The Hand Of God won four prizes including best film, best director and best supporting actress.
Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God won four prizes at the 67th David di Donatello awards, including best film (the first Netflix title to do so), best director and best supporting actress for Teresa Saponangelo.
The Oscar-nominated coming-of-age drama also shared the cinematography prize with Gabriele Mainetti’s Venice competition title Freaks Out, which won six awards in total, including prizes for the producers, production design, hairdressing, make-up and VFX.
The two films both had the highest number of nominations with 16.
The in-person...
Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God won four prizes at the 67th David di Donatello awards, including best film (the first Netflix title to do so), best director and best supporting actress for Teresa Saponangelo.
The Oscar-nominated coming-of-age drama also shared the cinematography prize with Gabriele Mainetti’s Venice competition title Freaks Out, which won six awards in total, including prizes for the producers, production design, hairdressing, make-up and VFX.
The two films both had the highest number of nominations with 16.
The in-person...
- 5/4/2022
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
The David di Donatello Awards were held in Rome on Tuesday evening, the first time Italy’s equivalent to the Oscar has had a fully in-person ceremony in the pandemic era. Taking top honors was Paolo Sorrentino’s The Hand Of God which scooped Best Film and Director as well as Best Supporting Actress for Teresa Saponangelo and a tie for Best Cinematography. In the latter category, The Hand Of God shared the win with Freaks Out, a fantasy drama that likewise debuted in Venice.
Sorrentino’s autobiographical drama launched on the Lido last September where it won the Grand Jury Prize. A Netflix title, it went on to myriad festival and critics prizes and was also nominated for an Oscar as Best International Feature.
Freaks Out, directed by Gabriele Mainetti, also picked up prizes for Producer, Production Design, Hair and Makeup. Other titles to figure in the David di...
Sorrentino’s autobiographical drama launched on the Lido last September where it won the Grand Jury Prize. A Netflix title, it went on to myriad festival and critics prizes and was also nominated for an Oscar as Best International Feature.
Freaks Out, directed by Gabriele Mainetti, also picked up prizes for Producer, Production Design, Hair and Makeup. Other titles to figure in the David di...
- 5/4/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Paolo Sorrentino’s Oscar-nominated autobiographical drama “The Hand of God” took top honors at Italy’s 67th David di Donatello Awards, winning best picture, director, supporting actress and tying for the best cinematography statuette.
Sorrentino’s Naples-set film about the personal tragedy and other vicissitudes that drove him to become a top notch film director had been the frontrunner along with young helmer Gabriele Mainetti’s second feature, the elegant effects-laden historical fantasy “Freaks Out.”
“Freaks Out” won six prizes, including for its producer, Andrea Occhipinti, as well as cinematographer, set design, and effects.
The cinematography prize, which was a tie, was split between “Hand of God” Dp Daria D’Antonio, marking the first time this David goes to a woman, and Michele Attanasio for “Freaks Out.”
The Davids were held as a fully in-person ceremony at Rome’s Cinecittà studios just as the famed facilities undergo a radical renewal being...
Sorrentino’s Naples-set film about the personal tragedy and other vicissitudes that drove him to become a top notch film director had been the frontrunner along with young helmer Gabriele Mainetti’s second feature, the elegant effects-laden historical fantasy “Freaks Out.”
“Freaks Out” won six prizes, including for its producer, Andrea Occhipinti, as well as cinematographer, set design, and effects.
The cinematography prize, which was a tie, was split between “Hand of God” Dp Daria D’Antonio, marking the first time this David goes to a woman, and Michele Attanasio for “Freaks Out.”
The Davids were held as a fully in-person ceremony at Rome’s Cinecittà studios just as the famed facilities undergo a radical renewal being...
- 5/3/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
As they celebrate being held as a physical event, Italy’s upcoming 67th David di Donatello Awards epitomize the ongoing shift in generations and genres that is underway in Cinema Italiano.
Leading the pack this year are seasoned auteur Paolo Sorrentino’s most personal film “The Hand of God” and young helmer Gabriele Mainetti’s second feature, the elegant effects-laden historical fantasy “Freaks Out,” which is set in 1943 Rome and involves four “freaks” working in a circus when the Eternal City is bombed by Allied Forces. Both pics scored 16 nominations each.
Close behind are Mario Martone’s classic biopic “The King of Laughter,” about popular early 20th-century Neapolitan actor and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta, with 14 noms. Then come Leonardo Di Costanzo’s subtle prison drama “Ariaferma” and “Diabolik,” an adaptation of a comic book about a charming master thief, directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti, both with 11 noms a piece.
“We...
Leading the pack this year are seasoned auteur Paolo Sorrentino’s most personal film “The Hand of God” and young helmer Gabriele Mainetti’s second feature, the elegant effects-laden historical fantasy “Freaks Out,” which is set in 1943 Rome and involves four “freaks” working in a circus when the Eternal City is bombed by Allied Forces. Both pics scored 16 nominations each.
Close behind are Mario Martone’s classic biopic “The King of Laughter,” about popular early 20th-century Neapolitan actor and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta, with 14 noms. Then come Leonardo Di Costanzo’s subtle prison drama “Ariaferma” and “Diabolik,” an adaptation of a comic book about a charming master thief, directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti, both with 11 noms a piece.
“We...
- 4/30/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Paris-based company had a high-profile 2021 with titles including ’Compartment No. 6’ and ‘My Sunny Maad’.
Paris-based Totem Films will launch a quartet of first features with 2022 festival hopes at the EFM next week (February 10-17), including directorial debuts by The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki co-writer Mikko Myllylahti and Italian actress Jasmine Trinca.
The company’s 2021 slate enjoyed a buzzy festival run, led by Cannes Grand Prix winner Compartment No. 6 as well as Berlinale best documentary winner We, Berlin Competition title Ballad Of A White Cow and My SunnyMaad, which took the jury award at Annecy.
Finnish...
Paris-based Totem Films will launch a quartet of first features with 2022 festival hopes at the EFM next week (February 10-17), including directorial debuts by The Happiest Day In The Life Of Olli Mäki co-writer Mikko Myllylahti and Italian actress Jasmine Trinca.
The company’s 2021 slate enjoyed a buzzy festival run, led by Cannes Grand Prix winner Compartment No. 6 as well as Berlinale best documentary winner We, Berlin Competition title Ballad Of A White Cow and My SunnyMaad, which took the jury award at Annecy.
Finnish...
- 2/1/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Hello, everyone! We’re back with a brand new batch of home media releases, and this week’s assortment is an eclectic group. Code Red is showing some love to The Dead Pit and Arrow Video is keeping busy with their latest Giallo Essentials set and the 2-disc limited edition release of Mill of the Stone Women. Other titles headed home on December 14th include Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Amityville Vampire, Alone in the Woods, The Spanish Chainsaw Massacre, and Chicken’s Blood.
The Dead Pit
Dr. Ramzi (Danny Gochnauer), a deviant who enjoys torturing his patients, is killed by a fellow doctor and buried in the basement of a mental health facility. Twenty years later, the hospital is up and running again and a “Jane Doe” (Cheryl Lawson) arrives at the institute with amnesia. Upon her arrival, a major earthquake rocks the building and unearths the now undead Dr.
The Dead Pit
Dr. Ramzi (Danny Gochnauer), a deviant who enjoys torturing his patients, is killed by a fellow doctor and buried in the basement of a mental health facility. Twenty years later, the hospital is up and running again and a “Jane Doe” (Cheryl Lawson) arrives at the institute with amnesia. Upon her arrival, a major earthquake rocks the building and unearths the now undead Dr.
- 12/14/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
August 14th looks to be a killer day for genre fans looking to add to their home media collections, as there are a bunch of great releases coming our way this week. Scream Factory is putting in some serious overtime this Tuesday, as they have a trio of gorgeous Steelbooks—Army of Darkness, Lifeforce and The Howling—on tap, as well as the Collector’s Edition of Return of the Living Dead Part II and a standard Blu-ray of The Unborn to boot.
Arrow Video has also put together a Special Edition collection for What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, and they are re-releasing both The Gore Gore Girls and The Cat O’ Nine Tails as well. And, as if all that wasn’t enough, Full Moon has put together a nifty Blu set for Laserblast that fans are going to want to pick up.
Other notable titles coming...
Arrow Video has also put together a Special Edition collection for What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, and they are re-releasing both The Gore Gore Girls and The Cat O’ Nine Tails as well. And, as if all that wasn’t enough, Full Moon has put together a nifty Blu set for Laserblast that fans are going to want to pick up.
Other notable titles coming...
