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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (December 2020): Kino have transferred Fellini's Casanova to Blu-ray. A text screen informs us:

"Restoration of Fellini's Casanova (Federico Fellini, 1976) completed in 2019 by Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale and Istituto Luce - Cinecitta at the Istituto Luce - Cinecitta laboratories from the original 35mm picture negative made available by Alberto Grimaldi Productions and from a positive track printed from the optical soundtrack negative. Sound restoration supervision by Federico Savina. "

It was restored for the 100th Anniversary of Fellini's birth.

It looks quite a bit different from, duplicate, Carlotta/Bongo 1080P. It is brighter approaching as bright as the Freemantle DVD. The colors are more natural and nuanced. It is housed on a dual-layered disc with a high bitrate. Flesh tones cool and there is grain noticeable. This is a notable bump ahead of the past BDs.    

NOTE: We have added 66 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino offer both English and Italian language tracks in DTS-HD Master dual-mono (24-bit). There are plenty of effects from wind, rain, celebrations. crowds, electronic beeps, and an eclectic score by Nino Rota (I, Vitelloni, Juliet of the Spirits, Rocco and His Brothers, Death on the Nile, Il Bidone, 8 1/2, I Clowns, Purple Noon, The Leopard etc.) that sound is excellent via the lossless. Some of the post-DUB'ing is evident but not distracting. There are plenty of subtleties in the soundstage picked up deftly by the newly-restored track. Kino offer optional English (SDH) subtitles for the English translation and English for the Italian translation on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The only supplement, aside from a trailer, is a full-length commentary by Nick Pinkerton. It's excellent - he covers every nook and cranny of the production from the performers to Fellini to Sutherland and extensive history on the real Giacomo Casanova (1725-1789). Admirable for the length (more than 2.5 hour film) and the breadth of knowledge exported. The Kino also contains a liner notes 8-page booklet essay by film scholar Alberto Zambenedetti PhD entitled "Fellini's Cinematic Music Box".

This isn't part of Criterion's Essential Fellini Blu-ray package but it fits in well with the 2019 restoration in celebration of the director's 100th, both English and Italian tracks in lossless (at 24-bit), and a fabulous Pinkerton commentary and booklet essay. Strongly recommended!

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ADDITION: Mr. Bongo - Region FREE Blu-ray August 2015':

There are some similar features with both Blu-ray releases:

1) The Mr. Bongo is the exact same running time as the (now OOP?) Carlotta Blu-ray release - down the the 1/1000th of a second. (NOTE: This, alone, is a real telltale as we've seen on the few Spanish Blu-ray bootlegs we've reviewed in the past 3 years.)

2) Audio transfer both use linear PCM at 16-bit, but the Mr. Bongo has a higher Kbps.

3) The bitrate graph is similar but not exact.

4) The package states it is region 'B'. It is definitely region FREE.

Video/Audio quality is the same on both Blu-rays, Mr. Bongo is more technically robust but my eyes, ears and software can't distinguish any differences. Like most Mr. Bongo releases, there are optional English subtitles but they are displayed less consistently and there are no extras at all.

NOTE: We have heard from more than one individual that their French BD has 'rot'. Maybe why they stopped producing it? or perhaps they lost the rights?

Despite being bare-bones we endorse this Mr. Bongo Blu-ray, although subtitles could have been more thorough.  There is a Spanish Blu-ray bootleg HERE that I assume is a single-layered port of the Carlotta.

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ADDITION: Carlotta Blu-ray November 08':  Carlotta have produced a very strong Region 'B'-locked Blu-ray disc. The image improvement is one of the most dramatic we've seen. The dual-layered Blu-ray reinforces the boosting, cropping and vertical stretching of the Fremantle PAL DVD transfer. The 1080P image looks very impressive at times. Grain is visible in many spots and detail is dramatically superior with the substantially higher resolution. Colors seem very true without any manipulation. It offers mono audio choices in English, French or Italian and there are optional French subtitles.

The extras are in PAL and French and I can't really comment on them excepting that they appear to be quite substantial - over two hours long.

Carlotta continue to impress digital cineastes with their expansive selection of productions - now branching out very successfully into high-definition. This package's disc is unfortunately Region 'B' locked so fans outside of that restriction will require a region-free Blu-ray player or to watch it through HTPC. The hi-def REALLY helps bring out Fellini's dramatic visuals with shots of unique architecture and a rich color palette. This was a pleasure to watch later Fellini in 1080. Great job Carlotta! Let's see more!  

ON THE Fremantle SD-DVD: The DVD image quality looks weak - a shade thin in parts - and colors appear boosted. There is very minor debris in the form of speckles. It really looks like it may be stretched vertically and possibly cropped. There is plenty of noise on the anamorphic, progressive transfer. It is fairly unacceptable at this point. Audio has options for English, Italian and French, with all choices being utilized in original production. I listened to it in Italian leaving Sutherland's wonderful voice dubbed. The 2.0 channel tracks were acceptable if not stellar.

The 2nd disc of extras contains two informative featurettes that are highly interesting for Fellini fans. Input comes from Sutherland, Anthony Quinn and many who worked with or knew Fellini. I enjoyed both very much.

The style is pure Fellini and it makes for an intriguing viewing but we can hope fro a far better transfer to eventually come along one day soon. 

Gary W. Tooze