Tony Arzenta: Limited Edition – Radiance Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/France/Denmark, 1973
Director: Duccio Tessari
Writers: Franco Verucci, Ugo Liberatore, Franco Verucci, Roberto Gandus
Cast: Alain Delon, Richard Conte, Carla Gravina, Marc Porel, Roger Hanin, Nicoletta Machiavelli, Erika Blanc, Rosalba Neri, Anton Diffring

Release Date: March 25th, 2024
Approximate Running Time: 112 Minutes 27 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK)

"Alain Delon (Le Cercle Rouge) stars as efficient and ruthless mob assassin Tony Arzenta. With a young family, Tony wants to leave his life of crime to ensure his young son will not get caught up in the revenge killing that so often accompanies people in his position. But the bosses don't make it easy and Tony finds himself on a bloody mission that takes him across Europe to eradicate his former employers." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Tony Arzenta was scanned in 4K resolution and restored by Titanus/RAI Com in Italy. The film was supplied to Radiance Films as a High-Defintion digital file."

Tony Arzenta comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 36.8 GB

Feature: 32.8 GB

This release uses a brand new 4K restoration for its source, and compared to Explosive Media’s German Blu-ray release, it is a noticeable improvement in every area. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, contrast, and compression are solid, and the image looks organic. Black levels are strong; this release does not have the black crush and compression issues Explosive Media’s release does. Also, this is another exemplary encode from Fidelity in Motion.

Audio: 4.25/5 (LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Italian and a LPCM mono mix in English. The audio, like the video, has undergone additional restoration by Radiance Films; the audio tracks for this release do not have the distortion issues that are present on Explosive Media’s German Blu-ray release. That said, both audio tracks are in great shape, dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise, both audio tracks sound very good. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH for the English language track. And when watching with the English language track, there is a second removable English subtitle track for two dialog exchanges that are in Italian.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 50 seconds, LPCM mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with actor Alain Delon (12 minutes 8 seconds, LPCM mono French with removable English subtitles), a featurette with Eurocrime authority Mike Malloy titled Not a Gangster, Not a Cop, the Eurocrime Genres Other Professions (11 minutes 13 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), six scene specific audio commentary tracks with film critic Peter Jilmstad (53 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), reversible cover art, removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings and a 20-page booklet (limited to 3000 copies) cast & crew information, an essay titled Beautiful But Dangerous: The Crime Cinema of Alain Delon written by Leila Wimmer and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Tony Arzenta was directed by Duccio Tessari, a filmmaker who was not a stranger to Poliziotteschi cinema. Other Poliziotteschi that he directed include The Bastard, Tough Guys, and a Poliziotteschi/Giallo hybrid, Death Occurred Last Night.

The main attraction of Tony Arzenta is Alain Delon (Le Samouraï), in the role of the protagonist. Once again, he delivers a solid performance as a cold-blooded hitman whose wife and son are murdered by his former employer when he tries to walk away from his job as a hitman. Another strength of his performance is how the film balances his character's life between his family life and his life as a killer.

Without a doubt, one of the hallmarks of Poliziotteschi cinema is its action sequences. And in this regard, Tony Arzenta delivers in spades. The two most memorable action sequences are a car chase and a torture scene. The first car chase happens after the funeral of Tony’s wife and son. This is a fantastic car chase in which Tony recklessly purses a car with hitmen who tried to kill him after the funeral. The torture scene takes place at a junkyard, where a man is tortured with a blowtorch.

Another area where Tony Arzenta excels is in its fabulous cast of who’s who of European cult cinema. (Thieves' Highway) in the role of a crime boss named Nick Gusto; Marc Porel (Don't Torture a Duckling) in the role of Domenico Maggio, Tony’s trusted friend; Carla Gravina (The Antichrist) in the role of Sandra, a woman who saves Tony’s life; and Rosalba Neri (Amuck!) in the role of the crime boss's wife.

Though the premise retreads familiar ground, one can even draw some similarities between Tony Arzenta and Jef Costello, the character Alain Delon portrayed in Le Samouraï. The result is an exhilarating experience that quickly establishes tension that builds to a fever pitch by the time its ending arrives. Ultimately, Tony Arzenta is a solid example of Poliziotteschi cinema.

Though this is a UK release, it is region-free. That said, this is a must-have purchase if you are a fan of Poliziotteschi. Tony Arzenta gets a solid release from Radiance Films that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and insightful extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer