Italian Films on DVD

[TMDaines]

Rome ore 11 is an absolute masterpiece. I've seen worst rips, this was not so bad. Try the 985MB, threre are two TV rips, the other is 805 MB. Don't be lazy and watch it. You w'ont sorry.

I just did a Google search on the off chance and saw this newer rip which appears to be from a digital source at 989MB!

[otis]

Thanks for the tips, everyone. I'll report back if I discover anything else of interest...

[chizbooga]

this is probably the wrong thread but does anyone know anything about this film... it sounds like it might be interesting at least.

[otis]

Back from Italy, where I picked up:
Visconti's Ossessione
Lattuada's Il mulino del Po
Antonioni's La signora senza camelie
L'amore in città
Monicelli's I compagni
Petri's Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto and La classe operaia va in paradiso
I'll post caps of some of these when I can.

No sign of Il sorpasso with toy car!

EDIT: screen caps of Ossessione here

[rohmerin]

You bought masterpieces but you didn't take any risks from my tips. :-"
I re-watched I compagni one month ago and it's just a perfect film. What a script, what a film!

[otis]

Rohmerin, I had to draw the line somewhere, otherwise I'd be broke by now! If you like Laura Antonelli, have you seen her in Sessomatto with Giancarlo Giannini? Highly...stimulating, and Giannini is hilarious.

[rohmerin]

Sessomatto was very dissapointed for me. I love Risi, but from the 50's and 60's. In the 70's, according to my point of view, he was dry of ideas, (including the over rated Profumo di donna, great jazz score by the way).

[otis]

Caps from the Italian DVD of Monicelli's I compagni here

[Saimo]

For those interested in early sound cinema: you can't miss Resurrectio (Alessandro Blasetti, 1931), first italian talkie now released on DVD by Ripley's Home Video. Sound is often clearly post-synchronized, but I think it is a pretty stunning experiment by a very imaginative director (you must see his concert scene). Unfortunately the DVD is Italian language only, but the film has very little dialogue, so Italian subtitles should be helpful enough.

[Knappen]

Yeah, there are about 100 lines of dialogue - no problem at all.

Very striking film indeed, with a dash of kitsch that makes you think of some of Abel Gance's work from the same time.

[TMDaines]

As much as I've sworn to completely cut down on my DVD spending as my circumstances have changed greatly over the summer, I just know I'm going to still buy plenty of Ripley's Home Video when I'm in Italy!

[rohmerin]

It's not about a classic, but there are two Italian Blu Rays with English subtitles.

Mine vaganti, the last Ozpetek (that I liked it), and Baciami ancora (that I didn't), the sequel of The last kiss (one of my favourite films, yes I know, it's a guilty pleasure)

[Minkin]

Does anyone know if there is a release of Processo e morte di Socrate (1939) (Trial and Death of Socrates) by Corrado D'Errico?

[Saimo]

this is probably the wrong thread but does anyone know anything about this film... it sounds like it might be interesting at least.

Alas, this is a pretty unseen film even in Italy. Raffaele Andreassi made a number of beatiful shorts and documentaris, but he just shot three feature films in fifty years, so he remains an unknown for general audience. He died in 2008.

Does anyone know if there is a release of Processo e morte di Socrate (1939) (Trial and Death of Socrates) by Corrado D'Errico?

I don't think we'll see it soon on DVD...

[Saimo]

I have started a new topic about Vittorio Cottafavi on DVD:

Una donna ha ucciso ("A Woman Has Killed", 1952) is a strange melange between De Sica and Hitchcock, Puccini and Tolstoy. Cottafavi deals with female charachters fighting their way through Italian archaic society, and if you love Divorce Italian Style you will have a glimpse of what Germi was referring to. The disc has English subs, so I recommend it to everyone interested in Italian cinema.

[otis]

Screen caps from Antonioni's La signora senza camelie here

[rohmerin]

I'd like to know if Lina Wertmüller's Mimi and Love and anarchy in Italy has got Italian subtitles. In dvdstore they say yes, but on the covers from Minerva that piracy guys have uploaded, zero subtitles and I need it for these two films because Giannini's voice and accents are tuff for my understanding.

¿Alguien las tiene?

BTW I've bought dozens of Italian DVDs and BD :-" The Matarazzo melodramas are without subtitles.

[Saimo]

Confirmed: Mimi has no subs.

The Matarazzo melodramas are without subtitles.

You are surely talking about Titanus/01 melodramas shot in the 50s (Catene, Tormento, I figli di nessuno...), but Ripley's Matarazzo DVDs usually have subtitles. They released an interesting (and very little known) melodrama, La schiava del peccato, and many earlier comedies, and every disc has at least Italian subs: Treno popolare (a 1933 proto-realism experiment, the italian Menschen am Sonntag!), Sono stato io!, Giù il sipario (Lubitsch-style) and L'avventuriera del piano di sopra (coming soon, also with French subtitles).

[Knappen]

Gotta love this thread: There are so many excellent releases coming Italy.

I don't think that it has been noted that Amazon.it opened a month ago or so. A friend went so far as to say that this is a major event for people living abroad. Did anybody here order through them yet?

[ambrose]

I don't think that it has been noted that Amazon.it opened a month ago or so. A friend went so far as to say that this is a major event for people living abroad. Did anybody here order through them yet?

I have just received Europa '51 through Amazon.it if you are really interested!.

[Saimo]

Amazon.it opened a month ago or so

I live in Italy and now I buy almost exclusively from Amazon.it! Excellent service, good prices...

[rohmerin]

Thank's for the Mimi. What a pity! Well, there's an Argentinian DVD but I suppose it must be bad or piraced or something wrong. I imagine that Amore ed anarchia is unsubtitled too.

Certo, I was talking about the Matarazzo's from 01 films. I bought i figli di nessuno and its sequel, L'angelo bianco.

I've used the new amazon but the books I've ordered are so non bestselling that we are waiting for a reply from the publishers in case of avalaibility or OOP. If you find one bad, please, advice me because I can cancell it.

-Piero Tosi. Costumi e scenografie (Fotografia e spettacolo)
-Gioco perverso. La vera storia di Osvaldo Valenti e Luisa Ferida, tra Cinecittà e guerra civile (Le nuove comete)
-Un'invisibile presenza. Il cinema di Antonio Pietrangeli
-Un secolo di cinema italiano 1900-1999: 2 (Cult)
-La commedia all'italiana. Il cinema comico in Italia dal 1945 al 1975 (Saggi)
-La commedia all'italiana (Gli album)

Edit: Yes, they are cheaper.

Help, Do you know this book?

Sicilia. Guida ai luoghi del cinema (Progetti educativi)

I bought when i was in Rome a beautiful small book about films located in Roma and I want more but I don't know if this about Sicilia is as good as the Roman.

Il cinema a Roma. Guida alla storia e ai luoghi del cinema nella capitale

[Saimo]

Definitely non-bestselling
I have not read any of these books, sorry!

"Gioco perverso. La vera storia di Osvaldo Valenti e Luisa Ferida, tra Cinecittà e guerra civile" is by Italo Moscati, who is a historian but also a screenwriter (usually for Liliana Cavani), and his books sometimes have a "narrative" approach, i.e. they look a bit like novels.

"Un secolo di cinema italiano 1900-1999: 2" is by Enrico Giacovelli and, mmm, I don't like him very much... His style is witty but often this wit hides low profile criticism.

If you like books about film location, you should look at this free ebook.

[rohmerin]

Grazie mille. Never been into Ferrara. The long PDF is wonderful and I've seen more or less half the films mentioned.

La donna del fiume and Festa di laurea, liked a lot. Yes, I like melodrama.

[Saimo]

Since you live in Spain and you like Matarazzo, I would ask you a question: do you know if his Spanish films (Dora la espía, 1943, and Empezó en boda, 1944) still survive? They were never released in Italy...