Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 17, 2022

Francesco Rosi's "Illustrious Corpses" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include new audio commentary by filmmaker Alex Cox and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

If you remove Illustrious Corpses from the socio-political environment in which Francesco Rosi made it, a lot of what is said and done in it could become quite perplexing. It could be easily misinterpreted as well. Before I discuss the crucial relationship between Illustrious Corpses and the socio-political environment, however, I would like to provide a summation of the film’s plot.

In an unnamed major European city with beautiful ancient architecture where everyone speaks Italian, an elusive sniper begins eliminating prominent judges that have been part of the local judicial system for decades. Inspector Rogas (Lino Ventura), a jaded outsider, is tasked to track down the sniper. He does it in the only way professionals like him know how -- by studying the victims and their past, and searching for a motive that could reveal to him why they had to die.

Soon after, Rogas identifies a man whose life was ruined when he was wrongfully accused of committing a vicious crime. While reconstructing his case and the judges that ruled on it, Rogas is able to predict the next targets as well. However, when Rogas reaches out to a few of them, the sniper unexpectedly alters his strategy and effectively discredits his findings.

Confused but convinced that he was on the right track, Rogas then begins investigating the working methods of a larger group of potential targets, and after an odd encounter with the President of the Supreme Court (Max von Sydow) makes a shocking discovery that profoundly changes his understanding of the case.

Rosi made Illustrious Corpses during the ‘70s, which was the decade that produced the biggest politically-motivated terrorist acts in Italy. There are a couple of very specific reasons why:

The Italian Communist Party was the strongest Communist Party in Western Europe after the end of WWII. As such, it had a very good relationship with the U.S.S.R. and its allies, and during the '70s many believed that if the Soviet Bloc were to be expanded, the Italian Communist Party would play a crucial role during Italy's transition to the other side of the Iron Curtain. However, the Italian Communist Party had different factions with different strategies about the future, and when in the early '70s it became obvious that it is only a matter of time before it is invited to share power with Christian Democracy, the party that had dominated Italy since the end of WWII, their members became engaged in a fight for ideological superiority. The biggest faction had openly denounced Soviet-style revolutionary action and particularly the use of violence to advance their agenda, but there were smaller, radical factions that had not. Members of these smaller factions had active relationships with far-left terrorist entities like the Red Brigades, the Baader-Meinhof Group, and even the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). As the popularity of the Italian Communist Party grew, so did the disconnect between these factions.

Rosi was a Communist sympathizer, but not a supporter of the violent transformation of his country that some members of the Italian Communist Party had become comfortable with. Just two years before Illustrious Corpses came out, in 1974 far-left terrorists blew up the Italicus Express in an attempt to kill Prime Minister Aldo Moro, a Christian Democrat, and alter the political status quo in the country. Their attempt failed, but in 1978 members of the Red Brigades kidnapped Moro and consequently killed him. (Marco Bellocchio’s film Good Morning, Night offers a terrific reconstruction of the events that led to Moro’s death).

At the end of Illustrious Corpses a communist character played by Luigi Pistilli produces a statement that sums up really well the tricky nature of the much bigger conflict behind the murders, which as noted above was part of the then-current socio-political environment in Italy. It is why Rosi does not end Illustrious Corpses with a conventional resolution where the killer is brought to justice.

The cast includes a number of European heavyweights, like Charles Vanel (The Wages of Fear), Fernando Rey (The French Connection), Alain Cuny (The Lovers), and Renato Salvatori (Rocco and His Brothers). Unfortunately, their contributions are instantly forgettable.

Illustrious Corpses 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, Illustrious Corpses arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a new 4K master that was prepared after the film was fully restored in 4K at L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2019. Most unfortunately, the makeover is again extremely problematic.

There are a number of serious issues with the way Illustrious Corpses looks now, but I am only going to mention three as they are the biggest ones and all other issues can be traced back to them. First, the entire film has a very problematic color-scheme, which is why its native stylistic identity is compromised. Simply put, there are entire ranges of primaries and supporting nuances that do not have proper values. Second, the poor grading job has permanently destabilized the native dynamic range of the visuals. It is why daylight dark/nighttime footage appears uncharacteristically flat (see screencaptures #5, 13, 14, and 16). Third, plenty of the dark/nighttime footage is plagued by digital 'gray', which is a byproduct of a digital crush introduced by the grading equipment. As a result, plenty of native detail is lost (see screencaptures #8, 19, 21, 26, 27, and 28). The only good but irrelevant news is that the visuals are spotless and boast outstanding stability. (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).

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The original audio has some inherited unevenness which was introduced when various actors were dubbed in Italian. The rest is excellent. Piero Piccioni's soundtrack produces some excellent contrasts, but dynamic intensity is modest. There are no distortions, pops, or other similar anomalies.

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by filmmaker Alex Cox.

• Trailer - vintage trailer for Illustrious Corpses. (2 min).

Illustrious Corpses Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A good grasp of the socio-political environment in Italy during the '70s -- and earlier -- is required to understand exactly what takes place in Francesco Rosi's Illustrious Corpses and why. Without it the film can appear rather vague, and become pretty easy to misinterpret as well. I think that Lino Ventura does a predictably good job with his character, but given the number of European heavyweights that emerge around him, the end product feels slightly underwhelming. This Blu-ray release is sourced from a recent but very problematic 4K master that was prepared after the film was fully restored in 4K at L'immagine Ritrovata.