Scott Kimball
Screenwriter
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The Rose Tattoo
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1955
Rated: NR
Length: 116 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 English Mono
English subtitles; Closed Captioned in English
Special Features: None
SRP: $14.99 USD
Release Date: September 21, 2004
This Tennessee William's tragicomedy has one thing strongly in its favor, and that is the knockout performance by Anna Magnani.
Magnani plays Sarafina Delle Rose, a Sicilian-American who loses her beloved husband in a traffic accident. After her tragic loss, she retreats into a serious depression, unable to face the world around her. She becomes a recluse, and she becomes the subject of gossip around the town. One of the subjects of the gossip is the rumor that Sarafina’s husband had had a long lasting affair with another woman in town.
Sarafina begs her priest to tell her if her deceased husband ever confessed to the adulterous relationship. When the priest refuses, Sarafina completely loses control of herself in public. It is here that she first meets Alvaro, (Burt Lancaster) who takes her home and cares for her in her depressed state.
Alvaro is looking for a woman, and he makes that known. Sarafina, having not yet let go of her husband’s memory, finds that many of the qualities she loved about her husband are shared by Alvaro. She remains resistant to a relationship, but Alvaro is endearing and persistent.
When Tennessee William's wrote The Rose Tattoo, he did so with one actress in mind. Anna Magnani proved William's’ sense of casting correct, since her bravura performance earned an Oscar. It is her performance alone that carries the film. Burt Lancaster is effective enough in his role, but is easily outperformed by Magnani.
The film was directed by Daniel Mann. It won Oscars for Actress in a Leading Role, Cinematography, and Art Direction.
Video
The Rose Tattoo is presented in an anamorphically enhanced aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
The high contrast image provides deep, inky blacks, but is slightly lacking in shadow detail. Whites are bright and never bloom. There appears to be a bit of high frequency filtering of the image, since finer detail is a bit lacking. There are also minor sharpening artifacts (halos) that are visible from time to time throughout the film. It isn’t a total loss, as the image is still pretty good. Owners of large screens will be somewhat disappointed in the processing of this print, however.
For its age, the print is in fine shape, exhibiting only a very small (but acceptable) amount of dust and scratches. In this respect, the print quality is one of the best classics from this era of Paramount’s vaults to hit DVD recently.
So there’s a bit of give and take, here. An excellent print that is over processed make this a fair transfer that many people will think looks just fine. The more discriminating viewer, or those watching on a large screen, will find this transfer a bit lacking.
Audio
There is one soundtrack available on this disc, a Dolby Digital English Mono track, in two channels. The track seems to accurately represent the source elements, showing the limitations of the recordings of the time.
There is little or no hiss in the audio; no snaps, crackles or pops. Frequency response is less than stellar, but being a dialog driven film, extreme frequencies are not needed.
The soundtrack is adequate, and is what one would expect from the source.
Final Thoughts
The Rose Tattoo is an engrossing human drama with excellent performances from Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster. Only a slight over processing and sharpening of the image gives me pause to give this a high recommendation. Still, on the strength of the film, this DVD is recommended.
