Man, Pride, and Vengeance – Blue Underground (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/West Germany, 1967
Director: Luigi Bazzoni
Writers: Luigi Bazzoni, Suso Cecchi D'Amico
Cast: Tina Aumont, Franco Nero, Klaus Kinski, Guido Lollobrigida, Franco Ressel, Karl Schönböck

Release Date: May 26th, 2015
Approximate running time: 100 Minutes 18 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $19.95

"When stalwart Spanish soldier Don Jose (Franco Nero of Django) meets the stunningly beautiful Carmen (Tina Aumont of Torso), he becomes instantly obsessed with the mysterious gypsy woman. After discovering she has cheated on him with his Lieutenant, Jose kills the officer during a brawl and flees the city. Forced to become a bandit, Jose partners with Carmen's villainous husband Garcia (Klaus Kinski of For a Few Dollars More) to rob a stagecoach and prove his love for the seductive femme fatale." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original negative".

Man, Pride, and Vengeance comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 31.8 GB

Feature: 23.8 GB

The source used for this transfer is clean and in great shape. That said, there are some issues related to scanner noise, albeit not as pronounced as they were for Blue Underground’s earlier Italian Blu-ray releases. Colors are nicely saturated, flesh tones look accurate, and details look crisp. The contrast and black levels look consistent and strong throughout. There are no issues with compression or grain; outside of a few minor instances, it looks like it is intact and has not been overly manipulated.

Audio: 4.25/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD Mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD Mono mix in English. Both audio mixes sound clean, clear, and balanced throughout. Range-wise, considering the mono limitations and the fact that both audio mixes were created in post, the end result is actually very good, as gunshots and other special effects are well represented. Also, when it comes to the film’s score, it sounds appropriately robust. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH, removable French subtitles, and removable Spanish subtitles for the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a poster & stills gallery, International theatrical trailer (3 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Italian theatrical trailer (3 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian, no subtitles), a featurette with actor Franco Nero and camera operator Vittorio Storaro titled Franco, Vittorio and Luigi (28 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with journalists C. Courtney Joyner and Henry C. Parke.

Summary:

Man, Pride, and Vengeance was directed by Luigi Bazzoni, who, excluding short films and documentaries, only directed four other feature films: The Possessed, The Fifth Cord, The Short and Brothers Blue, and Footprints. Key collaborators on Man, Pride, and Vengeance include cinematographer Camillo Bazzoni (A Long Ride from Hell), composer Carlo Rustichelli (Blood and Black Lace), screenwriter Suso Cecchi D’Amico (Bicycle Thieves), and camera operator Vittorio Storaro (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage). The screenplay for this film was adapted from Prosper Mérimée‘s novel Carmen.

The narrative has two halves, with the first half falling into that aforementioned melodramatic category and the second half being the half that most resembles the spaghetti western genre. And to tie these two distinctively different halves together, there is a bookend ending.

Also, when it comes to the tone of the film and the visuals, this is another area where these halves are polar opposites. with each half representing the protagonist's state of mind. And when it comes to action-oriented moments, Man, Pride, and Vengeance deliver and then some. with its extraordinary use of handheld camerawork.

As well as all the parts of this movie coming together. It is ultimately the weight of the performances of its two leads—Franco Nero in the role of Don Jose and Tina Aumont (Torso) in the iconic role of Carmen—that carry Man, Pride, and Vengeance. Franco Nero, who is best known for playing tough-guy characters, gives a pitch-perfect performance as a man whose obsessive love drives him insane. Perhaps the most surprising asset of this film is Aumont in the role of the temptress. She gives an utterly convincing performance that easily ranks among her best work as an actress. Another performance of note is Klaus Kinski's (Venus in Furs) menacing presence in the role of Garcia, Carmen’s husband.

Though Man, Pride, and Vengeance has many of the elements that have since become synonymous with the spaghetti western genre, the end result is something closer to a period melodrama set in Spain during the 19th century.

Man, Pride, and Vengeance gets a good release from Blue Underground that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a pair of informative extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer