Let's Hope It's a Girl Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Let's Hope It's a Girl Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 19, 2023

Mario Monicelli's "Let's Hope It's a Girl" a.k.a. "Speriamo che sia femmina" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video. There are no bonus features on the release. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

An all-Italian cast would have delivered a vastly superior film. Mario Monicelli’s direction is predictably solid, often even great, but a few of the international stars of Let’s Hope It’s a Girl a.k.a. Speriamo che sia femmina do not look very convincing as natives of rural Tuscany. Liv Ullmann is the most flawed choice to play the single baroness because she simply does not convey the right temperament her character is supposed to have. Bernard Blier mishandles the aging and obviously senile uncle Gugo, too. Catherine Deneuve effortlessly gives her character familiar elegance and class that might be right for Rome but not once her background is revealed -- she looks like a wealthy French lady who has left Paris to fall in love again. The late and great Philippe Noiret may fool a few international viewers that he is an aging Italian baron with big dreams and bigger financial problems, but an Italian would instantly tell that he was not born and raised in Tuscany. Then there is the Italian dubbing of these great actors, which was necessary but easily avoidable. No, the solution was not to have everyone speak English in rural Tuscany. (Can you imagine Stefania Sandrelli attempting to explain her dilemma in English?) The perfect solution would have been to have the film made with an all-Italian cast, preferably from Tuscany and the surrounding areas.

The large Tuscan farm has seen better days but Elena (Ullmann) has done a good job managing it after divorcing her husband Leonardo (Noiret). Elena and Leonardo have remained close so that their two daughters do not have to feel forced to choose between them too, which both agree was a smart decision that has worked out well. Leonardo’s younger mistress, Lolli (Sandrelli), has not created any problems either, though she has been too busy managing her greatest investment -- a brand new, rather fancy for the area fitness salon. Uncle Gugo (Blier) has been a constant nuisance for years but everyone, including the servants and the neighbors, has learned to tolerate his senility. Nardoni (Giuliano Gemma) has been working closely with Elena and touched her heart, but the two have not been able to effectively move past their business relationship and start a genuine romantic relationship. And Fosca (Athina Cenci) has been doing a great job cooking and taking care of the house for quite some time, but lately, she has started pondering whether it is time to ask her husband in Australia to send her a plane ticket so that they can finally reunite.

When a shocking accident interrupts the familiar rhythm of existence on the Tuscan farm everyone is forced to admit that over the years a lot could have been done differently and better so that life is more fulfilling. Soon after, priorities are reevaluated and new plans are made to move forward, but much to everyone’s surprise the Tuscan farm comes alive and intervenes.

Completed in 1986, Let’s Hope It’s a Girl is an old-fashioned commedia all'italiana with contemporary manners and international identity. This is a very interesting concept, but given the casting issues that were highlighted earlier, it is perhaps impossible to turn it into a flawless film.

If not a flawless film, what about a very good film?

It is difficult to tell because the famous post-war commedia all'italiana films are always populated with characters whose personalities, manners, and ways of expressing themselves are linked to uniquely Italian social commentaries. Also, while humor is an essential element of a usually memorable story that is told in these films, it is the thought-provoking contrasts that emerge from it that give the films their identities. So, if the characters are altered, as they are in Let’s Hope It’s a Girl, then so are the thought-provoking contrasts and their function.

In Let’s Hope It’s a Girl, Monicelli blends humor and drama in a familiar manner, but the resonance of the messaging that emerges from it is impossible to compare with that of his greatest film, Big Deal on Madonna Street. At best, the viewer gets a proper sample of the passage of time in a quiet corner of contemporary Tuscany, which looks exactly like the stunningly beautiful and peaceful international tourist agencies love to promote.

Let's Hope It's a Girl Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Let's Hope It's a Girl arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video.

The release is sourced from an old but quite good master. However, the gamma levels are off, which is why some of the indoor and darker footage appears somewhat flat. Your player will make the necessary adjustment on the fly and on your TV this footage will look much better, extremely close to how it should look, but this is a very basic issue that is incredibly easy to avoid. (You just have to preset properly the film-to-video output. However, my guess is that this is how the master was finalized, so the encoding of this release is not the source of the issue). Delineation, clarity, and depth are mostly pleasing, with the outdoor footage looking the best. Colors are stable. However, saturation should be a bit better. (Once your player adjusts the gamma levels, color balance becomes more convincing as well. It helps the dynamic range of the visuals). There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. However, in an ideal world, grain exposure would be superior. Image stability is good. All in all, even though the entire presentation could have been more convincing, the film still has a mostly decent appearance on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Let's Hope It's a Girl 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 dialog is clear and easy to follow. However, you need to keep in mind that the international cast was overdubbed, so there is some familiar unevenness here and there. (Yes, this is how the film was shown in Italy). Dynamic contrasts are good but unimpressive because the film does not have any memorable action sequences. The English translation is excellent.

Let's Hope It's a Girl Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no special features to be found on this release.

Let's Hope It's a Girl Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is a mystery why Mario Monicelli's films have been so difficult to see in English-speaking territories because he is one of the great post-war Italian directors. The films Monicelli made with Toto, for instance, should have been introduced to English speakers a long time ago. The Great War, The Two Lives of Mattia Pascal, and even The Girl with a Pistol would be enthusiastically greeted as well. Let's Hope It's a Girl is a flawed but good film that I think pays homage to the classic commedia all'italiana, which Monicelli helped popularize. It was not available on an English-friendly DVD, so this Blu-ray release is rather special. The technical presentation could have been better but on my system, with a few small adjustments, the film still looked pretty good. RECOMMENDED.