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

ADDITION: Radiance Blu-ray (April 2025): Radiance have transferred Valerio Zurlini's Girl with a Suitcase to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by the Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Camelia and Titanus". The film is presented as close as possible to Zurlini’s initial vision, free from the degradation of intermediate prints or prior transfers. The Cineteca di Bologna, renowned for its meticulous preservation work (e.g., restorations of Visconti and Fellini films), brings its expertise to bear, likely employing advanced digital scanning and cleanup techniques to eliminate scratches, dust, and chemical wear while preserving the film’s organic texture. In partnership with Titanus, the original production company, and Camelia, this restoration benefits from access to archival materials and institutional knowledge, ensuring authenticity. Visually, the restoration enhances Tino Santoni’s (War Gods of Babylon, Argoman the Fantastic Superman) black-and-white cinematography, which balances stark realism with poetic softness. There is sharper detail in key elements - like the weathered texture of Aida’s suitcase or the subtle play of light on Rimini’s beaches - while maintaining the film’s grain structure, a hallmark of 1960s Italian cinema. The contrast is refined, deepening the shadows in scenes like Lorenzo’s nighttime pursuit of Aida, and brightening the sunlit exteriors without losing nuance. The 1080P, on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate, looks flawless. Balanced contrast, depth and impressive detail in close-ups.

NOTE: We have added 52 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Radiance use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Italian language. The soundscape of Girl with a Suitcase, crafted by composer Mario Nascimbene (The Vikings, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, The Barefoot Contessa, The Vengeance of She, Barabbas, A Farewell to Arms, Love in the City) is understated yet evocative. Dialogue dominates, delivered with a conversational authenticity that enhances the film’s realism - Cardinale’s dubbed voice (by Adriana Asti who also acted ex. Luis Buñuel's The Phantom of Liberty) adding a sultry edge to Aida’s defiance. Ambient sounds - car engines, seaside waves, the clatter of a train station - anchor the narrative in its specific locales, creating a textured backdrop without overpowering the actors. Nascimbene’s score is minimal, featuring a recurring melancholic theme with piano and strings that swells during pivotal moments, like Lorenzo and Aida’s seaside idyll, before fading into silence. These silences, especially in the film’s final scenes, amplify the weight of their parting, leaving the audience to dwell in the unresolved emotion. The uncompressed transfer is authentically flat - but exports rich and clear, while ambient sounds - like the clatter of Aida’s suitcase or the distant waves - gain subtle definition, enhancing the film’s atmospheric realism. Radiance offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Radiance Blu-ray release of Girl with a Suitcase includes a well-rounded set of extras, totaling over an hour of video content, alongside a limited edition booklet. Included is a 2006 interview with film critic Bruno Torri (The Feeling of Form) - produced by No Shame Films (as are all three interviews included here) - then president of the Italian film critics’ guild (SNCCI), providing a scholarly perspective on Zurlini’s career. Torri examines Zurlini’s cinema in the context of 1960s Italian filmmaking, a period marked by the transition from Neorealism to more personal, auteur-driven works. There is also a 20-minute interview with assistant Director Piero Schivazappa (The Laughing Woman) offering a firsthand account. His discussion of the production process and his personal relationship with Zurlini, covering practical details - such as shooting on location in Parma and Rimini - or Zurlini’s directorial approach, which often favored emotional authenticity over rigid scripting. There is a 17-minute interview with screenwriter Piero De Bernardi (Marriage Italian Style, Once Upon a Time in America,) one of the film’s five credited writers, who provides a longitudinal view of his collaboration with Zurlini, spanning from Zurlini’s debut (The Shortest Day, 1952, though more likely referring to Violent Summer, 1959, as a significant early work) to Girl with a Suitcase. De Bernardi’s reflections on their creative partnership, detail how the script evolved through contributions from co-writers like Leo Benvenuti and Giuseppe Patroni Griffi. Lastly is a 1/4 hour Visual Essay by critic and filmmaker Kat Ellinger (All The Colours Of Sergio Martino) created exclusively for Radiance in January 2025. Ellinger situates Girl With A Suitcase as a post-Neorealist work that blends social realism with personal drama - and its key themes, such as gendered vulnerability, class divides, and transient love. Using clips and stills, she highlights visual motifs (e.g., Aida’s suitcase as a symbol of rootlessness) and compares Zurlini’s approach to that of contemporaries like Visconti (L'Innocente, Rocco and His Brothers, Conversation Piece,) who also tackled class but with operatic flair. She discusses the Fascist climate and filmmaking plus much more. This piece bridges the film’s 1961 context with modern scholarship, making it a fresh and engaging addition. The package has a reversible sleeve featuring original artwork (see below) and a limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Giuliana Minghelli (Landscape and Memory in Post-Fascist Italian Film: Cinema Year Zero,) an Associate Professor at Harvard. Her contribution offers a deep dive into the film’s visual and thematic elements - its use of landscape (Parma’s streets, Rimini’s beaches) as a metaphor for Aida’s displacement, or its commentary on post-war Italian society. Minghelli’s academic perspective explores Zurlini’s place in the cinematic shift from Neorealism to more personal narratives, complementing Torri’s interview. The extras on this Radiance Blu-ray are a well-curated mix of archival and contemporary content.

Valerio Zurlini's Girl with a Suitcase unfolds as a melancholic, character-driven drama that blends elements of coming-of-age and social commentary. The film grapples with several interlocking themes: class disparity, the exploitation of vulnerability, and the fleeting nature of innocence. The stark contrast between Aida’s impoverished, transient existence and Lorenzo’s privileged, aristocratic background underscores a critique of societal inequality - her suitcase symbolizing both her rootlessness and the burdens she carries. Aida’s (Claudia Cardinale) repeated betrayal by men (Marcello, her ex-boyfriend Piero, and others) highlights the predatory dynamics she faces as a beautiful but powerless woman, a theme Zurlini handles with sensitivity rather than sensationalism. The interplay between Aida and Lorenzo forms the emotional core of the film, enriched by Cardinale and Perrin’s nuanced performances. Aida is a multifaceted figure - vivacious yet fragile, pragmatic yet hopeful - whose outward confidence masks a deep vulnerability. There are evocative films that relate to Girl with a Suitcase; Luchino Visconti's Le Notti Bianche because of its fleeting, doomed romance, Michelangelo Antonioni's L’Eclisse for its emotional transience and societal critique and Vittorio De Sica's Two Women through its portrayal of female resilience in a harsh, male-dominated world. The Radiance Blu-ray of Girl with a Suitcase has an impressive 4K restoration with a thoughtful array of extras that honor Zurlini’s legacy. It's an easy recommendation for cinephiles.

Gary Tooze