- 8/14/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
What Have They Done To Your Daughters? will be available on Blu-ray August 14th from Arrow Video
In 1972, director Massimo Dallamano broke new ground in the giallo genre with the harrowing What Have You Done to Solange? Two years later, he followed up with an even darker semi-sequel the chilling What Have They Done to Your Daughters?
A teenage girl is found hanging from the rafters of a privately rented attic, pregnant and violated. Hot-headed Inspector Silvestri and rookie Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori are assigned to the case, the scope of which grows substantially when they discover that the dead girl was part of a ring of underage prostitutes whose abusers occupy the highest echelons of Italian society. Meanwhile, a cleaver-wielding, motorcycle-riding killer roars through the streets of Brescia, determined to ensure that those involved take their secret to the grave.
Also starring Mario Adorf (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage...
In 1972, director Massimo Dallamano broke new ground in the giallo genre with the harrowing What Have You Done to Solange? Two years later, he followed up with an even darker semi-sequel the chilling What Have They Done to Your Daughters?
A teenage girl is found hanging from the rafters of a privately rented attic, pregnant and violated. Hot-headed Inspector Silvestri and rookie Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori are assigned to the case, the scope of which grows substantially when they discover that the dead girl was part of a ring of underage prostitutes whose abusers occupy the highest echelons of Italian society. Meanwhile, a cleaver-wielding, motorcycle-riding killer roars through the streets of Brescia, determined to ensure that those involved take their secret to the grave.
Also starring Mario Adorf (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage...
- 7/15/2018
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Guest reviewer Lee Broughton is back with an in-depth look at Sergio Corbucci’s grand ‘Zapata’ Spaghetti Western. Set in post-1900 Mexico, Tony Musante’s rebellious peon wants to be a hero of the revolution but he primarily robs the rich in order to pay the extortionate wages that are demanded by Franco Nero’s interloping Polish mercenary-cum-military advisor. The resultant political allegory is played out on an almost epic scale and is suitably enlivened by the presence of a villainous Jack Palance, a plethora of large scale action scenes, an imaginatively used period car and biplane and a rousing soundtrack score by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai.
The Mercenary (Il mercenario)
Region B Blu-ray
88 Films The Italian Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / A Professional Gun, Il mercenario / Street Date, 8 Jan 2018 / £15.99
Starring: Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Jack Palance, Giovanna Ralli, Franco Giacobini, Eduardo Fajardo, Franco Ressel, Raf Baldassarre, Tito Garcia.
The Mercenary (Il mercenario)
Region B Blu-ray
88 Films The Italian Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 106 min. / A Professional Gun, Il mercenario / Street Date, 8 Jan 2018 / £15.99
Starring: Franco Nero, Tony Musante, Jack Palance, Giovanna Ralli, Franco Giacobini, Eduardo Fajardo, Franco Ressel, Raf Baldassarre, Tito Garcia.
- 2/20/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Fred Blosser
“Cannon for Cordoba,” a 1970 film produced by Vincent M. Fennelly for the Mirisch Corporation, written by Stephen Kandel, directed by Paul Wendkos, and distributed by United Artists, has been released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics in an attractive new Blu-ray edition. In the movie, U.S. Army Captain Rod Douglas (George Peppard) leads a three-man team across the Mexican Border in 1916. Douglas has been assigned to gather intelligence on a predatory rebel general, Cordoba (Raf Vallone), who has confiscated American-owned property in Mexico. Wealthy U.S. ranchers and politicians are demanding that the Army secure the border with troops (an outcry for a $70 billion wall would have to wait another hundred years). After Douglas’ team enters Mexico, one of the trio, Adam, is captured and tortured to death by Cordoba’s troops. Douglas and the third ranger, Jackson (Don Gordon), escape to warn Gen. Pershing (John Russell...
“Cannon for Cordoba,” a 1970 film produced by Vincent M. Fennelly for the Mirisch Corporation, written by Stephen Kandel, directed by Paul Wendkos, and distributed by United Artists, has been released by Kino Lorber Studio Classics in an attractive new Blu-ray edition. In the movie, U.S. Army Captain Rod Douglas (George Peppard) leads a three-man team across the Mexican Border in 1916. Douglas has been assigned to gather intelligence on a predatory rebel general, Cordoba (Raf Vallone), who has confiscated American-owned property in Mexico. Wealthy U.S. ranchers and politicians are demanding that the Army secure the border with troops (an outcry for a $70 billion wall would have to wait another hundred years). After Douglas’ team enters Mexico, one of the trio, Adam, is captured and tortured to death by Cordoba’s troops. Douglas and the third ranger, Jackson (Don Gordon), escape to warn Gen. Pershing (John Russell...
- 11/20/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
A middling entry in the genre of blow-it-up big action spectacles, Paul Wendkos’ Spain-filmed western gives us all the excitement promised by the poster, but with some cardboard characters and lumpy storytelling. George Peppard is on the job, however, and once again proves he can carry a big picture, flaws and all.
Cannon for Cordoba
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: George Peppard, Raf Vallone, Giovanna Ralli, Don Gordon, Pete Duel, Nico Minardos, John Russell, John Larch, Gabriele Tinti, Francine York, Lionel Murton, Hans Meyer, Aldo Sambrell, Luis Barboo.
Cinematography: Antonio Macasoli
Film Editor: Walter A. Hannemann
Special effects: Emilio Ruiz del Río
Original Music: Elmer Bernstein
Written by Stephen Kandel
Produced by Vincent M. Fennelly
Directed by Paul Wendkos
While providing backing for independent writer-producers like Billy Wilder, Walter Mirisch also shepherded various less ambitious war movies and westerns,...
Cannon for Cordoba
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: George Peppard, Raf Vallone, Giovanna Ralli, Don Gordon, Pete Duel, Nico Minardos, John Russell, John Larch, Gabriele Tinti, Francine York, Lionel Murton, Hans Meyer, Aldo Sambrell, Luis Barboo.
Cinematography: Antonio Macasoli
Film Editor: Walter A. Hannemann
Special effects: Emilio Ruiz del Río
Original Music: Elmer Bernstein
Written by Stephen Kandel
Produced by Vincent M. Fennelly
Directed by Paul Wendkos
While providing backing for independent writer-producers like Billy Wilder, Walter Mirisch also shepherded various less ambitious war movies and westerns,...
- 11/7/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Mubi is playing General Della Rovere (1959) in the United States September 1 - 30, 2016.For a time, it seemed Roberto Rossellini was ready to leave behind the devastation of World War II, a milieu he as much as anyone helped to indelibly commit to cinematic memory with his Neorealist masterworks. While a traumatized psyche remained in films that followed his trilogy of Rome, Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), and Germany Year Zero (1948), it was revealed via a more subtle manifestation of conflict related angst. Rossellini had moved beyond explicit depictions of the war and its aftermath, even while lingering psychological effects still abound (see his collaborations with Ingrid Bergman). This would change in 1959, with the release of General Della Rovere, Rossellini's first full-fledged wartime film in more than 10 years. While not of the caliber of these earlier titles (not really even in...
- 9/1/2016
- MUBI
By Lee Pfeiffer
MGM has released the 1970 Western Cannon For Cordoba as part of their burn-to-dvd line. This is yet another film that was written off as "run of the mill" at the time of its initial release but probably plays far better today when Westerns are scare commodities. The film is clearly designed to capitalize on movies such as The Professionals and The Wild Bunch, and while it certainly isn't in the league of those classics, it's a consistently engrossing and highly entertaining horse opera. Set in 1916, when the Us was embroiled in assisting the Mexican government in suppressing "revolutionaries" who were really bandits, the plot centers on a crime kingpin named General Coroba (well played with charm and menace by Raf Vallone), who launches an audacious raid on American General Pershing's troops and succeeds in stealing a number of valuable cannons that will make him almost invulnerable...
MGM has released the 1970 Western Cannon For Cordoba as part of their burn-to-dvd line. This is yet another film that was written off as "run of the mill" at the time of its initial release but probably plays far better today when Westerns are scare commodities. The film is clearly designed to capitalize on movies such as The Professionals and The Wild Bunch, and while it certainly isn't in the league of those classics, it's a consistently engrossing and highly entertaining horse opera. Set in 1916, when the Us was embroiled in assisting the Mexican government in suppressing "revolutionaries" who were really bandits, the plot centers on a crime kingpin named General Coroba (well played with charm and menace by Raf Vallone), who launches an audacious raid on American General Pershing's troops and succeeds in stealing a number of valuable cannons that will make him almost invulnerable...
- 5/8/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Hard at work on her latest project, Sharon Stone showed up on the set of “The Golden Boy” in Rome, Italy on Monday (July 22).
The “Casino” cutie looked lovely in a white blouse and black skirt as she sat on a park bench and conversed with her costars while the cameras rolled.
And at one point, Sharon leaned in for a flirty kiss with one of her younger, handsome Italian costars.
“The Golden Boy” (“Un Ragazzo D’Oro”) is written and directed by Pupi Avati and features actors like Riccardo Scamarcio, Cristiana Capotondi, and Giovanna Ralli.
The “Casino” cutie looked lovely in a white blouse and black skirt as she sat on a park bench and conversed with her costars while the cameras rolled.
And at one point, Sharon leaned in for a flirty kiss with one of her younger, handsome Italian costars.
“The Golden Boy” (“Un Ragazzo D’Oro”) is written and directed by Pupi Avati and features actors like Riccardo Scamarcio, Cristiana Capotondi, and Giovanna Ralli.
- 7/24/2013
- GossipCenter
December is Tarantino Month here at Sos, and in the week leading up our January month-long theme of westerns, I thought it would be best to whip up an article spotlighting some films that influenced Tarantino’s long awaited take on the western, Django Unchained. For my money, all of the films listed below are essential viewing for fans of Django Unchained. I’ll be diving deeper into these films come January, but in the meantime, this should hopefully whet your appetite. Enjoy!
Note: This is the second of a three part article.
****
The Mercenary (Il Mercenario) (A Professional Gun)
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Written by Giorgio Arlorio and Adriano Bolzoni
1968, Italy / Spain
Second only to Leone, Sergio Corbucci is the best when it comes to making spaghetti westerns. The man would never take a break, directing Django, The Great Silence, Navajo Joe and The Mercenary within a span of two years.
Note: This is the second of a three part article.
****
The Mercenary (Il Mercenario) (A Professional Gun)
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Written by Giorgio Arlorio and Adriano Bolzoni
1968, Italy / Spain
Second only to Leone, Sergio Corbucci is the best when it comes to making spaghetti westerns. The man would never take a break, directing Django, The Great Silence, Navajo Joe and The Mercenary within a span of two years.
- 12/27/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
From start to finish, Bryan Forbes' Deadfall (1968) glimmers with the gloss of a 1960’s classic heist thriller, very much in the vein of Ocean's Eleven (1960) or Topkapi (1964), and presents itself as a truly attractive film with its easy-on-the-eye cast, wonderful cinematography, and classical camera work.
During a stay at a sanatorium for recovering alcoholics, cat burglar and proffesional conman Henry Stuart Clarke (Michael Caine) is approached by a mysterious and beautiful woman, Fe (Giovanna Ralli), who has a business proposition for him; her husband Richard (Eric Portman), is planning the most ingenious of robberies, and with Clarke’s ability as a thief it seems they cannot fail. Inevitably a love triangle ensues, but not in the most traditional of senses; Fe doesn’t love Richard in the same way a married woman is “supposed” to love her husband, and as the love between Fe and Clarke begins to grow,...
During a stay at a sanatorium for recovering alcoholics, cat burglar and proffesional conman Henry Stuart Clarke (Michael Caine) is approached by a mysterious and beautiful woman, Fe (Giovanna Ralli), who has a business proposition for him; her husband Richard (Eric Portman), is planning the most ingenious of robberies, and with Clarke’s ability as a thief it seems they cannot fail. Inevitably a love triangle ensues, but not in the most traditional of senses; Fe doesn’t love Richard in the same way a married woman is “supposed” to love her husband, and as the love between Fe and Clarke begins to grow,...
- 2/1/2011
- by Cine-Vue
- CineVue
DVD Rating: 3.5/5.0 Chicago – The Criterion Collection expanded by two titles recently and fans of Andrzej Wajda and Roberto Rossellini will be happy to see two of their films in slots #463 and #464 in the most acclaimed series of DVDs in the history of the format. Rossellini’s “Il Generale Della Rovere” and Wajda’s “Danton” might not be as high-profile films as some recent Criterion releases, but they have been given the typically spectacular treatment that this company has been known for over the years.
Rossellini’s “Il Generale Della Rovere” is a transition film from one of the fathers of neorealism’s more human films of the ’40s and ’50s to his historically-based work of the ’60s and ’70s. The director is still most known for that early period with “Rome, Open City” being required viewing for anyone with the guts to call themselves a film historian.
Danton was released...
Rossellini’s “Il Generale Della Rovere” is a transition film from one of the fathers of neorealism’s more human films of the ’40s and ’50s to his historically-based work of the ’60s and ’70s. The director is still most known for that early period with “Rome, Open City” being required viewing for anyone with the guts to call themselves a film historian.
Danton was released...
- 4/13/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
By Michael Atkinson
Every now and then, the natural world and the massive self-satisfying erections of man provide filmmakers with ready-made metaphors of massive torque and resonance. Werner Herzog is an expert at locating these visual/thematic El Dorados; Marker, Kiarostami and Ghobadi are current explorers of the paradigm, which necessitates an embrace of documentary reality. (Slavic artists are just beginning to make use out of the ex-Soviet landscape of unfinished and derelict public projects, from decommissioned nuclear power plants to entire cities left abandoned after infrastructure support dried up.) But Jia Zhang-ke is the filmmaker bringing new life and commitment to the idea of finding universalized meanings in real-life monstrosities. Jia's "Platform" used its traveling theater troupe as a stand-in for the average citizen watching Chinese history pass chaotically before them, but it was with "The World" that Jia discovered the surreal significances that emanated organically from the titular,...
Every now and then, the natural world and the massive self-satisfying erections of man provide filmmakers with ready-made metaphors of massive torque and resonance. Werner Herzog is an expert at locating these visual/thematic El Dorados; Marker, Kiarostami and Ghobadi are current explorers of the paradigm, which necessitates an embrace of documentary reality. (Slavic artists are just beginning to make use out of the ex-Soviet landscape of unfinished and derelict public projects, from decommissioned nuclear power plants to entire cities left abandoned after infrastructure support dried up.) But Jia Zhang-ke is the filmmaker bringing new life and commitment to the idea of finding universalized meanings in real-life monstrosities. Jia's "Platform" used its traveling theater troupe as a stand-in for the average citizen watching Chinese history pass chaotically before them, but it was with "The World" that Jia discovered the surreal significances that emanated organically from the titular,...
- 12/12/2008
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
Release date: Oct. 17
Guy Green's engaging adaptation of John Fowles' "The Magus", shot from a screenplay written by Fowles, has at last been released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment as a Cinema Classics Collection title (retail $19.98). It is a highly repeatable film based upon a highly repeatable novel, a puzzle movie that adeptly survives its use of simple edits to make characters appear and disappear. Michael Caine, carrying the caddish aspects of his previous film roles with him, portrays a teacher of English at a school on a small Greek island.
Walking one day on the less populated side of the island, he comes across a villa and meets the apparent owner, a man named Conchis, played with a marvelous twinkle by Anthony Quinn, who introduces him to an apparent ghost, played by Candice Bergen. From there, the identities of the characters change and mutate, and there are surreal, hallucinogenic sequences, to underscore the suggested fantasy. Running 116 minutes, the 1968 feature is, as an entertainment, a wonderful and stimulating cerebral exercise, so that you come away at the end of the film not only feeling like you've had a worthwhile experience, but with your own mind racing to other ideas and projects, and in no time at all, you'll be wanting to watch the movie again.
The picture is presented in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. The color transfer is spotless and fleshtones are finely detailed. The sound has Fox's usual stereo processing, although the effect is subdued and generally centered. There are alternate French and Spanish tracks in mono, optional English and Spanish subtitles, a trailer and an excellent 23-minute profile of Fowles, which was shot for the DVD.
Fox has also released Caine's 1968 existential caper film directed by Bryan Forbes, "Deadfall", another Cinema Classics Collection title (retail $19.98). The film runs almost exactly 120 minutes, and you get the terrible feeling at the end that Forbes or someone just tore the last few pages out of the script to squeeze the movie into its running time. Up until that point, the film is marvelous, and the complaint about its conclusion is not so much that Caine's character dies but that, after almost 2 hours of elegantly conceived and exquisitely executed filmmaking, the inept sloppiness and rushed feeling of the last few scenes cannot possibly construct a metaphor for life and death, although that is its only conceivable justification.
Caine is a second-story man who falls in with an elderly thief, played by Eric Portman, and his much younger, much prettier wife, played by Giovanna Ralli. There is a very lovely, very Bondish John Barry musical score (Shirley Bassey sings the opening number), and a magnificent caper sequence in the middle of the film that is set to (and crosscut with) a complete performance of Barry's "Romance for Guitar and Orchestra." That caper, and the caper at the film's end, give the narrative its goals, but what constitutes the plot of the film, and the bulk of its running time, is just the three characters getting to know one another, amid the luxury of Spanish resorts and villas. Their conversations and emotional revelations make fine escapist pleasure, and, like life, the ultimate pointlessness of it all does not negate the satisfactions that have passed.
