June 5th UPDATE from Radiance: ""Hi everyone, we have an update on Cosa Nostra release date. Unfortunately the Blu-ray for The Day of the Owl was found to have one minute of dialogue missing. This scene occurs at a seamless branching point and was missed by our QC operator (the subtitles were present but just wouldn't play so passed our subtitle QC earlier in the process). Upon discovering this we immediately rectified the issue and put a disc replacement programme in place for our stock at our warehouses in the UK and the US. This process is ongoing but will mean a short delay to the release date in the UK (approx. 2 weeks) and the US (approx 4 weeks)."

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Radiance Films Blu-ray (May 2023): Radiance Films have transferred three films - The Day of the Owl aka Mafia (1968,) The Case is Closed, Forget It (1971) and How to Kill a Judge (1975) - in their Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani Blu-ray Package. It is cited as being from a "2K restoration of The Day of the Owl from the original negative presented in the original Italian version (109 mins) and the shorter export cut with English audio (103 mins), 2K restoration of The Case is Closed: Forget It from the original negative presented with Italian and, for the first time, English audio options, 2K restoration of How to Kill a Judge from the original negative presented in Italian and English audio options". The Case is Closed, Forget It is the weak link looking somewhat softer (and only 16-bit audio) with a shade muddier contrast than the other two. It's not a deal-breaker but is obvious. The Day of the Owl and How to Kill a Judge look solid in 1080P with balanced colors - maybe a shade pale - but pleasing detail in the film's relevant close-ups. They looked clean and consistent on my system.    

NOTE: We have added 134 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Radiance Films use three different audio transfers for the films. For The Day of the Owl it is DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks for the original Italian and English DUB (both 24-bit.) The Case is Closed, Forget It (1971) using DTS-HD Master (only 16-bit) transfers for the original Italian and English DUB while How to Kill a Judge (1975) has linear PCM dual-mono tracks (24-bit) for the original Italian and English DUB. The films have aggressive sequences with reasonable intensity but the tracks offer, authentically, modest depth. The score on The Day of the Owl was by the Italian composer, pianist and conductor, Giovanni Fusco (The Confession, L'Avventura, The Red Desert, L'Eclisse, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Il Grido) sounding intense at times, and for The Case is Closed, Forget It we get a score by the iconic Ennio Morricone (Who Saw Her Die?, The French Conspiracy, The Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Fifth Cord, Luna, Danger Diabolik, Two Mules For Sister Sara, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.) sounding buoyant and effective. Lastly on How to Kill a Judge the score was by frequent mondo, giallo, horror, and 'pasta' film composer Riz Ortolani (Lightning Bolt, Killer Crocodile, The Pyjama Girl Case, The Valachi Papers, Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eyes, The McKenzie Break, Day of Anger, Il Sorpasso, Woman Times Seven, Cannibal Holocaust, The Voyeur, Mondo Cane) providing support for the film. All sound clean, with typical DUB sync issues, but reasonably consistent in the lossless transfers. Radiance Films offer optional English (translation), and English (SDH), subtitles (see samples below) on their Region FREE Blu-rays.

The Radiance Films Blu-ray offers no commentaries but a host of other valuable supplements. On The Day of the Owl Blu-ray there is a new 17-minute interview with star Franco Nero, featuring archive footage of Damiano Damiani and Leonardo Sciascia discussing The Day of the Owl and there is a 26-minute archival interview with Franco Nero, writer Ugo Pirro and production manager Lucio Trentini discussing the making of the film from 2006. I enjoyed the archival interview with Claudia Cardinale from 2017 Belgian TV in which she discusses her long and storied career for in excess of 22-minutes. Always lovely. Identity Crime-Sis has filmmaker and Italian crime cinema expert Mike Malloy discussing The Day of the Owl in the context of the formation of the Italian crime film genre - 20-minutes from 2022. Casting Cobb: A Tale of Two Continents is a new 1/2 hour video essay by my buddy Howard S. Berger looking at actor Lee J. Cobb's career transition from 'Hollywood to Italy' and the archetypes he tended to play. Lastly on that BD disc is a trailer for The Day of the Owl. 

On the The Case is Closed: Forget It Blu-ray we spend another 1/4 hour in a new interview with star Franco Nero discussing The Case is Closed: Forget It from 2022. The guy is timeless. There is a 1/2 hour archival documentary on the making of The Case is Closed: Forget It featuring actor Corrado Solari, assistant director Enrique Bergier and editor Antonio Siciliano from 2015 as they share their recollections on the production aspect of the film. Italy’s Cinematic Civil Conscience: An Examination of the Life and Works of Damiano Damiani is a new 35-minute visual essay on the career of Damiani Damiani by Rachael Nisbet, critic film critic and co-host of the Fragments Of Fear Giallo Podcast. Lastly on this Blu-ray is a trailer for The Case is Closed: Forget It.

On the How to Kill a Judge disc there is another new, 13-minute, interview with star Franco Nero discussing How to Kill a Judge where he recalls specifics on the production. Lessons in Violence is a new 20-minute video essay on How to Kill a Judge by filmmaker David Cairns who looks at Damiani's unique approach to filmmaking. There is also a new 1/2 hour interview with Alberto Pezzotta, author of Regia Damiano Damiani, who discusses Damiani’s contribution to the mafia and crime genres and the reception of his films in Italy from 2022. Included is both an English and Italian trailer for the film.

The package has reversible sleeves (see above) featuring designs based on original posters for each film plus a limited edition 120-page liner notes book featuring new and archival writing on the films by experts on the genre including Andrew Nette on Leonardo Sciascia’s The Day of the Owl; Piero Garofalo on The Case is Closed: Forget It; Paul A. J. Lewis on depictions of the mafia in each of the films within this set; Shelley O’Brien on each of the scores; a newly translated archival interview with Damiani; Nathaniel Thompson on Franco Nero; Marco Natoli on Damiani’s place within the cinema politico movement in Italian cinema; a critical overview for each the films by Cullen Gallagher and credits for each film. It is housed in a limited edition rigid box with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Radiance Films' Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani Blu-ray package is not adhering to a strict classification of 'Poliziotteschi' films (see our review of Arrow's Years Of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers 1973-1977 boxset) although they certainly do relate to polizia "police" and detective fiction crime - albeit they are more specifically Mafioso-topic focused. Damiano Damiani, part of the 'Group of Venice', has a style that has described him as "the most American of Italian directors" by Italian film critic Paolo Mereghetti and "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity" by none other than Pier Paolo Pasolini (see Pasolini 101.) He made almost 40 features. The Day of the Owl aka Mafia is, debatably, the best film of the set (or The Case Is Closed, Forget It) and is based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Leonardo Sciascia, adapted for the screen by Damiani and Ugo Pirro and is the first in director Damiani's 'Mafia trilogy'. It has the appealing cast of Nero, gorgeous Claudia Cardinale, and, brief pivotal appearances by Lee J. Cobb. The Case Is Closed, Forget It is based on the novel Tante Sbarre (trad. "Many Bars"), written by Leros Pittoni and has Nero as an architect put in prison for traffic violations. While incarcerated he sees the sad reality of life behind bars including corrupt staff + inmates, and an damaged judicial system manipulated by the pervasive Mafia. It's quite a good film on Italian prison life. How to Kill a Judge (The Murder of a Magistrate or Why Does One Kill a Magistrate?) is the final chapter in Damiani's trilogy about the Mafia, after The Day of the Owl and Confessions of a Police Captain. The film centers on events that spark the murder of a judge who gets too friendly with the Mafia but the governing corrupt politicians induce cover-ups which expose a viscous circle to the societal malaise. Radiance Films' Blu-ray package of Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani Blu-ray package is wonderfully complete with accoutrements - each film has optional English DUBs, exhaustive supplements including modern Nero interviews, visual essay gold, and a 120-page book, plus HD presentations indicative of the theatrical appearance. Franco Nero fans will not be able to resist this set and the Italian crime-cinema here is top shelf. It's very strongly recommended! Wow - Radiance Films once again proves they are the 'real deal'. What great news for physical media personal archivists.

Gary Tooze