7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A refugee marries a Sicilian fisherman but can't cope with the harshness of her new life.
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Mario Vitale (I), Renzo Cesana, Mario SponzoDrama | 100% |
Melodrama | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
DVD copy
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Roberto Rossellini's "Stromboli terra di Dio" a.k.a. "Stromboli Land of God" (1950) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features on the disc include Francesco Patierno's documentary "Bergman & Magnani: The War of the Volcanoes"; archival video interview with Ingrid Bergman conducted by critic John Taylor Russell; and visual essay written, produced, and narrated by critic Tad Gallagher. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. Region-B "locked".
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Roberto Rossellini's Stromboli Land of God arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the BFI.
The following text precedes the film's opening credits:
"This digital restoration of the Italian version of Stromboli derives from a combined duplicate negative preserved by Cibecitta Digital Factory. The image was scanned at 2K resolution, and digitally cleaned to eliminate signs of wear such as spots, lines, scratches, and visible splice marks. Image grading recovered the brightness and the richness of the original cinematography. The soundtrack was digitally cleaned and repaired to removed defects without losing the dynamics and character of the original version. The restoration was carried out by L'Immagine Ritrovata of Bologna in 2012."
A direct comparison with Criterion's presentaiton of Stromboli Land of God reveals that brightness levels are slightly elevated and as a result in some sequences shadow definition perhaps isn't as convincing as it should be (compare screencapture #7 and screencapture #16 from our review of the Criterion release). However, even during the daylight sequences it is easy to tell that brightness levels should have been better balanced (see the flatness that is introduced at the bottom of the frame in screencapture #15). Still, clarity remains very pleasing. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections, but there are some minor density fluctuations where grain is inconsistent (these areas appear slightly softer). Overall image stability is good, though before or after select transitions some unevenness remains. Large debris, cuts, stains, and warps have also been removed as best as possible, but some minor age-related imperfections remain. All in all, this is a pleasing presentation of the Italian-language version of Stromboli, but it is somewhat disappointing to see that the restored English-language version of the film isn't included on this release. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
It is quite easy to tell that the audio has been cleaned up, stabilized and rebalanced as well as possible. However, some minor clarity fluctuations remain. Most are typically easy to hear where the music becomes prominent. There are no audio dropouts to report in our review.
Stromboli Land of God is included in the BFI's The Roberto Rossellini Ingrid Bergman Collection three-disc Blu-ray box set. The technical presentation is very good, but this release has only the Italian-language version of film. In the United States, Criterion's 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman four-disc box set also has the English-language version of the film, which has also been restored in 2K. If you can play Region-A discs, my advice to you is to consider adding Criterion's box set to your collections.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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