The Witches (Le streghe) – Arrow Academy (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/France, 1967
Directors: Luchino Visconti, Mauro Bolognini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi, Vittorio De Sica
Writers: Mauro Bolognini, Fabio Carpi, Roberto Gianviti, Agenore Incrocci, Luigi Magni, Enzo Muzii, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, Franco Rossi, Furio Scarpelli, Bernardino Zapponi, Cesare Zavattini
Cast: Silvana Mangano, Marilù Tolo, Helmut Berger, Alberto Sordi, Totò, Laura Betti, Clint Eastwood

Release Date: January 8th, 2018 (UK), January 30th, 2018 (USA)
Approximate running times: 111 Minutes 8 Seconds (Italian Language Version), 104 Minutes 14 Seconds (English Language Version)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Versions)
Rating: 15 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian (Italian Language Version), DTS-HD Mono English (English Language Version)
Subtitles: English (Italian Language Version), English SDH (English Language Version)
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: OOP

"In the mid-sixties, famed producer Dino De Laurentiis brought together the talents of five celebrated Italian directors for an anthology film. Their brief was simple: to direct an episode in which Silvana Mangano (Bitter Rice, Ludwig) plays a witch.

Luchino Visconti (Ossessione, Death in Venice) and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini (Bicycle Thieves) open the film with The Witch Burned Alive, about a famous actress and a drunken evening that leads to unpleasant revelations. Civic Sense is a lightly comic interlude from Mauro Bolognini (The Lady of the Camelias) with a dark conclusion, and The Earth as Seen from the Moon sees Italian comedy legend Totò team up with Pier Paolo Pasolini (Theorem) for the first time for a tale of matrimony and a red-headed father and son. Franco Rosso (The Woman in the Painting) concocts a story of revenge in The Sicilian s Wife, while Vittorio De Sica (Shoeshine) casts Clint Eastwood as Mangano s estranged husband in An Evening Like the Others, concluding The Witches with a stunning homage to Italian comic books." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5 (Italian Language Version), 4/5 (English Language Version)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "The original 35mm interpositive was scanned in 2K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director Scanner at EFilm, Burbank. Picture grading and restoration was completed at Pinewood. The grading was completed on a DaVinci Resolve and picture restoration was performed using PFClean software. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches and other instances of film wear were repaired or removed through a combination of digital restoration tools and techniques. Image stability was also improved. Separate interpositive elements were sourced for the English language sections of the film. In some shots there were instances of heavy scratches at the far edge of the image which necessitated minor repositioning of the frame.

All materials were provided by MGM.” 

The Witches (Le streghe) comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40.6 GB

Feature: 26.5 GB

The sources for both versions are in great shape, with the Italian-language version looking in some areas stronger than the English-language version. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity and black levels are strong, compression is solid, and the image always looks organic. This release uses seamless branching for the two versions.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English)

The Italian-language version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. The English-language version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English with removable English SDH. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, both tracks are satisfactory, as they do a good job handling ambient sounds and the score.

Extras:

Extras for this release include the English language version of The Witches (Le streghe), an audio commentary with film critic and novelist Tim Lucas for the Italian language version, reversible cover art and a 32-page booklet (limited to first pressing) with cast & crew information, an essay titled Omnibus Films, Italian Style written by Pasquale Lannone, an essay titled The Manifestation of Dreams and Desires: Commedia all’ Italiana The Witches and the Female Perspective written by Kat Ellinger, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

The Witches (Le streghe) is an anthology film that consists of five segments, and all of these segments prominently feature Silvana Mangano. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, whose diverse filmography includes The Nights of Cabiria, Danger: Diabolik, Barbarella, Attraction, The Valachi Papers, Death Wish, Manhunter, and Blue Velvet

There are five segments; the directors are Luchino Visconti (The Witch Burned Alive), Mauro Bolognini (Civic Sense), Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Earth as Seen from the Moon), Franco Rossi (The Sicilian Belle), and Vittorio De Sica (An Evening Like the Others).

And though The Witches (Le streghe) features a variety of distinctively different filmmakers, there was more cohesion when it came to the crews working on these five segments. Notable crew members include cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno (The Leopard, The Stendhal Syndrome) and composer Piero Piccioni (The 10th Victim). It should be noted that Pier Paolo Pasolini’s segment, The Earth as Seen from the Moon, was not composed by Piero Piccioni. And that this segment was composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone.

The Witch Burned Alive: A vain actress’ imperfections are exposed after she gets drunk at a party.

Civic Sense: Trapped in a traffic jam, a woman poses as a good Samaritan. Desperate to get to her destination, she offers to give a gravely injured man a ride to the hospital.

The Earth as Seen from The Moon: Shortly after mourning the loss of his wife, a father enlists the help of his son to find him a new wife. This gives them a renewed purpose that fuels their frantic search for the perfect wife. And just when they have all but given up hope of ever achieving their goal, fate intervenes when their paths cross with a deaf woman who agrees to their proposition.

The Sicilian Belle: When a daughter reveals to her father that someone has impugned her reputation, He retaliates by killing the violator and all of his family members.

An Evening Like The Others: A bored housewife conjures fantasies that depict her husband in a wide variety of roles.

For many, the main draw will be seeing Clint Eastwood in a role that is in direct contrast with the persona he has created over the years. That said, his comedic timing in An Evening Like the Others is impeccable.

The most memorable performance is Totò (The Hawks and the Sparrows) in the role of the grieving widower who searches for a new wife with his son. Another notable performance is by Alberto Sordi (Mafioso) in the role of Elio Ferocci. He portrays a gravely injured man who is picked up by a good Sarmatian.

Other notable cast members include Helmut Berger (Conversation Piece), Laura Betti (Hatchet for the Honeymoon), and Marilù Tolo (My Dear Killer).

The lengths of these five segments vary. The shortest segments are Civic Sense and The Sicilian Belle. It should be noted that these two segments are very brief. This does not take away from their overall impact. And nowhere is this more evident than in regards to their use of dark humor to wrap up the events that have just unfolded.

And out of these five segments, The Earth as Seen from the Moon is by far and away the most entertaining. The tone of this segment is on the opposite end of the spectrum from the much darker humor that is prevalent in the other segments. It should be noted that the English-language version omits two characters from this segment that are featured in the Italian-language version.

From a production standpoint, the narratives are well constructed, and all of these segments play to their respective directors’ strengths. Ultimately, The Witches (Le streghe) is a highly entertaining film that fans of Commedia all’italiana should thoroughly enjoy.

The Witches (Le streghe) gets a first-rate release from Arrow Academy that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and informative extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer