Requiescant Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Requiescant Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 20, 2015

Carlo Lizzani's "Requiescant" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Entertainment Group/Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interview with actor Lou Castel; and archival video interview with Carlo Lizzani. The release also arrives with an illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing on the film by Pasquale Iannone. In English or Italian, with optional English and English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A/B "locked".

The preacher

A young boy survives a terrible massacre. Shortly after, he is picked up by a traveling preacher who raises him as if he is his own son. Years later, the boy also becomes a preacher and learns that his real father was murdered and that his step-sister is working as a prostitute in a brothel controlled by men with connections to his father’s killer. He vows to punish him and give his step-sister a chance to start a new life.

The narrative structure and visual style of Carlo Lizzani’s Requiescant (also known as Kill and Pray) are very similar to that of Sergio Leone’s classics westerns. The clash that the film focuses on is not so much between men who genuinely dislike each other, but between the values and ideas they represent.

The young preacher is played by Lou Castel, a very unique actor who made his acting debut in Marco Bellocchio’s terrific film Fists in the Pocket. In it Castel showed a tremendous range of emotions while confronting his dysfunctional family in a genuinely disturbing fashion. Here Castel’s character, Requiescant, is essentially the exact opposite of the young rebel in Bellocchio’s film. He is a mostly quiet and methodical person with a big heart who fights the good fight and quickly earns the audience’s sympathy.

American actor Mark Damon is the leader of the villains, George Ferguson. He is an overconfident aristocrat who has managed to take control over the area where the massacre took place years ago. Before Requiescant’s arrival no one has successfully challenged his authority -- the few Mexican rebels that have tried have been eliminated while everyone else has sided with him because he has offered them protection and opportunities to make money. So, there is a system in place which has engaged different people and in the process allowed them to settle down.

Lizzani, who was an outspoken communist and proponent of Italian neorealism, uses this system as a metaphor for the then-current socio-political status quo in Italy. Indeed, to an outsider it would appear that the system is helping the area grow -- there is business for everyone and the gangsters are under Ferguson’s control. During the ‘60s, an outsider visiting Italy would have witnessed a very similar system that was encouraging economic growth -- there were jobs for everyone, there were plenty of business opportunities, and the government was able to unite the South and the North. When Castel confronts the gangsters at the brothel and unleashes a series of confrontations, the system is collapsed and its absurdity and hypocrisy exposed.

The political overtones give Requiescant a somewhat unique identity, but the end result is hardly original. The conflicts during the buildup are fairly straightforward and the finale feels rather underwhelming.

Lizzani shot the film with cinematographer Sandro Mancori, who is probably best known for his collaborations with Gianfranco Parolini on the three Sabata films (Sabata, Adios Sabata, and The Return of Sabata).

The atmospheric soundtrack features some outstanding guitar solos. It was composed by the legendary Riz Ortolani (Il Sorpasso, Day of Anger).

Requiescant 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, Carlo Lizzani's Requiescant arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Entertainment Group/Arrow Video.

The film looks very healthy. Clarity and depth are quite pleasing, though there are segments with some obvious density fluctuations. However, they do appear to be part of the original cinematography. During the indoor footage shadow definition is good, though it could have been managed even better as some very light crushing can be seen (see screencapture #15). There are no traces of problematic degraining and sharpening adjustments. Grain is visible throughout the entire film and well resolved. Color are stable and well saturated. Overall image stability is very good. There are no large cuts, damage marks, debris, or torn frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A/B "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A, Region-B, or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Requiescant Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0 and Italian LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the English track and English subtitles for the Italian track.

UPDATE: I have received a market version of this release and the error that was described earlier in our review is NOT present on it. As a result, our final score for the audio section has been adjusted.

I viewed the film with the English track. Riz Ortolani's very atmospheric soundtrack probably benefits the most from the lossless treatment because the clarity and crispness of the music is quite impressive. There is good intensity during the shootouts as well, but rather predictably the range of nuanced dynamics is limited. The dialog is stable and clean, but because of the post-production overdubbing some very minor unevenness exists. There are no digital distortions or dropouts to report in our review.

I also tested the Italian track. While depth and clarity appear to be fairly similar, there appears to be an error with the synchronization between the dialog and the English subtitles. The error becomes quite obvious during the second half.

Requiescant Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Requiescant. Music only. (3 min, 1080p).

• Lou Castel Interview - in this new video interview, actor Lou Castel reflects on his career and the various characters he played during the years, including the Mexican preacher in Requiescant, and discusses the political overtones and symbolism in the films after '68 (the Paris riots), some of the specific Chaplin-esque qualities he gave to Requiescant, etc. In French, with optional English subtitles. (14 min, 1080p).

• Carlo Lizzani - in this archival video interview, the late Italian director discusses his career in the film industry (Carlo Lizzani was also very active as a writer; see Giuseppe De Santis' Bitter Rice and Roberto Rossellini's Germany, Year Zero), his desire to work in different genres, Italian neorealism and socio-political climate after the end of WWII, the idea of treating the conflicts in Requiescant metaphorically, etc. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (28 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - illustrated collector's booklet containing new writing on the film by Pasquale Iannone.

Requiescant Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The political overtones give Requiescant a somewhat unique identity, but considering the talent that contributed to it -- even the great director Pier Paolo Pasolini has a small cameo in the film -- the end result is hardly original. Nevertheless, this is an entertaining spaghetti western that should appeal to fans of the genre. The release also comes with a very informative new interview with Lou Castel. RECOMMENDED.