Parlami D'Amore Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Parlami D'Amore Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 19, 2012

Silvio Muccino's directorial debut "Parlami d'amore" a.k.a. "Tell Me About Love" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors 01 Distribution. The supplemental features on the disc include original Italian trailer for the film; collection of stills from the film by Philippe Antonello; screen tests; Skin's music video "Tear Down These Houses"; making of featurette; and more. In Italian, with optional English and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Teach me how to do it

On a rainy night in Rome, Nicole (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, The Chambermaid on the Titanic, The Whore and the Whale) hits Sasha’s (Silvio Muccino, Manuale d'amore) car while trying to avoid a homeless dog. Together they head to a nearby animal hospital where the dog’s wounds are treated. When Nicole’s husband arrives to pick her up, she promises to give Sasha a call to see how the dog is doing and then quickly leaves.

A few weeks later, Nicole meets Sasha in a lavish old house on the outskirts of the city, which he has been hired to restore. With tears in her eyes, Nicole apologizes for not contacting Sasha earlier to see what has happened to the dog. But when Olivia appears wagging her tail, Nicole calms down and the three go for a walk. Sasha and Nicole talk about relationships, love, and life. Sasha also confesses to Nicole that he is in love with a girl whom he has never approached because he is afraid that she would reject him. Before they part ways, Nicole nonchalantly mentions to Sasha that there is no woman who can’t be conquered.

Shortly after, Sasha meets his dream girl, Benedetta (Carolina Crescentini, 20 sigarette). Encouraged by Nicole’s words, he approaches her and the two talk. Later on, overflowing with joy Sasha decides to ask Nicole to teach him how to win Benedetta’s heart.

Silvio Muccino’s (brother of acclaimed director and writer Gabriele Muccino, The Last Kiss, Remember Me, My Love) directorial debut is a beautiful though slightly uneven film that should appeal to a wide range of viewers - and especially those who have a soft spot for less than realistic romantic stories with happy endings. The film employs quite a few clichés but they never overwhelm. At least during its first half the dilemmas the main protagonists face seem very credible.

The film stutters a bit in the middle, where buts of Sasha’s past are revealed. During an AA meeting, he makes an important confession that alters dramatically his relationship with Nicole. Around the same time his fantasies about Benedetta also begin to evolve. A very close friend also asks Sasha for a favor that pushes him amidst people he has been trying to avoid for years. These new subplots hurt the cohesiveness of the film and slightly change its atmosphere.

Nevertheless, Sasha’s struggle to figure out how he is going to live his life and who is the woman he wants to share it with keeps the viewer’s attention until the very end. Nicole’s soul searching is also effective.

Excluding a few sequences where the melodrama could have been toned down, the film looks good. Muccino is mostly convincing as the young and shy man who comes to realize that the girl he loved was a product of his imagination. But the real star of the film is Sanchez-Gijon, a stunningly beautiful and elegant woman who gives the story a much needed credibility. The great Geraldine Chaplin has a small cameo role as well.

The film looks sharp and quite beautiful. The majority of the scenes where Muccino and Sanchez-Gijon are seen together in particular look great. The trendy soundtrack by award winning composer Andrea Guerra (Facing Windows, Hotel Rwanda) is also excellent. The main song in the film, Tear Down These Houses, is performed by Skunk Anansie's vocalist Skin.

Note: In 2008, Tell Me About Love won David of the Youth Award at the David di Donatello Awards (the Italian Oscars).

Parlami D'Amore Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with VC-1 and granted a 1080p transfer, Silvio Muccino's Tell Me About Love arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors 01 Distribution.

This recent Italian film looks very good in high-definition. Detail and clarity are very impressive from start to finish, while contrast levels are stable. Color reproduction does not disappoint either - the yellows, greens, blues, and browns are warm and natural, never looking artificially boosted. The many daylight sequences where Nicole and Sasha are seen together look particularly good. There are absolutely no traces of post-production tinkering. Serious transfer specific anomalies, such as heavy banding and aliasing, are also nowhere to be seen. There are no flecks, scratches, debris, or other distracting imperfections to report in this review. All in all, the presentation is solid, certainly matching the high quality of the presentations that I've seen on some of the best 01 Distribution releases. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Parlami D'Amore Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray disc: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with portions of French). For the record, 01 Distribution have provided optional English and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless audio track serves the film very well. The trendy soundtrack, in particular, benefits a lot. Occasionally, there is also some decent surround activity, but you should not expect the type of movement action productions have. In other words, the dynamic and surround movement are in sync with the film's atmosphere. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and always exceptionally easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, distortions, or audio dropouts to report in this review. The English translation is outstanding.

Parlami D'Amore Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original Italian trailer for Tell Me About Love. In Italian, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080/50i).

• Galleria Fotografica - a collection of stills from the film by Philippe Antonello. With music. (2 min, 1080/50i).

• Making of Del Videoclip di Skin - raw footage from the shooting of Skin's video "Tear Down These Houses". (6 min, 1080/50i).

• Tear Down These Houses - the original video for Skin's Tear Down These Houses. (6 min, 1080/50i).

• Provino di Aitana Sanchez-Gijon - a short test with actress Aitana Sanchez-Gijon. In Italian, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080/50i).

• Provino di Carolina Crescentini - a short test with actress Carolina Crescentini. In Italian, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080/50i).

• My First Day - footage from the shooting of the beach scene with Aitana Sanchez-Gijon. Music only. (2 min, 1080/50i).

• Scene Tagliate - deleted scenes. In Italian, not subtitled. (7 min, 1080/50i).

• Special "Parlami d'Amore" - a standard making of featurette with comments from cast and crew members. In Italian, not subtitled. (22 min, 1080/50i).

Parlami D'Amore Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tell Me About Love is a perfect film to see with someone special on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Though somewhat predictable at times, the film is beautiful, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. Now I am going to track down a copy of Un altro mondo, Silvio Muccino's second film, with Maya Sansa. I hope that sooner rather than later we will also see a Blu-ray release of the excellent Ricordati di me, directed by Silvio's brother, Gabriele. RECOMMENDED.