7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Katherine and Alex, wealthy and sophisticated, drive to Naples to dispose of a deceased uncle's villa. There is a coolness in their relationship, and aspects of Naples contribute to the strain. She remembers a poet who loved her and died in the war; although she did not love him, the memory underscores romance's absence from her life now. She tours the museums of Naples and Pompeii, immersing herself in the Neapolitan fascination with the dead and noticing how many women are pregnant while he idles on Capri, flirting with women, but refraining from adultery. With her, he is sarcastic; with him, she is critical. They contemplate divorce. Will this foreign couple find insight and direction in Italy?
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, George Sanders (I), Maria Mauban, Anna Proclemer, Paul MullerDrama | 100% |
Romance | 28% |
Melodrama | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.32:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: LPCM 2.0
Italian: LPCM 2.0
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region B (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Roberto Rossellini's "Journey to Italy" a.k.a. "Viaggio in Italia" (1954) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features on the disc include Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin's short film "My Dad is 100 Years Old"; audio commentary with filmmaker and academic Laura Mulvey; audio commentary film scholar Adrian Martin ; and the Italian-language version of the film. In English or Italian, with optional English SDH and English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
On the road
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.32:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Roberto Rossellini's Journey to Italy arrive son Blu-ray courtesy of the BFI.
The following text precedes the film's opening credits:
"The digital restoration of the English version of Viaggio in Italia was based on the original camera and sound negatives and on a vintage interpositive preserved at Cinecitta Digital Factory. The images were scanned at a resolution of 2K. After the scanning process, the images were then digitally stabilized and cleaned to eliminate the imperfections of time: blemishes, specks, lines, scratches and splice marks. The grading attempted to return the brilliance and richness of the original photography. Following its acquisition, the sound underwent a digital cleaning process, as well as the reduction of noise caused by usage and wear over time, whilst at the same time maintaining the dynamics and characteristics of the original sound. The restoration was realised by Cineteca di Bologna at the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in 2012."
Clearly, the release is sourced from the same restoration Criterion accessed when they prepared their Blu-ray release of Journey to Italy in 2013, but here the film looks very different. While some of the basics are fairly similar -- when there is plenty of natural light, for instance, detail and clarity can be quite good -- large parts of the film now look unusually dark and oversaturated. To be perfectly clear, the black levels are pushed up so much that the resulting crushing-like effects have eliminated existing detail. You can see how dramatic the discrepancies are if you compare screencaptures #5, 11, 13, and 14 with screencaptures #1, 21, 23, and 24 from our review of the Criterion release. Some of the darker/nighttime footage can be quite problematic as shadow definition is seriously destabilized. Also, I spotted some light vertical stretching (see screencapture #14). The good news here is that there are no traces of problematic degraining adjustments, but the crushing-like effects are difficult to ignore. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in our review. All in all, considering how beautiful the restoration is, I have to say that this is a very underwhelming technical presentation of Voyage to Italy. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free Blu-ray release).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the English version and optional English subtitles for the Italian version.
English track: I did some direct comparisons with the lossless English track from the Criterion release. While depth and clarity are virtually identical, on the English LPCM 2.0 track occasionally some extremely light background hiss makes its presence felt. On the lossless track from the Criterion release the hiss is eliminated and the audio is even slightly better balanced. (If you have both discs, you can compare the sequence where Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders enter the hotel around the 00:08:23 mark).
Italian track: The Italian track is very good, though I noticed the light background hiss popping up here and there. It never becomes distracting, but it is easy to hear. Balance is good. This said, I encourage you to see the film with the original English track.
Journey to Italy is included in the BFI's The Roberto Rossellini Ingrid Bergman Collection three-disc Blu-ray box set. The release is sourced from the excellent 2012 restoration of the film, but the technical presentation is rather underwhelming. If you can play Region-A discs, my advice to you is to consider importing Criterion's 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman four-disc box set.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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