A Quiet Place in the Country: Limited Edition – Radiance Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/France, 1968
Director: Elio Petri
Writers: Tonino Guerra, Elio Petri, Luciano Vincenzoni
Cast: Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Georges Géret, Rita Calderoni 

Release Date: October 28th, 2024 (UK)
Approximate running time: 106 minutes 14 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK)

"Leonardo (Franco Nero, The Day of the Owl) is a celebrated artist plagued by nightmares which stop him from completing his work. His agent and sometime lover, Flavia (Vanessa Redgrave, The Devils), encourages him to relax, so he buys a country villa. Once there he begins tracing the story of the previous owner while Flavia’s presence in the house seems to awaken something as she encounters one mysterious accident after another.” – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “A Quiet Place in the Country was restored by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and delivered to Radiance Films as a High-Definition digital file. Additional restoration was undertaken by Radiance Films in 2024.”

A Quiet Place in the Country comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.7 GB

Feature: 30.9 GB

Though this release shares the same source that Shout! Factory used for their Blu-ray release, this is where the comparison ends. Besides Radiance’s release having superior encoding and additional cleanup of print debris, image clarity and compression are solid, and there are no issues related to digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.25/5 (LPCM Mono Italian), 4/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Italian and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio tracks fare better when compared to Shout Factory’s Blu-ray release. The Italian language track sounds cleaner than the English language track, which has some minor background hiss. Dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise ambient sounds are well-represented. That said, the Italian language track sounds more robust than the English language track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian-language track and removable English SDH for the English-language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Franco Nero titled Journey into Madness (32 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with make-up artist Pier Antonio Mecacci (13 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with author Stephen Thrower (49 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a scene specific audio commentary with film critic and filmmaker Kat Ellinger (39 minutes 42 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 Useful Work: Pop Art Ghosts and Modern Schizophrenia in Elio Petri’s A Quiet Place in the Country written by Simon Abrams, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

A Quiet Place in the Country was co-written and directed by Elio Petri, whose other notable films include The Assassin (L'assassino), The 10th Victim, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Property Is No Longer a Theft, and The Working Class Goes to Heaven.

At the heart of A Quiet Place in the Country is a tale about an artist who is trying to create something that is commercially viable without giving up his own needs as an artist. And his artistic vision becomes distorted due to the demands brought on by the commercializing of his art.

Though there is a linear structure to the protagonist's deteriorating state of mind, This is the only area where A Quiet Place in the Country resembles traditional cinema. Needless to say, there are many layers to A Quiet Place in the Country. And multiple viewings are recommended.

The cast members deliver excellent performances in their respective roles. With A Quiet Place in the Country's greatest asset being Franco Nero’s (Django) performance in the role of the protagonist, a tortured artist named Leonardo Ferri. This character is in direct contrast to the type of character he usually portrays, and he delivers an utterly convincing performance that is arguably one of the best performances of his career.

Another performance of note is Vanessa Redgrave (Camelot) in the role of Flavia, Leonardo’s lover and business manager. Other notable cast members include Georges Géret (Diary of a Chambermaid) in the role of a groundskeeper named Attilio and Rita Calderoni (The Reincarnation of Isabel) in the role of a housekeeper named Egle.

From a production standpoint, A Quiet Place in the Country’s main theme of madness is superbly realized. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to how the dreamlike/nightmarish visuals perfectly reinforce the protagonist's state of mind. Not to be overlooked is Ennio Morricone’s jarring score, which reinforces the mood.

Radiance Films gives A Quiet Place in the Country its best home media release to date, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer