Stay As You Are Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		1.0

Stay As You Are Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 20, 2015

Alberto Lattuada's "Stay As You are" a.k.a. "Così come sei" (1978) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent U.S. distributors Cult Epics. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film and Ennio Morricone's beautiful soundtrack. In Italian or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Francesca

Middle-aged architect Giulio (Marcello Mastroianni, La Dolce Vita, Divorce Italian Style) meets the young and beautiful student Francesca (Nastassja Kinski, Tess, Paris, Texas) and the two begin seeing each other. Soon after, Giulio learns from a friend that Francesca is the daughter of Fosca, a former lover who ended their relationship after she became pregnant.

The rest of the film attempts to see Giulio and Francesca’s risky relationship from a number of different angles and understand how they feel about each other after they realize that there is a possibility that Giulio could be Francesca’s missing father. Their reactions are very simple and even though they may not feel entirely politically correct -- to some viewers at least -- I assure you they make perfect sense.

There are two key reasons why Giulio keeps going back to Francesca. The first is the feeling that he can be spontaneous again, just as he was more than twenty years ago when he was in love with Fosca. The physical attraction is there, but it is not why he is with Francesca. Despite the age difference, there is a real connection between them that makes him feel alive. When he isn’t with Francesca, Giulio is stuck in a dysfunctional marriage that makes him feel old and miserable. The second reason is his past with Fosca. If he is in fact Francesca’s father, then he must have a meaningful, lasting role in her life.

Francesca wants to be loved, but she needs to feel safe with her lover and be part of something special. There are plenty of handsome boys around her that she can sleep with, but this isn’t the experience she desires. She wants an intense and meaningful relationship that would make her feel alive.

There comes a point in Giulio and Francesca relationship, however, where they begin to realize that they simply cannot remove themselves from the reality they are a part of -- whether now or later on, they will be judged, and they will have to tell lies to hide their feelings; and with time passing by, they will slowly start drifting away from each other. It is then that their relationship begins to fall apart.

With another director behind the camera the end result almost certainly would have been disappointing, but Alberto Lattuada deals with the risky material in a way that allows the film to engage the viewer rather than keep him nervous. Mastroianni and Kinski are also perfectly cast. There is terrific chemistry between the two makes the film hugely enjoyable to watch.

Lattuada shot the film with the great Spanish cinematographer José Luis Alcaine, who is probably best known for his numerous collaborations with Pedro Almodovar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) and Bigas Luna (Jamón Jamón, The Tit and the Moon).

The film’s very beautiful orchestral score was created by the Ennio Moricone (Black Angel, The Nymph). The entire score is included as a bonus on Cult Epics’ Blu-ray release of Stay As You Are).

Stay As You Are Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Alberto Lattuada's Stay As You Are arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of U.S. distributors Cult Epics.

The release has been sourced from a very old standard definition master, which I assume was used for a VHS release of some sort years ago. In other words, even by DVD standards the current presentation is quite poor. All of the important areas we typically address in our reviews are very problematic, with detail and shadow definition suffering the most. All major color identities are also lost. Image stability could be decent, but there are numerous shaky transitions and plenty of edge flicker. Finally, there are many damage marks, scratches, and dirt spots. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray player regardless of your geographical location).

Stay As You Are Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 2.0 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional subtitles are provided for the Italian track.

I prefer to view the film with the Italian track, but you should know that some of the actors were dubbed on it (including Nastassja Kinski). Depth and clarity fluctuate and there are some stability issues as well. Ennio Morricone's wonderful score also has a difficult time opening up the film. This is unfortunate but not surprising as it is quite clear that the audio needs to be remastered. Finally, I noticed some spelling errors on the English subtitles.

Stay As You Are Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers -
  
  1. Trailer for Stay As You Are. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).
  2. Original trailer for Tinto Brass' Black Angel. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min).

• Soundtrack - Ennio Morricone's beautiful soundtrack for Stay As You Are.

Stay As You Are Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is hugely disappointing to see that Alberto Lattuada's very, very beautiful film was not restored before it was released on Blu-ray. The current presentation is very problematic. It appears that Cult Epics used an old VHS master of some sort to produce the Blu-ray and the film looks quite awful upscaled. What is really sad, however, is that the work of this great Italian director has virtually been ignored in North America, this disappointing Blu-ray release could very well remain the definitive home video release of Stay As You Are.