouche also discusses Fellini's unique directing methods, the initial reactions to Il Bidone in Italy, the sociological themes in the film, the decorative qualities in the Italian director's later films, etc. The interview was conducted by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. In French, with optional English subtitles.

• Booklet - 36-page illustrated booklet featuring the words of Federico Fellini, rare imagery, and more.

Il Bidone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a beautiful Blu-ray release of Federico Fellini's Il Bidone. The film, which during the years has been unjustly dismissed as one of the Italian maestro's lesser works, looks spectacular in high-definition. The interview with Fellini's assistant director Dominique Delouche is also outstanding. Buy with confidence, folks. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.