MIRANDA (1985)
Label: Cult Epics
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 99 Minutes 9 Seconds
Audio: English, Spanish or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Tinto Brass
Cast: Serena Grandi, Andrea Occhipinti, Franco Interlenghi, Andy J. Forest, Franco Branciaroli
Miranda (1985), directed by erotic maestro Tinto Brass (The Key) is set in Northern Italy, the Po Valley, just after World War II, where war widow Miranda (Serena Grandi, Anthropophagus) operates a small inn with the help of her employee Tony (Franco Branciaroli, All Ladies Do It). For years she had lovers galore but has put off marriage, but now she has come around to the idea of marriage and motherhood, and sets about deciding which of her lovers would make the perfect husband. Among them we have strapping truckdriver Berto (Andrea Occhipinti, The New York Ripper), the older and quite wealthy Carlo (Franco Interlenghi, The Professor) who lavishes her with expensive gifts, and an American engineer Norman (Andy J. Forest, The House of Witchcraft). As the film plays our Miranda, a deeply sexual and full-blooded young woman with an appetite for life engages in sexual romance with each to decide who would make for the best lover and husband, much to the chagrin of Tony who not-so-secretly pines for her affections.
Loosely based on Carlo Goldoni's classic comedy La Locandiera, Tinto Brass (Salon Kitty) has a field day witht he material, the film is gorgeously shot and has a fairytale quality to it, Brass' camera love Serena Grandi curvaceous body and neither is shy about showing off her ample assets, his camera lingering lustfully at her ass and breasts, and as usual there is gynecological camera that offers that lingers on pubic regions, all of it artful and gorgeous, of course, Tinto Brass eye for the erotic has always been unparalleled. Having just watched Salon Kitty is was a treat to get back to Brass' more playfully erotic and less politically charged era, with women sucking on popsicles and up-skirt shots of women dancing without panties, bathed in a dreamy glamor sheen. The film also benefits from a wonderful sweeping score by Riz Ortolani (Paprika) which merges Mediterranean motifs with jazz and pop, it's a really terrific score.
Audio/Video: Miranda (1985) makes it's worldwide HD debut from Cult Films, presented in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen on a region-free disc. The film looks like it's sourced from an older HD master, it's soft with noisy grain structures, contrast is poor, detail and texture wax and wane and the purposefully soft photographic style does not translate well through the older master, as where a new 4K scan from the OCN surely would have alleviated a lot of the issues I am seeing. Likewise, colors are only modestly pleasing, they appear soft and anemic with reds appearing slightly orange-ish. Audio comes by way of DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with the choice of English, Spanish or Italian languages, with new and improved optional English subtitles. The tracks are fairly similar sounding, and all are dubbed, so I went with the English-dub for most of my viewing. The track was clean and well-balanced, but does sound a bit narrow. Still, dialogue was never a chore to decipher and the Ortolani score sounds quite good.
Extras are slim, we get a 13-min Tinto Brass Reveals All -Interview with the Director, wherein he talks about the casting of Serena Grandi, losing his inhibitions and becoming more of an erotic film director during this period. We also get the 3-min Theatrical Trailer, and the 3-min Italian Trailer.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring what looks to be original movie poster artworks, plus we get a first-pressing only Slipcover O-Card featuring it's own unique artwork, which is quite a fetching image of Serena Grandi in a state of sexual ecstasy.
Special Features:
- Tinto Brass Reveals All -interview with the director (13:01)
- Theatrical trailer (3:00)
- Italian Trailer (3:02)
- New and improved English subtitles and SDH
- Collector’s reversible sleeve
Screenshots from the Cult Films Blu-ray:
Extras:
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