Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Teenage Prostitution Racket Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 17, 2018

Carlo Lizzani's "The Teenage Prostitution Racket" a.k.a. "Storie di vita e malavita" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video US. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage promotional materials for the film; archival documentary featuring interviews with Carlo Lizzani, screenwriter Mino Giarda, and cinematographer Lamberto Calmi; and deleted scenes. The release also arrives with a 12-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Bret Wood and technical credits. In English, without optional subtitles. Region-Free.

In the shop

The English title of Carlo Lizzani’s film sounds alarming, perhaps even borderline dangerous. But in the film Lizzani does pretty much exactly what Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci did in 1962 with Mamma Roma and La Commare Secca. The only notable difference is that the events in Lizzani’s film take place a little over a decade later.

The Teenage Prostitution Racket is a collection of vignettes that highlight the fast and dangerous disintegration of Italy's social fabric during the 1970s. Each vignette is set in the prosperous city of Milan where young girls from different backgrounds are targeted by criminals who overtime irreversibly change their way of life.

In the first vignette an elderly woman attempts to convince a truck driver to have sex with her teenage companion in exchange for cash and later on pays a fee to a brutal gang that controls the area where the two operate. Another girl who has left her home in Sardinia and come to Milan is befriended by a member of the gang and led to believe that he is going to marry her if she helps him cover his debts. To do so quickly, the girl then agrees to start working as a prostitute in a popular corner of the city’s busy train station. In a different segment a rebellious girl becomes a prostitute so that she can hurt her snobbish parents but quickly discovers that leaving the ‘business’ is damn near impossible. Another girl also becomes a professional escort after she discovers ‘love’ the wrong way. A feisty prostitute who tries to remain independent is also targeted by gang members who demand that she pays them for the right to work.

Lizzani's film has the edgy appearance of Fernando Di Leo’s popular crime dramas but lacks that slightly over-the-top energy that made them memorable. It is fixated on the awful environment in which the young girls are targeted and brought into the ‘business’ and through their stories offers the same type of social commentary that is present in Pasolini and Bertolucci films. Because the entire film has a much more casual quality, however, occasionally it does feel like Lizzani pushes it rather close to that area where sexploitation films typically reside. (The prolonged casual violence in Di Leo’s crime dramas is also the reason why over the years some critics have argued that they are genuine exploitation films).

The most valuable content is the period footage from Milan which provides a fascinating look at the widening gap between the evolving middle class and the very bottom of society where rampant lawlessness is quickly breeding monsters and victims. A lot of the outdoor city footage, in particular, appears to have been shot without any preliminary preparation work and from time to time it is very easy to see the surprised faces of local residents.

Lizzani worked with cinematographer Lamberto Caimi, who is perhaps best known for his contributions to Ermano Olmi’s Il Posto and I Fidanzati. In an archival documentary that is included on this release, the two men confirm that their goal was to keep the visuals as authentic as possible and essentially give the film a contemporary neorealist identity.

The soundtrack was created by the great maestro Ennio Morricone. It has a distinct chamber quality and mixes southern Italian folk motifs with some rather unusual rhythmic structures.

The Teenage Prostitution Racket Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Carlo Lizzani's The Teenage Prostitution Racket arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video US.

The film looks a tad softer than it should be, but I much prefer this type of appearance over some of the very harsh looking Italian remasters that the label has used in the past for other releases of Italian genre films. The most obvious limitations of this remaster usually pop up during indoor/darker footage where crushing clearly collapses detail. However, there is plenty of footage where even though the softness remains prominent detail and depth range from decent to above average and good. Another positive is the fact that there are no traces of sharpening corrections. Colors are stable, but ideally saturation ought to be better and there should be expanded ranges of nuances. Still, for the most part balance is mostly decent. Image stability is very good. Finally, there are no distracting large cuts, debris, or similar annoying imperfections. All in all, this is a pretty decent presentation of this very difficult to track down and see 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 Teenage Prostitution Racket Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. Optional English subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

The film appears to have been shot with actors uttering lines in English and Italian at the same time, and later on it was overdubbed in English in the studio. As it is the case with many such 'international' dubs of Italian genre films, there is some unevenness and and the range of dynamic nuances is anything but impressive. In fact, there are even a few exchanges where clarity is rather problematic. However, this is how the Italians created the English track and this is the type of quality that the lossless track reproduces. Ultimately, the dialog isn't difficult to follow, but maybe optional English subtitles should have been included.

The Teenage Prostitution Racket Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Documentary - in this archival documentary, Carlo Lizzani discusses in great detail what inspired him to shoot a film about teenage prostitution in Italy as well as the production process. There are additional comments by screenwriter Mino Giarda about the research work that was done before shooting commenced and cinematographer Lamberto Calmi about the contemporary neorealist identity of the film. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (35 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scenes - a gallery of deleted scenes. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 1080p).

• Photo Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials for the film. With music. (4 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - 12-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by critic Bret Wood and technical credits.

The Teenage Prostitution Racket Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The impact that Carlo Lizzani's work had on the evolution of Italian post-war cinema cannot be overstated. He was incredibly prolific as a director and writer and his name is attached to such timeless classics as Germany Year Zero and Bitter Rice. I think that the best films that he directed are the ones where his neorealist roots are most obvious and some of his political anger sneaks in. The Teenage Prostitution Racket was once a very difficult film to track down and see so this recent release fills an obvious void. In terms of style and tone, it is very similar to Lizzani's period gangster drama Wake Up and Kill, but its focus is on the fast and dangerous disintegration of Italy's social fabric during the 1970s. I think that folks that like to explore the work of the Italian post-war directors will at the very least find it intriguing. RECOMMENDED.