The Flesh Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Flesh Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 18, 2017

Nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Marco Ferreri's "The Flesh" a.k.a. "La Carne" (1991) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Cult Epics. The supplemental features on the disc include an original Italian trailer for the film; behind the scenes featurette; archival interviews with Marco Ferreri and actors Francesca Dellera and Sergio Castellitto; original lobby cards; and more. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The piano player and his muse

There will never be another director quite like Marco Ferreri. It is quite possible that a generation or two from now an authentic rebel will emerge and target the global film industry and its output with the same sharp sense of humor that the late Robert Altman had when he pointed his camera at the hypocrites in Hollywood, but this future star will not be allowed to be as bold as Ferreri was. The cult of political correctness and those that support it will make sure that ‘unsafe’ provocateurs like Ferreri are a thing of the past.

Ferreri directed The Flesh towards the end of his career and judging by his comments in one of the archival featurettes that are included on this release the film was intended to be pretty much the same type of ‘button-pusher’ that the cult Le Grande Bouffe was. In other words, there is a heavy dose of satire in it and a crucial point where the film switches identities to deliver an important message. The end result isn’t quite as memorable as La Grande Bouffe, but it is definitely something that only Ferreri could have envisioned.

The main protagonist is a middle-aged piano player named Paolo (played by one of Italian cinema’s greatest living actors, Sergio Castellitto) who has recently ended his marriage to a pretentious gold digger. Because he can no longer see their two children as frequently as he wishes, now he routinely struggles with depression that has started affecting the quality of his performance in the night club that employs him. A casual conversation with the lusty Francesca (Francesca Dellera), however, reignites Paolo’s passion for life and he abruptly abandons the club, the few friends he has, and his even children. The two then purchase a large amount of food and retreat to a secluded seaside cottage where, while enjoying their bodies, they begin pondering the nature of life. For a while the sex could not be better and Paolo even vows to spend the rest of his life with Francesca, but when the beauty suddenly announces that she wishes to leave him the seemingly idyllic reality collapses with a bang.

The main theme is a familiar one: Love is what makes a life worth living. But shortly after Paolo meets Francesca it gets twisted with Ferreri’s familiar dark sense of humor and the viewer is reminded in a number of very effective ways that love can be frequently rationalized by many misleading terms, with lust and sex perhaps being the two most common ones. At the end, there is also another one of those classic quick punches in the gut that define so many of Ferreri’s films to remind the viewer that the difference between man and beast isn’t as definitive as most scholars have insisted it is.

Paolo’s temptation truly could not have been any more authentic. Indeed, Dellera, who was once promoted as “the most beautiful woman in the world”, looks absolutely stunning here and at least some of the piano player’s errors make perfect sense. The second act, however, where for a short period of time he is locked into an unforgiving power play mode, could have been extended with more hilarious material that would have ridiculed an even wider range of classic male fantasies.

Castellitto is wonderful and the entire film really works because of his ability to effortlessly interchange the funny with the grotesque. Dellera’s performance is clearly not of the same caliber, but she does have the right type of presence and attitude that her character needs to be convincing.

The Flesh Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.72:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Marco Ferreri's The Flesh arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cult Epics.

The master that was accessed to make this release possible was either prepared quite some time ago or it was actually struck from dated elements. My guess is that it is the former because the transfer reveals some surface sharpness that is quite common for masters that were prepared during or towards the end of the DVD era. On the other hand, there are quite a few rather large damage marks as well as pretty obvious scratches and specks and even a few quick frame jumps, which makes the second option a realistic possibility as well. Regardless of what the case may be the film has a dated appearance, and anyone with a large enough screen will instantly be able to tell that there is plenty of room for important improvements. This being said, I would like to make it clear that there is enough pleasing detail to consider the Blu-ray release a minor upgrade in quality over the old Italian R2 DVD release of La Carne (which was also not English-friendly). The majority of the close-ups, in particular, hold up pretty well. However, color balance isn't overly convincing and the range of nuances is very limited. The gamma levels are also off, though it is difficult for me to tell if it is the master that was done this way or the Blu-ray was encoded with improper gamma values. The best news here is that there are no traces of recent attempts to reshapren/repolish the film. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Flesh Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 2.0, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless Italian track is serviceable. However, if the audio is fully remastered I believe that depth and fluidity will be noticeably improved. Indeed, for the most part the sound feels a bit 'thin' and during some sequences the high-frequencies seem to struggle a bit, which coupled with the general flatness of the soundtrack gives the audio an obvious dated feel. The English translation is good.

The Flesh Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes - presented here is raw footage from the shooting of the night club sequence where Paolo meets Francesca. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (6 min).

• Trailer - original Italian trailer for The Flesh. In Italian, optional English subtitles. (2 min).

• Interview with Marco Ferreri, Francesca Dellera, and Sergio Castellitto - in this archival featurette, director Marco Ferreri and actors Francesca Dellera and Sergio Castellitto discuss their in-progress work on The Flesh and the tone and style of the film. In Italian, optional English subtitles. (5 min).

• Cannes Film Festival 1991 - presented here is archival footage from the Cannes Film Festival where The Flesh was screened in 1991. Music only.

• Photo Gallery - a collection of original Italian lobby cards for The Flesh.

The Flesh Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Marco Ferreri was the boldest and most politically incorrect of the great European satirists. One could argue that the likes of Luis Bunuel and Bigas Luna directed a few films that were perhaps a bit more effective in their attacks on the hypocrites, but even their best work did not go as far as Ferreri's masterpieces did. I am very pleased to see that Cult Epics decided to bring The Flesh to Blu-ray as during the DVD era the film was not available in North America, but I have to say that I expected the presentation to be more convincing. Still, despite the technical limitations, if you like the director's cinematic style and very dark sense of humor consider adding it to your collections. RECOMMENDED.