7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A police detective and his team attempt to solve two crimes committed within a day of each other in neighboring apartment rooms.
Starring: Pietro Germi, Claudia Cardinale, Franco Fabrizi, Cristina Gaioni, Claudio GoraForeign | 100% |
Drama | 50% |
Crime | 16% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Radiance Films tends to list its supplements on the Main Menus of its discs under the names of the creators, participants or interview subjects, rather than any titles the bonus items may have, and in this particular case, a supplement listed as Paul A. J. Lewis actually has the much more piquant title What's Black and Yellow All Over? All Shades of Italian Film Noir, which finds Lewis drawing tethers between film noir, giallo, Poliziotteschi, and, kind of incredibly, Neorealism, all courtesy at least in part due to the rather interesting career of Pietro Germi, who both stars in and directed this "whodunit". While there are arguable connections between Germi and gialli, as Lewis details in his visual essay, and the film's emphasis on police procedures may tangentially qualify it as a Poliziotteschi, to call The Facts of Murder a giallo would probably be misleading. That said, the film does feature a killing (as evidenced by its very title), and while not exactly in the same way that early Neorealists like Visconti or Rossellini handled things, there are some passing touches of a vérité sensibility, even if the overall film is decidedly glossier and more stylized than is typically thought of in the Neorealist genre.
The Facts of Murder is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. There's an opening text card detailing a 4K restoration, some of which is reproduced in Radiance's insert booklet, as follows:
The Facts of Murder was restored in 4K from the original camera negative by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with RTI-Mediaset and Infinity+ at L'Immagine Ritrovata.This is a stellar looking presentation which offers excellent clarity and some really commendable fine detail levels throughout, especially on some of the close knit patterns on any number of outfits (kind of humorously, probably more so with the men's suit jackets than anything any of the women wear). Contrast is solid throughout, with excellent black levels and really beautifully modulated gray scale. Even some potential problem areas like smoky nightclubs present no issues in the compression department, and grain also resolves naturally throughout the presentation. I noticed no damage or other age related wear and tear of any major import.
The Facts of Murder features a nice sounding LPCM 2.0 Mono track in the original Italian (there are a few isolated lines in English courtesy of an uppity American woman who gets drawn into the investigation). This features a perhaps surprisingly "Hawksian" approach to dialogue, where several crowded scenes find people talking over each other within a general sense of impending (or actually realized) chaos, but despite the "busy-ness" of things, lines remain clearly delivered despite any passing tumult. More "standard" dialogue scenes offer no problems of any kind, and Carlo Rustichelli's score also resonates well. Optional English subtitles are available.
It's maybe just a little odd that Pietro Germi seems not to be that well remembered on this side of the pond, despite the fact that he took home a Best Screenplay Academy Award for Divorce Italian Style, and received an additional Oscar nomination for directing that film. As is gotten into in some of the supplements on this disc, Germi's career was really rather breathtakingly varied, and includes not just writing and directing, but acting as well. The Facts of Murder may not exactly offer an Agatha Christie level mystery, but it has some interesting twists and turns, and it certainly features a notable cast and a rather fascinating look at Roman life in the late fifties. Technical merits are first rate and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.
Il giorno della civetta
1968
Perché si uccide un magistrato
1975
懲役十八年 / Chōeki jū hachi-nen | Limited Edition
1967
Carandirú
2003
天注定 / Tian zhu ding
2013
Plemya
2014
Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum
1975
アウトレイジ / Way of the Yakuza
2010
Rote Sonne | Limited Edition
1970
博徒外人部隊 / Bakuto gaijin butai | Limited Edition
1971
2002
Deux hommes dans la ville
1973
南方车站的聚会 / Nán fāng chē zhàn de jù huì
2019
2020
影なき声; / Kage naki koe
1958
1971
1970
Yao a yao, yao dao wai po qiao / 摇啊摇,摇到外婆桥
1995
1973
1979