Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Case Is Closed, Forget It Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 8, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani set from Radiance Films.

Franco Nero is one of those huge international superstars who perhaps perplexingly never really seemed to make a consistent impact in the United States market for whatever reason, though some have mentioned his lack of facility with English for having potentially contributed to that situation. In that regard, it's at least arguable that the "average Joe" and/or "Joanne" filmgoer on this side of the pond would only be able to point to Camelot, perhaps ironically even if they hadn't actually seen it, simply because of the gossip column fodder that erupted courtesy of his burgeoning relationship with co-star Vanessa Redgrave. That said, Camelot and maybe, just maybe titles like The Bible: In the Beginning... and/or Die Hard 2: Die Harder might occur to some stateside fans as offering Nero performances they've seen, but of course his European popularity was unmatched in his heyday, spurred by his star making performance in Django. As is recounted in some of the supplements Radiance has included with this three disc set, Nero matriculated from westerns in the sixties into some late sixties through seventies films that were at least tangentially related to Poliziotteschi, though often from the "flip side", i.e., focusing on the criminals rather than the good guys. Radiance has aggregated three of those entries in this appealing set, which features productions ranging from 1968 to 1975 all directed by Damiano Damiani, and at least somewhat interestingly only one of which features Nero as a policeman.

The Case is Closed: Forget It may remind some of any number of productions where a relatively inexperienced milquetoast-ish kind of guy ends up in stir, somewhat like characters portrayed by Alan Alda in The Glass House or John Heard in On the Yard. Evidently also somewhat like On the Yard, The Case is Closed: Forget It achieves some of its verisimilitude by using actual prisoners as part of the supporting cast. In this particular case, Nero plays a white collar type named Vanzi who is imprisoned on a ridiculously minor charge, but who then finds himself subsumed in the corrosively corrupt world of the Italian penal system.

Very much tonally in line with the dour, depressive aspects of both The Glass House and On the Yard, The Case is Closed: Forget It offers a glut of "warts and all" behaviors, and that ultimately may in fact include Vanzi himself, who is seemingly the audience's stand in as Moral Arbiter and General Good Guy, but who is revealed to perhaps be less than honorable when push comes to shove. As such, The Case is Closed: Forget It is not an "easy" watch, but it's often gritty and gripping.

The Case Is Closed, Forget It Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Case is Closed: Forget It is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Radiance's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

The Case is Closed: Forget It was scanned in 2K from the original camera negative and restored and colour graded by Augustus Color, Rome. Additional restoration was undertaken by Radiance Films at Silver Salt in London to remove instances of dirt and scratches. Additional grading and colour correction was performed by Radiance Films in 2023. The original Italian and English mono soundtracks were restored by Cinema Communications, Rome. Additional restoration to the English track was performed by Radiance Films in 2023.

The Case is Closed: Forget It looks largely fantastic in this presentation, with less of the yellow skewing that I mentioned in the The Day of the Owl Blu-ray review, but also arguably with a just bit less impressive suffusion, which can lead to things looking just slightly anemic at times. That said, on the whole the film, which admittedly doesn't offer a lot of "pop" in the visuals, offers a secure palette and some commendable fine detail levels. A surplus of close-ups helps to elevate overall detail levels, though some of the wide shots of the prison yard can also offer secure general detail levels. Grain is tightly resolved throughout the presentation.

The Case Is Closed, Forget It Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Case is Closed: Forget It features LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in either Italian or English. There's noticeable hiss on the English language track, but there are also at least at times different mixes at play, as in opening credits, where the music in the English track is much more full bodied and doesn't have compete with the sound effects that are quite present in the Italian language version. Both tracks deliver dialogue cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Case Is Closed, Forget It Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Franco Nero (HD; 14:26) reminisces about The Case is Closed: Forget It and other aspects of his long career in this newly filmed interview. Subtitled in English.


• Enrique Bergier, Corrado Solari and Antonio Siciliano (HD; 28:09) is an archival piece from 2015 featuring assistant director Bergier, editor Siciliano and actor Solari. Subtitled in English.


• Italy's Cinematic Civil Conscience: An Examination of the Life and Works of Damiano Damiani (HD; 35:29) features Rachael Nisbet investigating some of the themes in Damiani's oeuvre.


• Trailer (HD; 3:13)

The Case Is Closed, Forget It Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Case is Closed: Forget It is in some ways the biggest "downer" in the Cosa Nostra set, but it's kind of stiflingly involving one way or the other. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.