The Road to Salina Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "La route de Salina" or "Road to Salina")

Directed by Georges Lautner
France / Italy 1970

Jonas (Robert Walker, Beware! The Blob), a young drifter, stops at a desolate roadside service station where Mara (Rita Hayworth, Gilda), the owner, identifies him as her son Rocky, who disappeared four years ago. Jonas is overwhelmed by the awkward situation, but tired and hungry, accepts Mara’s offer of room and board. Initially, he believes that Mara is simply delusional, but when Mara’s old friend and neighbor Warren (Ed Begley, Billion Dollar Brain) arrives for a visit, surprisingly, he also acts as if Jonas were Rocky. Even when the attractive and carefree Billie (Mimsy Farmer, The Perfume of the Lady in Black), his alleged sister, comes home, she appears to recognize him as her brother and soon takes him under her wing. As an erotic relationship develops between them, Jonas soon discovers that Billie may have killed her own brother and Mara could very well be covering up the crime. Explosive events bring him to the edge of madness as he confronts the consequences of his “free ride.” The Road to Salina is a tense, gripping tale of forbidden love written and directed by Georges Lautner (Le Professionnel, Monsieur Gangster).

Posters

Theatrical Release: November 10th, 1970

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:36:34.163
Video	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,641,898,739 bytes Feature: 31,604,932,608 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) DUB: DTS-HD Master Audio French 1555 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1555 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 33,641,898,739 bytes Feature: 31,604,932,608 bytes Video Bitrate: 37.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson • TRAILERS FROM HELL with Larry Karaszewski (3:39) • Trailers Blu-ray Release Date: July 6th, 2021 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2021): Kino have transferred Georges Lautner's The Road to Salina to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "4K Restoration from the Original Camera Negative". The 1080P has a few inconsistencies but mostly looks very strong. It's on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. There are some darker scenes that are handled well by the 1080P - same for the director's unique camera cuts and rapidly utilized edit effects that come through impressively. Colors, skin tones, detail - all look fine in this HD presentation.

NOTE: We have added 64 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino offer the choice of DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel tracks (16-bit) in the original English language or a French DUB. It is sounds very consistent with some automobiles and ocean sounds but generally passive. There is music in the film by Christophe; The Girl From Salina and The Road To Salina, and who wrote most of the other songs performed by Clinic and Bernard Gérard Et Son Orchestre. It sounds clean and effective in the lossless. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by my favorite trifecta; Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson. Howard enthusiastically describes this as one of his top five beloved films of his entire life, Steve describes the music in the film and they discuss the unique director Georges Lautner, the wonderful performances; Robert Walker Jr. (Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones's son, David O. Selznick's stepson), Mimsy Farmer ('free spirit' who did some Roger Corman films and TV work, tasteful nude scenes etc.), Rita Hayworth (52 at the making of The Road to Salina), Ed Begley (his last feature - died the year this came out), cinematography of frequent Lautner collaborator Maurice Fellous etc.. How Lautner's The Road to Salina avoids a neo-noir or 'hippie film' pigeon-holing while focusing on character development The commentary is as great as you might have suspected. There is also a 'Trailers From Hell' episode with Larry Karaszewski and handful of trailers (but none for The Road to Salina.)

Georges Lautner's The Road to Salina is another curious film by this impressive director with themes of incest, jealousy, delusion, mental health, deception, desire etc.. It is always exporting a 'mystery' angle of unspoken details through piercing, interpretive, eye contact with the camera or shots through mirrors, unique edits etc.. The commentary will expand your knowledge and spur further interest in Lautner's work. The Kino Blu-ray finally does justice to this beautiful film that has languished in cropped video releases until now. A fascinating, mystifying, film that is a definite keeper. Strongly recommended!

Gary Tooze