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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka "Chi l'ha vista morire?" or "Who Saw Her Die?")
Directed by Aldo Lado
Italy 1972
Former Bond star George Lazenby (On
Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Man from Hong Kong) headlines
this classic
giallo directed by Aldo Lado (Short
Night of Glass Dolls,
Night Train Murders) ¬–as compelling for its haunting atmosphere, twists
and turns as for its parallels with another great Venetian horror/thriller –
Nicolas Roeg’s
Don’t Look Now. *** Sculptor Franco (George Lazenby, one-shot James Bond of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE) is living and working in Venice when his daughter Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi, BARON BLOOD and THE CURSED MEDALLION) visits from London where she has been living with her mother. Upon her arrival, Roberta becomes the object of interest to a mysterious veiled old woman clad in black who stalks her through the city. When Franco leaves her to play with the other town children in order to have a dalliance with Gabriella (Rosemarie Lindt, EMANUELLE'S REVENGE), the girl disappears only to turn up murdered. Although ex-wife Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg, A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN) is sympathetic, guilt-ridden, Franco pursues his own investigation of the killing which may be related to the murder of another red-haired girl the previous year; the aftermath of which peripherally involved several members of Franco's artsy circle including benefactor Serafian (Adolfo Celi, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE), his mistress Ginevra (Dominique Boschero, ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK), her bisexual boyfriend Phillip (Peter Chatel, CAMILLE 2000), and lawyer Bonaiuti (José Quaglio, THE CONFORMIST) who themselves are soon stalked by the woman in black. Parallels with DON'T LOOK NOW have previously been noted but the script is much more straightforward, the threat less ambiguous, and the couple's grief over their lost child at the forefront rather than underlining their everyday actions. The flash-cut editing of Angelo Curi is also more direct in its clues at certain points (while at others, it functions as a fancy way of transitioning between scenes). The red herrings are a bit obvious (even if Roberta might have been murdered for something she overheard, that would not have explained the veiled old lady stalker). Director Lado had previously helmed the giallo SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS after serving as assistant director on Bertolucci's THE CONFORMIST (which also featured Quaglio and Alessandro Haber who plays a priest here). Franco De Giacomo (FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET) - with NOSTALGHIA's cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci as camera operator - Techniscope photography aides Lado in creating a lived-in Venice (as opposed the city-wide museum seen in other films) although it is always conveniently empty for the stalking scenes. The lead performances suffer somewhat with Lazenby not particularly compelling and the beautiful Strindberg dubbed rather thickly but Elmi is used effectively here as in her other genre films. Associate producer Ovidio Assonitis went on to make a career in international exploitation films (usually utilizing Italian crew) including BEYOND THE DOOR, PIRANHA II, AMOK TRAIN, and CHOKE CANYON among many others and co-scenarist Francesco Barilli helmed two little scene but strong Italian thriller entries HOTEL OF FEAR and PERFUME OF A LADY IN BLACK. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: May 12th, 1972
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Box Cover |
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Distribution |
Blue Underground Region 0 - NTSC |
Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:34:21 | 1:34:14.899 |
Video |
2.28:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
2.35 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 49,933,184,938 bytesFeature: 27,014,141,184 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.98 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate: |
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Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono) |
LPCM Audio Italian
1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Dolby Digital Audio English 320 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps |
Subtitles | none | Optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing , None |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Blue Underground Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 24 |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow
2.35 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 49,933,184,938 bytesFeature: 27,014,141,184 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.98 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
• New audio commentary by author and critic Troy Howarth
Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 13 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
They NOTE: "We are aware of some recent online speculation about
our release of WHO SAW HER DIE? and we are pleased to confirm that our
version is the official uncut release from the original camera negative. We
are aware of all the other releases in the market – one of which does
contain more footage – however, this additional footage has been added in
from the original trailer, consisting of alternate takes that were never
intended to be part of the official film release. The restoration team at
Arrow worked carefully to ensure that WHO SAW HER DIE? was presented as it
was originally intended in all its uncut glory. "
On their
Blu-ray,
Arrow use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the
both Italian and the English DUB. It is another advancement in the film's audio
effects
and score by Ennio Morricone (The
Black Belly of the Tarantula,
The
Fifth Cord, Luna,
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 deeper with
more consistent dialogue (DUB sync's aren't distracting). Arrow offer optional English
subtitles on their Region 'A'
Blu-ray.
The Arrow
Blu-ray has
extensive extras starting with a new audio commentary by author and
critic Troy Howarth where he discusses what an incredibly detailed film
Who Saw Her Die? is, how it is an example of an Italian film of
the era at its most grandiose with impressive craftsmanship -
technically very slick (and hence a good reason to see it in this
Blu-ray version). More on the skinnier Lazeby and his bout with Bondism,
the kinship of the film to
Don’t Look Now (parents dealing with grief, Venetian setting etc.), the
exploitable nudity, and much more. It is at his usually entertaining end
edifying standard. I Saw Her Die is a new 57-minute video
interview with director Aldo Lado covering much of his career work.
Nicoletta, Child of Darkness is a new 22-minute video interview
with actress Nicoletta Elmi (Roberta Serpieri), Once Upon a Time in
Venice, is a new 1/2 hour video interview with co-writer Francesco
Barilli who shares some information on the evolution of the film. I
always enjoy Michael Mackenzie's input on
Giallo films and, Giallo in Venice is a new 26-minute
video interview with him providing keen analysis and details referencing
specifics of the genre. There are trailers in both English and Italian,
a poster and fotobusta gallery plus the package has a reversible sleeve
featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Haunt Love.
What a great package for fans of this genre. Who Saw Her
Die?
has Aldo Lado's meticulous realization - instilling the style and
conventions that we all love. It's a film on Blu-ray
that I am so happy
to add to my digital library shelf.
A very strong recommendation!
ON THE DVD (Feb 2008): Blue Underground's
DVD is a direct port of Anchor Bay's (HERE)
now out-of-print 2002 edition (available separately or in a box
set with Lado's SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS, Antonio
Bido's BLOODSTAINED SHADOW [also set in Venice], and box
set exclusive title CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS by Guiliano
Carmineo) which featured a single-layer progressive, anamorphic
transfer with English dubbed mono audio.
The disc also
includes an interview with Aldo Lado (originally produced by
Blue Underground for the Anchor Bay release). The film's
theatrical trailer bears the English export title while the film
itself features Italian credits and title card (as do all DVD
editions currently). In the UK, Shameless Screen Entertainment
has also released an anamorphic edition of the film using the
same master. While it is reportedly not as sharp as the US
editions, it does include a few seconds more of one murder scene
(7 stabs versus 5) and subtitles for the Italian-language choral
lyrics of Ennio Morricone's score (the Anchor Bay/Blue
Underground editions only subtitle some onscreen Italian text).
The German Eyecatcher Movies edition (under the title THE
CHILD) also features the English track and the complete
soundtrack.
|
Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC
Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing |
1) Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC TOP2) Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
1) Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC TOP2) Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
1) Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC TOP2) Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
Box Cover |
|
|
Distribution |
Blue Underground Region 0 - NTSC |
Arrow - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |