Man, Pride and Vengeance Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Man, Pride and Vengeance Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 2, 2015

Luigi Bazzoni's "Man, Pride and Vengeance" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent U.S. distributors Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; video piece with star Franco Nero and camera operator Vittorio Storaro; audio commentary with journalists C. Courtney Joyner and Henry C. Parke; and poster and still gallery. In English or Italian, with optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. Region-Free.

Carmen

Luigi Bazzoni’s Man, Pride and Vengeance may seem like an intense spaghetti western, but it is actually a very curious adaptation of Prosper Mérimée’s legendary novella Carmen.

In Seville, the handsome officer Don Jose (Franco Nero, Django) falls madly in love with the stunningly beautiful gypsy Carmen (Tina Aumont, Torso, The Howl). They begin spending time together, but Jose discovers that Carmen is also seeing his Lieutenant and confronts him. When he accidentally kills his competitor, Carmen begs him to leave Seville and join a group of desperate bandits who plan to rob a wealthy aristocrat.

Jose agrees, assuming that with his share of the loot he and Carmen will start a family far away from the dusty roads of Seville, but soon after he meets the bandits he is introduced to Carmen’s husband, Garcia (Klaus Kinski, Nosferatu the Vampyre), a shady character with a twitchy finger. Jose warns him to stay away from him, but after the robbery the two men clash.

The narrative construction is quite surprising for a spaghetti western. The first half is essentially a period romantic drama that focuses on Jose and Carmen’s intense relationship. Here different episodes highlight Jose’s struggle to control his emotions but there isn’t even a whiff of melodrama and one is led to believe that the film will completely avoid the traditional path followed by the classic spaghetti westerns. There are also a series of very carefully lensed panoramic vistas from the Spanish countryside but they are not used in elaborate action sequences.

The film’s tone and attitude change quite dramatically in the second half. Garcia’s arrival transforms Jose into a madman who isn’t afraid to die for the woman he loves, but his actions become so erratic that one is led to believe that he cannot possibly live long enough to leave Seville and grow older with Carmen.

This quite odd and unexpected switch, however, is what makes the film so fascinating to behold. There are surprisingly extreme character transformations and eventually the film’s environment becomes so surreal that it literally feels like it was borrowed from an unknown spaghetti western opera conceived by Pier Paolo Pasolini. (See Medea for a similar experience).

The acting could be a bit rough at times, but it actually feels right. Nero and Aumont look beautiful together, while Kinski has that familiar look in his eyes suggesting that something very bad will happen very soon.

Bazzoni shot the film with his brother, cinematographer Camillo Bazzoni, on location in beautiful Andalucia. They were assisted by Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, Last Tango in Paris).

The film’s soundtrack highly energetic soundtrack was created by the great Italian composer Carlo Rustichelli (Mario Bava’s Kill Baby Kill!, Pietro Germi’s Seduced and Abandoned).

Man, Pride and Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luigi Bazzoni's Man, Pride and Vengeance arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground.

There are small traces of the harsh scanner noise that has appeared on various transfers of classic Italian films. However, the majority of it is actually very light and it does not fully collapse detail and depth. In fact, a number of close-ups boast very good depth and clarity (see screencaptures #3 and 15). Some of the more obvious traces of the harshness can be spotted during outdoor sequences with plenty of natural light (see screencaptures #18 and 19). Shadow definition ranges from acceptable to good, but in areas of the film where it is clear that it could be better the image could be rather flat. Grain is visible, but without the harshness mentioned above it would have been better resolved and depth would have been a lot more convincing. Colors remain stable throughout the entire film. Overall image stability is very good. Lastly, there are a few tiny scratches, but large debris, cuts, stains, and damage marks have been carefully removed. All in all, there is room for improvement, but this is actually one of the more balanced presentations of an Italian western that I have seen released in the U.S. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Man, Pride and Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (Mono) and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (Mono). Optional yellow English SDH, French, Spanish, and English (for the Italian version) subtitles are included. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The English track could be very slightly uneven at times, but this isn't overly surprising considering the fact that the majority of the actors were overdubbed. There are some minor sync issues, but they are also inherited. Clarity remains pleasing. The music is well balanced, but dynamic intensity is rather limited. There are no pops, cracks, problematic background hiss, or digital distortions.

Man, Pride and Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• International Trailer - international trailer for Man, Pride and Vengeance. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Italian Trailer - original Italian trailer for Man, Pride and Vengeance. In Italian, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Luigi, Vittorio & Franco - in this video piece, actor Franco Nero discusses his career and the production history of Man, Pride and Vengeance and explains why it is his favorite film. Camera operator Vittorio Storaro also recalls how he became involved with the project and discusses the shooting process. In Italian, with imposed yellow English subtitles. (29 min).

• Poster & Still Gallery - a gallery of original poster art, lobby cards, production stills, VHS covers, DVD covers, and CD covers from around the world. The gallery was compiled by Gregory Chick.

• Audio Commentary - in this audio commentary, journalists C. Courtney Joyner and Henry C. Parke discuss the production history of Man, Pride and Vengeance, the shooting locations (the story and the film were shot in Spain), the unusual narrative (the film is part period romantic drama, part traditional western), Camillo Bazzoni's framing, the different titles that were used to market and promote the film across the world, etc.

Man, Pride and Vengeance Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I thoroughly enjoyed Luigi Bazzoni's Man, Pride and Vengeance. It is a strange but very entertaining adaptation of Prosper Mérimée's legendary novella Carmen that has a bit of that wild eccentricity that makes many of Pier Paolo Pasolini's films worth seeing over and over again. The film could look better in high-definition, but this is a fine release from Blue Underground. Definitely RECOMMENDED.