LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit (all 3 features)

LPCM Audio Italian 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit (Stromboli Terra Di Dio and Europa 51' Italian versions)

Commentary on Journey to Italy: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

 

Europe 51'

 

 

Journey to Italy

 

Description: In the late 1940s, the incandescent Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman found herself so stirred by the revolutionary neorealist films of Roberto Rossellini that she sent the director a letter, introducing herself and offering her talents. The resulting collaboration produced a series of films that are works of both sociopolitical concern and metaphysical melodrama, each starring Bergman as a woman experiencing physical dislocation and psychic torment in postwar Italy. It also famously led to a scandalous affair and eventual marriage between filmmaker and star, and the focus on their personal lives in the press unfortunately overshadowed the extraordinary films they made together. Stromboli, Europe ’51, and Journey to Italy are intensely moving portraits that reveal the director at his most emotional and the glamorous actress at her most anguished, and that capture them and the world around them in transition.

 

 

The Film (Stromboli):

The first collaboration between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman is a devastating portrait of a woman’s existential crisis, set against the beautiful and forbidding backdrop of a volcanic island. After World War II, a Lithuanian refugee (Bergman) marries a simple Italian fisherman (Mario Vitale) she meets in a prisoner of war camp and accompanies him back to his isolated village on an island off the coast of Sicily. Cut off from the world, she finds herself crumbling emotionally, but she is destined for a dramatic epiphany. Balancing the director’s trademark neorealism—exemplified here in a remarkable depiction of the fishermen’s lives and work—with deeply felt melodrama, Stromboli is a revelation.

***

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

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

Stromboli arrives on Criterion Blu-ray in both English and Italian language versions (Stromboli Terra di Dio) - both in 1080P (NOT seamlessly branched).  Firstly, I don't see a lot of difference between the two but did not do an extensive comparison.  Putting both on a dual-layered disc with extras in HD doesn't make either transfer particularly robust but the image looks acceptable. It is clean, flat but strong contrast although some of the whites are leaning to being too bright in the first 1/2 hour. Criterion were, of course, at the mercy of the source but did their magic - grain is supported and detail advances as the film runs.  This Blu-ray is no demo but the best we are ever likely to get for this masterpiece. I am very pleased.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) English Language version Blu-ray - TOP 2) Italian Language version (subtitle sample) Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All three films have a linear PCM mono track at 1152 kbps. This lossless transfer is duplicated for the two Italian tracks (Stromboli Terra Di Dio and Europa 51'). I'm afraid I was always aware of the DUB issues but it's great to have the option of the original English track and there are optional English subtitles for both - my Oppo has, predictably, identified it as being a region 'A' disc.

Extras :

 

 

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The Film (Europe 51'):

Ingrid Bergman plays a wealthy, self-absorbed Rome socialite racked by guilt over the shocking death of her young son. As a way of dealing with her grief and finding meaning in her life, she decides to devote her time and money to the city’s poor and sick. Her newfound, single-minded activism leads to conflicts with her husband and questions about her sanity. The intense, often overlooked Europe ’51 was, according to Rossellini, a retelling of his own The Flowers of St. Francis from a female perspective. This unabashedly political but sensitively conducted investigation of modern sainthood was the director’s favorite of his films.

***

Only a few of the films that grew from the notorious liaison between actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini were truly worthy of their talents. One such was the Italian-made Europa '51. Playing a character far older than herself, Bergman portrays a society woman whose life is in ruins after her son's suicide. Attempting to give her life some purpose, she takes the advice of a leftist friend, and begins working with the ill and destitute of Rome. Her insensitive husband Alexander Knox finds Bergman's charitable activities distasteful; when the opportunity presents itself, he has her committed to a mental institution. By the time Europa '51 was released in the US in 1954, its title -- and much of its political ideology -- had been outdated. The film was pared from 118 to 110 minutes for US consumption, and retitled The Greatest Love.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

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

We get a similar deal to the Stromboli disc with the two versions (English and Italian) of Europe 51' and Europa 51' - their own 1080P transfers (not seamlessly branched.) The overall image on Blu-ray is improved from Stromboli but there are some masked damage marks - usually in the form of vertical scratches (see two samples below). The vertical marks are frequently there to varying degrees of prominence. In one scene I noticed a hair stuck in the gate but this is being too picky.  Although I didn't do a full comparison I'd say in this case the Italian language version, Europa 51', is a shade darker and not quite as 'even' as the English language version transfer. Actually there is some inconsistency here as well with both more impressive scenes and others with inferiorities.  Overall, the dual-layered disc produces a decent HD presentation showing grain, a touch of noise but pleasing detail in close-ups. I really have no strong complaints and accept that this is the best the films will look for home theatre viewing.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) English Language version (Europe 51') Blu-ray - TOP 2) Italian Language version (Europa 51') Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vertical Scratch / Damage

 

 

 

Audio :

Again, all three films have a linear PCM mono track at 1152 kbps. This lossless transfer offers the same personal issue I have with the DUBs (all Italian films, in Italian, were DUBBED), although completed my viewing with Europe 51'. Again, relatively clean but susceptible to the production and source. There are optional English subtitles for both - and all four disc are region 'A' disc.

 

Extras :

We get another introduction from Rossellini - almost 5-minutes on Europe 51' as well as a 20-minute interview with critic Adriano Aprà. Criterion have a new 36-minute piece with Elena Dagrada comparing the differences, and similarities in the two versions entitled The Tragedy of Nonconformism.

 

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(aka "Voyage in Italy" or "Voyage to Italy" or "Viaggio in Italia" or "Strangers" )

 

The Film (Journey to Italy):

Among the most influential films of the postwar era, Roberto Rossellini’s Journey to Italy (Viaggio in Italia) charts the declining marriage of a couple from England (Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders) on a trip in the countryside near Naples. More than just the anatomy of a relationship, Rossellini’s masterpiece is a heartrending work of emotion and spirituality. Considered a predecessor to the existentialist works of Michelangelo Antonioni and hailed as a groundbreaking modernist work by the legendary film journal Cahiers du cinéma, Journey to Italy is a breathtaking cinematic benchmark.

***

Roberto Rossellini directs this drama starring his then-wife Ingrid Bergman as Katherine Joyce, a wealthy British woman who accompanies her husband, Alex (George Sanders), on a trip across the Italian countryside to close on an inherited villa in Naples. Far from their London home, the couple becomes frustrated with each other and seem to be headed for divorce. Katherine tells Alex about a lost lover who risked his life to see her, but it only leaves Alex even more indifferent to her. Planning to spend the rest of their vacation away from each other, Alex joins up with some other British guys on Capri to drink and flirt, while Katherine tours the natural attractions and museums of Naples and Pompeii. Viaggio in Italia was unsuccessful when it originally released to theatres; years later it was discovered by French critics and called a masterpiece in Cahiers du Cinema.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

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

Journey to Italy on Blu-ray from Criterion has the benefit of not sharing the disc with another version of the film and hence the transfer is more robust with a very high bitrate - on the dual-layered disc. Being the youngest of the three films it looks the best by a wide margin and comparison to BFI's 2003 chroma-heavy SD version are below. As you can see it is a huge advancement with vastly superior contrast, more information in the frame and impressive detail. Excellent and fairly consistent throughout with no noise and frequently awe-inspiring visuals.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

1) BFI - Region 2 - PAL DVD (Reviewed HERE)  - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) BFI - Region 2 - PAL DVD (Reviewed HERE)  - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) BFI - Region 2 - PAL DVD (Reviewed HERE)  - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) BFI - Region 2 - PAL DVD (Reviewed HERE)  - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) BFI - Region 2 - PAL DVD (Reviewed HERE)  - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) BFI - Region 2 - PAL DVD (Reviewed HERE)  - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) BFI - Region 2 - PAL DVD (Reviewed HERE)  - TOP 2) Criterion - Region 'A' Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

On the 4th Blu-ray disc, considered 'Journey to Italy - disc 2', are further extras including the important, hour long, 1992, documentary Rossellini Through His Own Eyes, on the filmmaker’s approach to cinema, featuring archival interviews with Rossellini and actor Ingrid Bergman. Directed by Adriano Aprà the film examines Rossellini's ever-evolving approach to filmmaking and features archival interviews with the director, actors Ingrid Bergman and Anna Magnani, and others. Ingrid Bergman Remembered is an excellent 1996 documentary on the actor’s life, narrated by her daughter, from her first marriage, Pia Lindstrom. It is an intimate portrait and features archival footage as well as interviews with Lindsrtom and Bergman and Rossellini's daughter Isabella. We get a new (March 2013) 15-minute interview with Fiorella Mariani, Rossellini’s niece, featuring home movies shot by Bergman. She discusses the special, lifelong relationship she developed with Ingrid Bergman. Isabella Rossellini plays every role in My Dad Is 100 Years Old, a 2005 short film, directed by Guy Maddin. It is a tribute to her father with the roles played as her own mother, Federico Fellini and the critics who loved and hated Roberto. Included is The Chicken, a 1952 short film by Roberto Rossellini, starring Ingrid Bergman. The package also contains a large liner notes booklet featuring essays by critics Richard Brody, Fred Camper, Dina Iordanova, and Paul Thomas; letters exchanged by Rossellini and Bergman; “Why I Directed Stromboli,” a 1950 article by Rossellini; a 1954 interview with Rossellini conducted by Eric Rohmer and François Truffaut for Cahiers du cinéma; and excerpts from a 1965 interview with Rossellini conducted by Aprà and Maurizio Ponzi for Filmcriticah.

 

 

Journey To Italy - Blu-ray Disc 2