The picture is in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. The color transfer is beautiful, with precise hues and rich fleshtones. Fox's stereophonic processing remains centered, but adds to the strength of the audio delivery, although there is an occasional weakness at the upper end. Along with an alternate Spanish track in mono, there is an isolated presentation of the score (contrary to jacket and menu notations, it appears to be free of sound effects). There are optional English and Spanish subtitles, a trailer, and a good 19-minute profile of Barry (who also portrays the orchestra conductor in the film), which was shot for the DVD.
The complete database of Doug Pratt's DVD-video reviews is available at dvdlaser.com . A sample copy of the DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter can be obtained by calling (516) 594-9304.
Guy Green's engaging adaptation of John Fowles' "The Magus", shot from a screenplay written by Fowles, has at last been released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment as a Cinema Classics Collection title (retail $19.98). It is a highly repeatable film based upon a highly repeatable novel, a puzzle movie that adeptly survives its use of simple edits to make characters appear and disappear. Michael Caine, carrying the caddish aspects of his previous film roles with him, portrays a teacher of English at a school on a small Greek island.
Walking one day on the less populated side of the island, he comes across a villa and meets the apparent owner, a man named Conchis, played with a marvelous twinkle by Anthony Quinn, who introduces him to an apparent ghost, played by Candice Bergen. From there, the identities of the characters change and mutate, and there are surreal, hallucinogenic sequences, to underscore the suggested fantasy. Running 116 minutes, the 1968 feature is, as an entertainment, a wonderful and stimulating cerebral exercise, so that you come away at the end of the film not only feeling like you've had a worthwhile experience, but with your own mind racing to other ideas and projects, and in no time at all, you'll be wanting to watch the movie again.
The picture is presented in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 2.35:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. The color transfer is spotless and fleshtones are finely detailed. The sound has Fox's usual stereo processing, although the effect is subdued and generally centered. There are alternate French and Spanish tracks in mono, optional English and Spanish subtitles, a trailer and an excellent 23-minute profile of Fowles, which was shot for the DVD.
Fox has also released Caine's 1968 existential caper film directed by Bryan Forbes, "Deadfall", another Cinema Classics Collection title (retail $19.98). The film runs almost exactly 120 minutes, and you get the terrible feeling at the end that Forbes or someone just tore the last few pages out of the script to squeeze the movie into its running time. Up until that point, the film is marvelous, and the complaint about its conclusion is not so much that Caine's character dies but that, after almost 2 hours of elegantly conceived and exquisitely executed filmmaking, the inept sloppiness and rushed feeling of the last few scenes cannot possibly construct a metaphor for life and death, although that is its only conceivable justification.
Caine is a second-story man who falls in with an elderly thief, played by Eric Portman, and his much younger, much prettier wife, played by Giovanna Ralli. There is a very lovely, very Bondish John Barry musical score (Shirley Bassey sings the opening number), and a magnificent caper sequence in the middle of the film that is set to (and crosscut with) a complete performance of Barry's "Romance for Guitar and Orchestra." That caper, and the caper at the film's end, give the narrative its goals, but what constitutes the plot of the film, and the bulk of its running time, is just the three characters getting to know one another, amid the luxury of Spanish resorts and villas. Their conversations and emotional revelations make fine escapist pleasure, and, like life, the ultimate pointlessness of it all does not negate the satisfactions that have passed.
The picture is in letterboxed format only, with an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1 and an accommodation for enhanced 16:9 playback. The color transfer is beautiful, with precise hues and rich fleshtones. Fox's stereophonic processing remains centered, but adds to the strength of the audio delivery, although there is an occasional weakness at the upper end. Along with an alternate Spanish track in mono, there is an isolated presentation of the score (contrary to jacket and menu notations, it appears to be free of sound effects). There are optional English and Spanish subtitles, a trailer, and a good 19-minute profile of Barry (who also portrays the orchestra conductor in the film), which was shot for the DVD.
The complete database of Doug Pratt's DVD-video reviews is available at dvdlaser.com . A sample copy of the DVD-Laser Disc Newsletter can be obtained by calling (516) 594-9304.
- 11/3/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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