The Five Days – Severin Films (4k UHD/Blu-ray/CD Combo)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1973
Director: Dario Argento
Writers: Enzo Ungari, Dario Argento, Luigi Cozzi, Nanni Balestrini, Franco Catalano
Cast: Adriano Celentano, Enzo Cerusico, Marilù Tolo, Luisa De Santis, Glauco Onorato

Release Date: November 25th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 121 Minutes 5 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $49.95

"Set during 1848’s five-day siege of Milan by the Austrian army, a cynical thief (pop star Adriano Celentano) teams with a naïve young baker (Enzo Cerusico of The Dead Are Alive!) to survive the brutality and absurdity of the Italian Revolution." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “now scanned in 4K from the original negative.”

The Five Days comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 60.4 GB

Feature: 55.9 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. Colors and flesh tones look correct, image clarity, black levels and compression are solid, and grain remains intact.

The Five Days comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 45.5 GB

Feature: 32.1 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source that was used for the 4K UHD.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and included are removable English subtitles. There are no issues with distortion or background hiss, dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. Range-wise things sound very good, ambient sounds and the score are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release are spread over three discs.

Extras on the 4K UHD include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with Italian text and removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Troy Howarth, author of Murder By Design: The Unsane Cinema Of Dario Argento, and Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson.

Extras on the Blu-ray include a TV spot (2 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with Italian text and removable English subtitles), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with Italian text and removable English subtitles), an interview with Alan Jones, author of Dario Argento: The Man, The Myths & The Magic titled Between Flies and Profondo (12 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a interview with production manager Angelo Iacono titled 174 Years Ago (27 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actress Luisa De Santis titled Home Delivery (17 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actress Carla Tatò titled An Italian Story (15 minutes 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with executive producer Claudio Argento titled For The First Time (10 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Luigi Cozzi titled The Battle For Freedom (29 minutes 44 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Dario Argento titled Talkin' 'Bout A Revolution (35 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with Troy Howarth, and Nathaniel Thompson.

The third disc is a CD that contains Giorgio Gaslini’s eighteen-track score for The Five Days, Giorgio Gaslini’s two tracks for La porta sul buio, and Giorgio Gaslini’s seven tracks for Profondo Rosso. 

Other extras include a cardboard insert with a track listing for the CD, reversible cover art, and a slipcover.

Summary:

The Five Days is a different kind of film from Dario Argento who is known as the Italian Alfred Hitchock, since most of his films are in the thriller genre. After directing a trio of thrillers known as The Animal trilogy in the early 1970s. He would make venture outside of his comfort zone the thriller and direct a comedy/drama hybrid The Five Days.

Set in 1848 Milan, Italy during political upheavals. The narrative draws loosely upon 1848 revolutions that besieged the continent of Europe. The narrative revolves around two characters, a thief named Cainazzo and a baker named Romolo Marcelli who navigate the city of Milan in the middle of a revolution.

Though humor plays a role in the story at hand, like a lot of Italian films the humor in The Five Days does not translate well outside of Italy. That said, the humor that works best in The Five Days are moments related to characters' expressions and physical humor that is best described as slapstick.

The Five Days weakest link is Adriano Celentano (Asso) in the role of Cainazzo. He delivers a flat one note performance. Notable cast members include Enzo Cerusico (No, the Case Is Happily Resolved) in the role of Romolo Marcelli, and Marilù Tolo (Marriage Italian Style) in the role of a Countess. Fortunately, the rest of the cast's performances are much better than Adriano Celentano.

Though visuals play a large role in the cinema of Dario Argento. One must not overlook the scores and how they impact his films. The Five Days features a superlative score from Giorgio Gaslini who would also collaborate with Dario Argento on the TV series La porta sul buio (Door Into Darkness) and Profondo Rosso (Deep Red). 

Cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) is another key collaborator. The Five Days would mark the first of two films that he would collaborate with Dario Aregnto. The other film being Profondo Rosso (Deep Red).

From a production standpoint, The Five Days' positives far outweighed its negatives. It has an engaging, albeit schizophrenic narrative whose tonal shifts many viewers will find jarring. That said, the narrative can be broken into two halves. The first part leans more towards comedy and the absurd, while the latter half takes on a much more serious tone that features some Dario Argento’s bleakest moments.

The Five Days is a much better film than Dario Argento gives it credit for. And though he does not view it in as high of regard. There are some really poignant moments in The Five Days. Notably its finale.

Though most who watch The Five Days won’t be able to look past that this film was directed by Dario Argento, instead of judging The Five Days separate from his other films. That said, if directed by anyone else, on face value, The Five Days would be held in a higher regard.

The Five Days gets a definitive release from Severin Films, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer