The Sicilian Clan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Sicilian Clan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 28, 2017

At the time of its release, “The Sicilian Clan” was a fairly big deal. The 1969 endeavor is not only a crime thriller looking to bring an action cinema aesthetic to a subgenre normally reserved for heated conversations, but it features top-tier European talent, inviting Alain Delon, Jean Gabin, and Lino Ventura to star in this epic saga of mafia antagonism. “The Sicilian Clan” has all the thespian power it needs, but it’s the story that tends to wear down the viewing experience, with director Henri Verneuil out to make something sophisticated and smashmouth, but has difficulty juggling the plethora of names and faces the screenplay introduces.

“The Sicilian Cut” is based on a novel by Auguste Le Breton, and it retains literary expanse when it comes to characters and motivations. The feature concerns mafia interests in France, with underworld figures eager to get their hands on diamonds, smashing up against complications with cops and security issues. However, “The Sicilian Clan” isn’t clean escapism with rough customers, more interested in power plays between rivals and law enforcement, braiding obsessions into a single drive to disrupt order with crime. There is an enormous amount of characters to manage, and relationships aren’t always established with care, making the viewing experience more about keeping tabs on personal interactions than embracing a grand sweep of mob violence.

“The Sicilian Clan” is presented in two versions: The U.S. Cut (118:27) and the French Cut (121:28).

The Sicilian Clan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation for the U.S. Cut of "The Sicilian Clan" is billed as a "4K restoration," and it looks like some effort was put into its HD upgrade, offering pleasant detail to help explore the varied faces on display, picking up on aging nuances, style choices, and make-up application. Costumes also retain fibrous qualities, and locations maintain dimension. Colors are appealing, with bold period primaries to support the era's interest in fashion. Greenery is alive and signage is flavorful. Skintones are accurate. Delineation is adequate, offering slightly milkier blacks on occasion. Source avoids major evidence of damage. Artifacting is also present, with a few noisy pockets and periodic reveals of posturization. The French Cut is a "2K Restoration."

The Sicilian Clan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix isn't rousing, but it handles the essentials of "The Sicilian Job" without distraction. Dialogue exchanges are appealing, with the U.S. Cut dubbed thickly but effectively, keeping the effort's constant exposition clear enough to hear. Scoring is supportive and alive, with pleasing instrumentation and placement, goosing moods when called on to do so. Sound effects are thick but passable, maintaining acts of violence, while atmospherics are limited but present, showing most life with crowd scenes.

The Sicilian Clan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

U.S. Cut

• Commentary features film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Howard S. Berger.

• Animated Montage of Images (5:33) offers a collection of publicity and promotional photos.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:21, SD) is included.

French Cut

• "Legend of the Clan" (63:32, SD) is a 2013 featurette on the making of "The Sicilian Clan," presenting interviews with a handful of crew members and a few periphery individuals. With considerable length, conversations about development and production are allowed time to develop, and there's even a bit of BTS footage with director Henri Verneuil, who also appears in brief interview snippets from long ago. "Legend of the Clan" does discuss editing woes, explaining the existence of different cuts, and pays tribute to musical contributions from Ennio Morricone.

• "'The Sicilian Clan' by Fred Cavaye" (4:15, SD) is an appreciation piece from the director, who shares his love for the movie's composition and tone, celebrating the picture as one of the great offerings of thriller cinema, also heralding Verneuil as a master filmmaker.

• A French Theatrical Trailer (3:17, SD) is included.

The Sicilian Clan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"The Sicilian Clan" has some terrific action set pieces, highlighting a wonderful bruiser quality to Verneuil's direction, encouraging his cast to jump through windows, dodge bullets, and squeeze under trucks. It can be an exciting picture when it wants to be, and more extensive scheming involving an airplane hijacking for the climax is suspenseful. Extra firepower is provided by the ensemble, who are aces in their respective roles, treating everything with complete authority. However, at two hours, "The Sicilian Clan" doesn't snowball, it starts and stops, losing momentum to expositional needs and an overpopulation problem, which suits the family theme of the effort, but does little to amplify its impact.