COSA NOSTRA: FRANCO NERO IN THREE MAFIA TALES BY DAMIANO DAMIANI (1968-1975)
Synopsis: The most American of directors according to celebrated critic Paolo Mereghetti, Damiano Damiani (A Bullet for the General) nevertheless surveyed his own country’s mafia history unlike anyone before him, to critical and box office success. Three such classic films are collected in this Blu-ray box set, presented from new restorations.
THE DAY OF THE OWL (1968)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 148 Minutes 40 Seconds (Italian Cut), 103 Minutes 11 Second (English Version)
Audio: Italian or English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Damiano Damiani
Cast: Claudia Cardinale, Franco Nero, Lee J. Cobb, Nehemiah Persoff, Gaetano Cimarosa, Serge Reggiani
The Day of the Owl (Il giorno della civetta) is a 1968 euro-crime flick directed by Damiano Damiani (Amityville II: The Possession), based on the successful 1961 novel by Leonardo Sciascia of the same name. In it Franco Nero (Man, Pride and Vengeance) as a police Captain Bellodi who is newly arrived in Sicily, is called upon to in investigate the murder of a construction contractor named Salvatore Colasberna, who was shotgunned to death on a roadside in front of the home of the attractive Rosa Nicolosi (Claudia Cardinale, Once Upon A Time in the West) and her husband, the latter of whom has gone missing. The investigation is hamstrung by the locals culture of silence surrounding
mafia happenings in the area, represented here by corrupt mafia boss Don Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb, The Exorcist). There's a begrudging respect between Arena and Bellodi, each admiring the intelligence and cunning of the other, but the cat and mouse game continues with Bellodi pitting Don Arena's key men Zecchinetta (Tano Cimarosa, Free Hand for a Tough Cop) and Pizzuco (Nehemiah Persoff, Psychic Killer) against each other, working a bit outside the orthodox channels to coerce confessions from the men responsible, while Rosa desperately seeks the truth of what has happened to her husband. The questionis asked, could he be the killer based on rumors that his wife had been unfaithful to him with the victim, or has he perhaps been murdered to silence a potential witness tot he crime? This one reminded me a bit of The Iron Prefect with an honest cop not quite realizing how interwoven the mafia's corruption is into everyday life, with his superiors seemingly working against him as he makes strides towards solving the murder. It's truly a gem of a euro-crime flick, while it lacks the visceral action and general nastiness of the later early 70's rough-stuff the genre had to offer, like The Iron Prefect it's quite intense in it's examination of the criminal element and the melodrama is potent. Another solid element is the presence of informant Parrinieddu (Serge Reggiani) who attempts to work both sides, but at great personal risk, but like most rats in these mafia flicks it does no work out so well for him. Nero, Cobb and Cardinale are terrific together, truly a phenomenal cast and a true gem of the more high-brow euro-crime flicks.
Special Features:
- 2K restoration of The Day of the Owl from the original negative presented in the original Italian version (109 mins) and the shorter export cut with English audio (103 mins)
- NEW! Interview with star Franco Nero, featuring archive footage of Damiano Damiani and Leonardo Sciascia discussing The Day of the Owl (2022) (17:21)
- NEW! Casting Cobb: A Tale of Two Continents: A video essay by filmmaker Howard S. Berger looking at actor Lee J. Cobb's career transition from Hollywood to Italy and the archetypes he tended to play (2023) (32:36)
- Archival interview with Franco Nero, writer Ugo Pirro and production manager Lucio Trentini discussing the making of The Day of the Owl (2006) (26:34) )
- Archival interview with Claudia Cardinale from Belgian TV in which she discusses her long and storied career (2017) (22:20)
- NEW! Identity Crime-Sis: filmmaker and Italian crime cinema expert Mike Malloy discusses The Day of the Owl in the context of the formation of the Italian crime film genre (2022) (20:04)
- Trailer (2:50)
THE CASED IS CLOSED: FORGET IT (1971)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 106 Minutes 10 Seconds
Audio: Italian or English LPCM 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Damiano Damiani
Cast: Franco Nero, Georges Wilson, John Steiner, Riccardo Cucciolla, Ferruccio De Ceresa, Turi Ferro, Luigi Zerbinati, Enzo Andronico, Claudio Nicastro, Corrado Solari, Damiano Damiani, Patrizia Adiutori
Up next is 1971's The Case Is Closed: Forget It (L'istruttoria è chiusa: dimentichi) which is based on another novel, 'Tante by Leros Pittoni. In it Nero portrays an architect thrown in jail for a misdemeanor vehicular crime, inside he bares witness to the grim realities of life behind iron bars. Again, this is Damiani exploring the far reaching network of mafia corruption that infects all institutions, including the criminal justice system and officials inside the prison systems. This is a powerful prison drama that shows the corruption behind bars, Vanzi is a member of the upper middle-class and has a miserable time in the slammer, but is still treated quite a bit better than the average joe schmo who's broke, his stature affording him illicit privileges like sexual encounters with women and comfy accommodations, all the while denouncing how corrupt the systems is. Other notable characters include a self-important Warden (Ferruccio De Ceresa), a scornful Chief Prison Guard who exploits the corruption (Turi Ferro, The Seduction of Mimi), and Vanzi's eventual prison cell mate Presenti (Riccardo Cucciolla, Rabid Dogs), plus a deadly-charmer of a mafioso Salvatore Rosa (Claudio Nicastro) who seems to be the one truly in charge at the prison. The real draw here is Nero as the architect who slowly sullies his own moral standing to sate his own needs. Another interesting presence is John Steiner (Tenebrae) as a psychopathic nightmare of an inmate named Biro. This is another wonderful entry teaming up Nero with Damiani, offering an intense prison drama that has a lot of corrupt layers to it.
Special Features:
- 2K restoration of The Case is Closed: Forget It from the original negative presented with Italian and, for the first time, English audio options
- Archival documentary on the making of The Case is Closed: Forget It featuring actor Corrado Solari, assistant director Enrique Bergier and editor Antonio Siciliano (2015) (28:09)
- NEW! Interview with star Franco Nero discussing The Case is Closed: Forget It (2022) (14:25)
- NEW! Italy’s Cinematic Civil Conscience: An Examination of the Life and Works of Damiano Damiani: A visual essay on the career of Damiani Damiani by critic Rachael Nisbet (2023) (35:29)
- Trailer (3:13)
HOW TO KILL A JUDGE (1975)
Label: Radiance Films
Region Code: A, B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 110 Minutes 42 Seconds
Audio: Italian or English LPCM 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Damiano Damiani
Cast: Franco Nero, Pierluigi Aprà, Giancarlo Badessi, Luciano Catenacci, Giorgio Cerioni, Mico Cundari, Marco Guglielmi, Salvatore Moscardini, Renzo Palmer, Elio Zamuto, Gianni Zavota, Vincenzo Norvese, Elio Di Vincenzo
In Damiani's meta crime thriller How to Kill a Judge (1975) Nero plays director Giacomo Solaris whose latest film in the cinema features a corrupt judge who is later found murdered is causing quite a stir. The real-life judge Alberto Traini-Luis (Marco Guglielmihe, The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist) the based the character on is none to pleased by the film, and he orders the seizures the footage. Interestingly that judge is later killed in a similar fashion as in the film, with the authorities and the judge's wife feeling that Solaris and his film are responsible for stoking the atmosphere that resulted in his death. Solaris himself feels a tinge of responsibility and sets about sleuthing the murder himself, in a psuedo-gialli fashion that reveals several tasty twists and offering a fascinating meta-commentary that touches on cinema as well as the corruption of the police and politics. This is the most interesting film on the set, and interesting the life-imitating -art aspect of it is based on a true story which is further explored in the extras, plus this is Nero finest moment on the set as well, he gives a terrific and impactful turn here as the filmmaker turned amateur detective.
Special Features:
- 2K restoration of How to Kill a Judge from the original negative presented in Italian and English audio options
- NEW! Lessons in Violence: A new video essay on How to Kill a Judge by filmmaker David Cairns (2023) (21:38)
- NEW! Interview with star Franco Nero discussing How to Kill a Judge (2022) (12:59)
- NEW! Interview with Alberto Pezzotta, author of Regia Damiano Damiani, who discusses Damiani’s contribution to the mafia and crime genres and the reception of his films in Italy (2022) (34:23)
- English Trailer (3:42)
- Italian Trailer (3:42)
Audio/Video: All three films are presented on Region A,B Blu-ray from Radiance Films in 1080p HD widescreen (1.85:1) sourced from new 2K scan of the original camera negatives. All three have organic looking grain and pleasing depth and clarity. Colors generally look quite strong, sometimes there's a slight yellow-lean and marginal softness that creeps into the image, but this looks more akin to stylistic choice and the original cinematography than original source or scan related issues. The source is in great shape, there are no issues with distracting blemishes other than the occasional white speckle, these really look fantastic. Audio on all three films include choice of either uncompressed Italian or English via 2.0 Dual-Mono with optional English subtitles. Both tracks offer solid fidelity, I would give the edge to the Italian tracks which are more robust and clean, but if you're adverse to subtitles the English-sub is quite excellent, with only a few moments of minor hiss present. All three films have interesting scores, The Day of the Owl features Giovanni Fusco (L'Avventura), the legendary Ennio Morricone (Cinema Paradiso) on The Case is Closed, Forget It, plus Riz Ortolani (Cannibal Holocaust) on How To Kill A Judge, while none are personal favorites they all sound terrific in uncompressed dual-mono.
