7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
This masterpiece of black humor, beloved in Spain but too little seen elsewhere, threads a scathing critique of Franco-era values through a macabre farce about an undertaker who marries an executioner’s daughter and reluctantly takes over her father’s job so the family can keep their government-allotted apartment. As caustic today as it was in 1963, this early collaboration between Luis García Berlanga and his longtime screenwriter Rafael Azcona is an unerring depiction of what Berlanga called “the invisible traps that society sets up for us.” A furiously funny personal attack on capital punishment, The Executioner escaped the state censors who sought to suppress it, and today is regarded as one of the greatest Spanish films of all time.
Starring: Nino Manfredi, Emma Penella, José Isbert, José Luis López Vázquez, Ángel ÁlvarezForeign | 100% |
Drama | 78% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Spanish: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Nominated for Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, Luis García Berlanga's "The Executioner" a.k.a. "El verdugo" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; new video interview with Pedro Almodovar; new program on director Luis Garcia Berlanga and his work; and archival episode of the Spanish television program La mitad invisible. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring critic David Cairn's essay "By the Neck" and technical credits. In Spanish, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The wrong man for the job
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luis García Berlanga's The Executioner arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:
"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm optical soundtrack negative. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.
Scanning: Deluxe, Madrid.
Transfer supervisor and colorist: Lee Kline."
I do not currently have a DVD copy of this film in my library to do some direct comparisons, but I feel confident stating that it has never before looked this good on any home video format. Indeed, the entire films looks remarkably healthy and the technical presentation is as impressive as that of Antonio Pietrangeli's I Knew Her Well (also sourced from a recent top-notch 4K restoration). Detail, depth and especially fluidity are absolutely fantastic. The grayscale is also excellent -- the blacks are solid while the whites and the variety of grays appear wonderfully balanced. The high-quality scanning has ensured a very fine layer of grain that is also wonderfully resolved. Additionally, there are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments or other compromising digital corrections. Image stability is outstanding. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Spanish LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Depth and clarity remain very pleasing throughout the entire film. Dynamic intensity is also good, though the film's original sound design is far from impressive. The dialog is stable and easy to follow. However, during a couple of short segments I noticed some extremely mild hiss making its presence felt in the upper register. There are no audio dropouts, cracks, or digital distortions to report.
I have to place Luis García Berlanga's The Executioner right next to Antonio Pietrangeli's I Knew Her Well as I consider it one of the best recent entries in the Criterion Collection. It is a small masterpiece that has the wit of Luis Bunuel's work but hits its targets with the same energy many of the great commedia all'italiana films do. Berlanga's films are very difficult to see outside of Spain so hopefully this release will start a trend and more of them will transition to Blu-ray in the United States. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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