Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		2.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.0

Sedotta e abbandonata Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 14, 2014

Pietro Germi's "Seduced and Abandoned" a.k.a. "Seduced and Abandoned" (1964) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors Cristaldi Film/Cecchi Gori. The supplemental features on the disc inlcude deleted and extended scenes; documentary film; archival video interview with actress Stefania Sandrelli; archival video interview with actor Lando Buzzanca; collection of stills from the film; and more. In Italian, with optional English, French, and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Agnese

It is only a matter of time before Peppino Califano (Aldo Puglisi, Swept Away) marries the plump beauty Matilde (Paola Biggio). He has visited her home many times and her father, the well-respected Don Vincenzo Ascalone (Saro Urzi, The Railroad Man), has already blessed their future union.

But there is a problem. Peppino has slept with Matilde’s younger and far more beautiful sister, Agnese (Stefania Sandrelli, The Conformist, The Nymph), and now she is pregnant. Peppino does not know yet, but Agnese has just found out and cannot stop crying because she is convinced that she has betrayed her family.

Eventually, Don Vicenzo discovers what has happened and comes up with a brilliant plan to save his family’s honor. He introduces Matilde to the broke and immature Baron Rizieri Zappala (Leopoldo Trieste, Cinema Paradiso), who has been trying to hang himself so that he can end his misery, and convinces both that they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together. Then he visits Peppino’s family and arranges his wedding with Agnese.

Much to Don Vincenzo’s annoyance, however, Peppino concludes that he isn’t ready to be a husband yet and runs away from his family. When a distant relative discovers that he is hiding in a convent, the angry Don Vincenzo promptly orders his son Antonio (Lando Buzzanca, The Sucker) to kill him. The stupid son reveals his intentions to Matilde and when Agnese learns from her that Peppino has only a few days left to live she decides to save his life. In the local police station, Agnese confesses that she has been seduced by Peppino and begs Chief Polenza (Oreste Palella) to arrest her brother. Chief Polenza agrees but also announces that he will put Peppino behind bars -- unless he changes his mind and marries the seduced and abandoned Agnese.

The tone and style of Pietro Germi’s Seduced and Abandoned are very similar to that of his previous commedia all'italiana, Divorce Italian Style, which won Oscar Award for Best Writing and Prix de la meilleure comédie (Best Comedy) at the Cannes Film Festival. Indeed, Seduced and Abandoned is very energetic and hugely entertaining but also loaded with fierce satirical jabs film which targets all sorts of different traditional southern Italian values and norms.

Urzi is spectacular as the angry Don Vincenzo. In the small village where his family lives everyone knows and respects him so when word gets out that Agnese is no longer a virgin he is forced to improvise in order to defend his reputation. These improvisations appear in some of the film’s funniest sequences. Sandrelli is wonderful as the naïve Agnese who has to remain strong in a world dominated by silly men. Trieste (who has lost most of his teeth) and Puglisi are also incredibly entertaining to watch.

Like most Germi films, Seduced and Abandoned is beautifully lensed. There are wonderful panoramic shots and the camera movement is fantastic. The film also has that epic vibe that is so prominent in Germi’s early dramas (see The Path of Hope and Jealousy). Germi shot the film with cinematographer Aiace Parolin (Francesco Rosi’s The Moment of Truth, Enzo G. Castellari’s Keoma).

The set decors were created by Andrea Fantacci (Federico Fellini’s Roma, Amarcord). The film was scored by Carlo Rustichelli (Mario Bava’s Kill Baby, Kill, Jacques Deray’s Le Gang).

Sedotta e abbandonata 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, Pietro Germi's Seduced and Abandoned arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Italian distributors Cristaldi Film/Cecchi Gori.

The technical presentation of this classic Italian film is very disappointing. It appears that the high-definition transfer has been struck from a recent master -- quite possibly after the original negative was scanned -- but machine noise is visible throughout the entire film. What makes the technical presentation very problematic, however, are the numerous traces of compromising digital corrections (denoising and sharpening adjustments) which have affected image depth and clarity. Many of the close-ups, for example, look uncharacteristically flat, while wider panoramic shots appear smeary (see screencaptures #2 and 16). The encoding is also problematic -- there are visible artifacts and even distracting macroblocking. The only good news here is that image stability is excellent. All in all, if the raw files created during the scanning still exist, a different distributor can easily create a very beautiful Blu-ray release of Seduced and Abandoned. The current technical presentation, however, is very disappointing. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Sedotta e abbandonata Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Cecchi Gori have provided optional English, French, and Italian SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless Italian track is excellent. I did some direct comparisons with my Italian DVD release and depth and clarity are indeed substantially improved. Even during seemingly casual sequences -- for example, see the sequence where Don Vincenzo slaps his daughters after he discovers that Agnese is pregnant -- the sound is much better. Of course, the music and dialog are also properly pitched. There is no background hiss, pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.

Sedotta e abbandonata Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Il racconto prima di tutto - an excellent documentary film featuring interviews with scenarist Furio Scarpelli, critic Masolino D'Amico, director Mario Monicelli, and Stefania Sandrelli, amongst others. In Italian, not subtitled. (59 min).

• Montaggio Alternativo - four extended/deleted scenes. In Italian, not subtitled.
  
  1. Il Sogno (2 min)
  2. Al Bar (2 min).
  3. Secondo Tentativo dal Pretore (4 min)
  4. Festeggiamenti in Casa (2 min)

• Intervista e Stefania Sandrelli - an archival video interview with actress Stefania Sandrelli (Agnese). In Italian, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Intervista a Lando Buzzanca - an archival video interview with actor Lando Buzzanca (Antonio Ascalone). In Italian, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Provini di Stefania Sandrelli - screen tests with commentary by Stefania Sandrelli. In Italian, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Galleria fotografica - a collection of stills from the film. (2 min).

• Locandina originale - original poster for the film. (1 min).

• Premi Cristaldi Film - Cristaldi Film promo. With music. (2 min).

Sedotta e abbandonata Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have been hoping to see a Pietro Germi film transition to Blu-ray and I could not be happier when earlier this year I learned that one of the Italian director's best, Seduced and Abandoned, with beautiful Stefania Sandrelli, will be released by Cecchi Gori. Unfortunately, I have to say that this is one of the year's most disappointing releases -- it is plagued by too many issues that make it very difficult to enjoy the film. Since Seduced and Abandoned was previously released on DVD by Criterion, I hope that we will eventually see a proper U.S. Blu-ray release. AVOID.