Radiance come through with a plentiful bouquet of extras, starting off with brand new Franco Nero Interviews for each of the films that run 13 -16-minutes each. Also new are the 33-min Casting Cobb: A Tale of Two Continents: A video essay by filmmaker Howard S. Berger that tracks actor Lee J. Cobb's career (2023); the 35-min Italy’s Cinematic Civil Conscience: An Examination of the Life and Works of Damiano Damiani: A visual essay on the film career of director Damiani Damiani by critic Rachael Nisbet (2023); a new 34-min Interview with Alberto Pezzotta, author of Regia Damiano Damiani, who discusses Damiani’s euro-crime output and their resonance (2022), and perhaps my favorite extras of the lot, the 22-min Lessons in Violence: A new video essay on How to Kill a Judge by filmmaker David Cairns (2023) who breaks down the euro-crime genres with just the right amount of machismo and horror, nice 'stache dude!
Archival extras, all of which were new to me, comes by way of a Trailer(s) for each film, plus vintage a 27-min Interview with Franco Nero, writer Ugo Pirro and production manager Lucio Trentini from 2006; another 22-min Interview with Claudia Cardinal from 2017; and a 28-min Making-Of documentary on the making of The Case is Closed: Forget It with actor Corrado Solari, assistant director Enrique Bergier and editor Antonio Siciliano from 2015
The Limited Edition (of 3000) 3-film set arrives in a sturdy and quite handsome Rigid Slipbox with the oversized Removable Obi Strip on the spine (which makes a great bookmark for the 120-page booklet when folded), inside the three film are presented in dedicated clear full-height keepcases with Reversible Sleeves of Artwork, which actually feature three artwork as another is include on the backside of the wrap as well on both alternate title Italian and English versions. Also tucked away inside the slipbox is a wonderful illustrated Limited Edition 120-Page Book featuring new and archival writing on the films by experts on the genre including Andrew Nette on Leonardo Sciascia’s The Day of the Owl; Piero Garofalo on The Case is Closed: Forget It; Paul A. J. Lewis on depictions of the mafia in each of the films within this set; Shelley O’Brien on each of the scores; a newly translated archival interview with Damiani; Nathaniel Thompson on Franco Nero; Marco Natoli on Damiani’s place within the cinema politico movement in Italian cinema; a critical overview for each the films by Cullen Gallagher and credits for each film, and notes about the transfers. These are fascinating explorations of the films and of Damiani's politically charged euro-crime cinema, it really peels back the multitude of layers in the films, including breaking the films down and how they compare to the original novels that they are based on. I'm a pretty low-brow sorta of gut but I felt like I had a mini master's degree in Italian crime films after taking in the book and the copious extras on this set, it's quite wonderful.
Blu-ray Limited Edition Box Set Special Features:
- Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
- New and improved optional English subtitles for Italian audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for English audio for each film
- Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters for each film
- Limited edition 120-page book featuring new and archival writing on the films by experts on the genre including Andrew Nette on Leonardo Sciascia’s The Day of the Owl; Piero Garofalo on The Case is Closed: Forget It; Paul A. J. Lewis on depictions of the mafia in each of the films within this set; Shelley O’Brien on each of the scores; a newly translated archival interview with Damiani; Nathaniel Thompson on Franco Nero; Marco Natoli on Damiani’s place within the cinema politico movement in Italian cinema; a critical overview for each the films by Cullen Gallagher and credits for each film
- Limited edition of 3000 copies (each for the UK and US), presented in a rigid box with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
This is Radiance's first box set here in the U.S. and it is a stunner, three films teaming-up director Damiano Daniani and star Franco Nero that examine the all-pervasive and insidious influence of mafia corruption; all or gorgeously shot, wonderfully restored and beautifully packaged with some quite excellent in-depth new and archival extras that add a lot to the experience. This is a top-notch release that deserves a place on your movie shelf, and it;s currently only $49.99 on Amazon, which is a freakin' steal for this fantastic set!
Reversible Artwork Options:
Screenshots from the Radiance Films Blu-ray of:
The Day of the Owl (1968)
