Cohen Media Group has detailed the Cohen Film Collection Blu-ray release of director Liliana Cavani's
The Skin (
La Pelle), which stars Marcello Mastroianni, Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. Digitally remastered, the Palme d'Or nominee arrives on Blu-ray on January 13, 2015.
Liliana Cavani (
Ripley's Game) gained international fame with her daring 1974 breakthrough
The Night Porter, a controversial drama about a concentration camp survivor's sadomasochistic relationship with a former Nazi SS officer. Sex-as-commodity also figures in Cavani's 1981 film
The Skin. Based on the short stories of Curzio Malaparte, the film is Cavani's controversial look at the aftermath of German occupation of Italy during World War II. After the Allies liberate Naples in 1943, life for the locals is not much easier, especially for women; many must sacrifice their dignity and morals in order to survive.
An international cast of superstars brings Malaparte's stories to life. Marcello Mastroianni plays Malaparte, a diplomatic liaison between the Allied and Italian forces, who chronicled the desperate measures taken by his Italian countrymen to endure even after the defeat of their enemy. Burt Lancaster plays liberating American Gen. Mark Clark, who struggles to fathom the devastation around him. Also starring is Claudia Cardinale, famed for her performances in masterpieces by Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Sergio Leone.
This unforgettable and disturbing film, an epic Italian-French co-production, was nominated for the top prize, the Palme d'Or, at the Cannes Film Festival; Cardinale was named best supporting actress by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.
The Skin has been restored and remastered for its U.S. Blu-ray debut, and is presented in 1080p with Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround and English subtitles. Extras include:
- Feature-length audio commentary by critics Wade Major and Andy Klein
- Four featurettes, including three with director Liliana Cavani and one with production designer Dante Ferretti:
- At the Frontier of the Apocalypse
- Malaparte, Great Reporter
- The Individual and History
- Dante Ferretti Revisits Naples
- Original French trailer
- 2014 re-release trailer