Which Italian DVDs should I buy??? (1 Viewer)

[Andrew_K]

I want to order Italian DVD of La Dolce Vita and would like additionaly order other Italian DVDs with English subtitles.

My research indicates that the following titles do have English subtitles and good transfers:

La Dolce Vita (Fellini)
Dillinger E Morto (Dillinger is Dead) (Ferreri)
Divorzio Allitaliana (Divorce - Italian Style) (Germi)
Sedotta E Abbandonata) (Seduced and Abandoned) (Germi)
L'Ora de Religione (The Religion Hour) (Bellocchio)
L'Albero Degli Zoccoli (The Tree with the Wooden Clogs) (Olmi)
La Caduta Degli Dei (The Damned) (Visconti)
Vajont (Martinelli) - I am huge Daniel Auteuil fan


Are there any other titles which I am missing??
I already do have La Leggenda del Pianista DVD.

 

[Phu Vo]

Malena and Cinema Paradiso.

 

[Dmitry]

Phu,

what's wrong with the new R1 release of the Cinema Paradiso that would make Italian release preferable?

 

[Andrew_K]

Italian R2 Malena doesn't have English subs

 

[Sathyan]

I'll second Malena & Paradiso. Benigni also did Il Monstro - a romantic comedy. Divorzio Allitaliana is good as is Fellini's 8-1/2. And you must see Ladri di biciclette.

here are some to try (a lot of these are old - B&W and mono - so I can't vouch for the transfers):

Malena
Il Monstro
Divorzio Allitaliana
Pasqualino Settebellezze
Il Sacco di Roma
8-1/2
Le notti di Cabiria
Fuori Dal Mondo
Il Decameron
Tre fratelli
Ladri di biciclette

then there are operas (tell me if you're interested)

 

[Tony Aguila]

I highly recommend Bread and Tulips (Pane e tulipani). It walked away with practically all of the 2000 David di Donatello Awards (Italian equivalent of Oscar).

 

[Brian PB]

I watched the Image DVD of De Sica's Bicycle Thief/Ladri di Biciclette for the first time just last night. It is a bare-bones DVD; the transfer is decent but the film elements have seen better days. The film itself is powerful & moving, & refreshingly unsentimental.

Unfortunately, Image's DVD of Shoeshine is now out of print (another great De Sica film).

Other Italian films on DVD (Region 1) that I would recommend:

Nights of Cabiria (Fellini/Criterion)
Open City/Roma, Citta Aperta (Rossellini/Image--again a bare-bones affair)
8-1/2 (Fellini/Criterion--a great double-disc SE)

Criterion will apparently be releasing two other Ermanno Olmi films on DVD in June: I Fidanzati/The Fiances and Il Posto/The Job (these have not yet been officially confirmed, but the evidence is pretty strong).

 

[Damin J Toell]

Brian: I think Andrew is looking for DVDs actually manufactured in Italy, not American DVDs of Italian films.

Anyway, here are a couple of horror films with superior Italian releases:

Dellamorte Dellamore: anamorphic OAR, English 2.0 and Italian 2.0 with removable English subs. Not currently available in the US, and the R2 discs from other countries are inferior.

Dario Argento's Non Ho Sonno (aka Sleepless): anamorphic OAR, English DD 5.1, Italian DD and DTS 5.1 with removable English subs. The Italian track, while lacking the voice of Max Von Sydow, is preferrable to the awful English dub. Only availble in the US with a MAR transfer and the English track. Other R2 releases are of comparable quality, but only the Italian disc has the Italian track.

DJ

 

[Jon Robertson]

The Tree with the Wooden Clogs is also available on a pretty good R2 disc in the UK, if that's of any assistance. Though it probably isn't.

 

[Angelo.M]

il postino

 

[Larry Bevil]

I just noticed a new dvd coming out in July over at DVD Empire. The English title is "Night of the Shooting Stars". It's Italian title is "Notte di San Lorenzo, La". This is an excellent movie about WWII. I am looking forward to its release on dvd.

 

[Piers C]

Brian, any idea why Image's "Shoeshine" went OOP? Any info on a re-release?

 

[Brian PB]

Piers:

I am puzzled as to why Shoeshine went out of print so quickly. Image released it on 11/26/02. I placed an order for it the first week of February, which never shipped, & then I was notified it was OOP. It's now going for $150 or more on Ebay.

The reviews of the DVD indicate that the transfer was a slap-dash affair using unrestored, poor-quality elements (which seems to be the norm for all the Italian neorealist films on Region 1 DVD!).

So I'll speculate that either Image withdrew the release to do a new transfer or the rights were transferred to someone else (I note the complete absence of neorealist films in the Criterion Collection). I can't imagine that it was yanked for poor sales, since it never had wide circulation to begin with. Image's Bicycle Thief remains in print, BTW.

 

[Piers C]

Brian,

I appreciate the full background. I too was surprised to read your original post above on the OOP status as I knew that "Shoeshine" had not been out long. Strange. Here's hoping that we get an improved release soon.

thanks!

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Visconti's 'The Leopard' was available in two versions: a deluxe, limited edition set, including an audio CD and a booklet, and a standard film plus extras package.

I believe the limited edition is no longer available, but -again - the film itself and the extras are identical in the package which is stillavailable.

 

[Kelly V]

Orchestra Rehearsal


I know it's not the most talked about Fellini film, but I love it anyway and I will add it to my collection someday.
My favorite of the "cinema of the absurd."


and...


Medditerraneo


I don't think that it's available on DVD right now, but when it is, I will definately be picking it up. It's the best advertisement I've seen for Italian tourism since
"A Room With a View." Also, the phrase that has stuck with me longer than any other from a foreign film - "Same face, same race!"
Please don't ask me what it was in Italian. LOL :b

 

[Hendrik]

...the Italian DVD of Mediterraneo does NOT have English subtitles... nor does the Italian DVD of Malèna (the long DC, with a few minutes more T&A)... The Leopard does have optional English subs...

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