Girl with a Suitcase: Limited Edition – Radiance Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/France, 1961
Director: Valerio Zurlini
Writers: Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero De Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, Valerio Zurlini
Cast: Claudia Cardinale, Jacques Perrin, Luciana Angiolillo, Renato Baldini, Riccardo Garrone, Corrado Pani, Gian Maria Volontè, Romolo Valli, Elsa Albani, Enzo Garinei, Ciccio Barbi, Nadia Bianchi, Angela Portaluri, Edda Soligo

Release Date: April 28th, 2025 (UK), April 29th, 2025 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 121 Minutes 17 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 12 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK), $39.95 (USA)

"Aida (Claudia Cardinale, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Day of the Owl) has fallen for a rich playboy and arrives at his door to find it firmly shut and herself ignored. His younger, more sensitive brother, Lorenzo (Jacques Perrin, Cinema Paradiso) helps her and finds himself quickly besotted." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Girl with a Suitcase was scanned in 4K and restored at Cineteca di Bologna in Italy. The film was supplied to Radiance Films as a 4K file and is presented in the original aspect ratio."

Girl with a Suitcase comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.6 GB

Feature: 33 GB

The source looks excellent; image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, an LPCM mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds excellent; dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise ambient sounds are well-presented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an archival interview with assistant director Piero Schivazappa titled Visconti Came to Visit us on the Set (19 minutes 52 seconds, LPCM stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with screenwriter Piero De Bernardi titled Valerio was Always in Love with the Same Girl! (17 minutes 7 seconds, LPCM stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with film critic Bruno Torri titled Zurlini the Outsider (17 minutes 4 seconds, LPCM stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), a video essay by Kat Ellinger who discusses Girl with a Suitcase and the cinema of Valerio Zurlini (14 minutes 22 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), reversible cover art, removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings and a 36-page booklet (limited to 3000 copies) cast & crew information, an essay titled Valerio Zurlini’s Cinema of Emotions written by Giuliana Minghelli, an essay titled CC Goes West: American Reception of Girl with a Suitcase written by Cullen Callagher, and information about the transfer.

Summary:

Valerio Zurlini directed Girl with a Suitcase. His other notable films are Violent Summer, Family Diary, The Camp Followers, Indian Summer, and The Desert of the Tartars.

A woman searching for the man who abandoned her forms a bond with his younger brother.

In the opening moments, we are introduced to a couple who are on the road, and when the woman needs to go to the bathroom, the man contemplates leaving her by the side of the road. Shortly thereafter an opportunity arises where he leaves the woman with nothing more than her suitcase. Though there is little dialog, the opening setup does a superb job that sets the foundation for what follows.

Thematically, The Girl with a Suitcase mirrors elements from Valerio Zurlini’s earlier film Violent Summer, notably the age gap between the woman and the man. This time around it is Lorenzo, the man who is younger, who becomes entangled with Aida, a much older woman. Where there is a purity in Lorenzo’s actions, Aida goes from the victim to the victimizer in the way she plays with Lorenzo’s feelings. That said, where the man who hurt Aida's actions were calculated, her treatment of Lorenzo was never calculated and was more about the poor choices she made.

Though all of the performances are outstanding, the heart and soul are the two leads, Claudia Cardinale (8 ½) in the role of Aida and Jacques Perrin (Cinema Paradiso) in the role of Lorenzo. Claudia Cardinale perfectly captures the essence of a woman scorned, and Jacques Perrin delivers an extraordinary portrayal of unrequited love. Notable cast members include Corrado Pani (Watch Me When I Kill), who portrays Marcello, the man who abandoned Aida, and Gian Maria Volontè (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion), who portrays a former lover of Aida’s.

Valerio Zurlini had a knack for creating visually arresting moments, and there are two moments that stand out. The first of these moments is a scene where Lorenzo goes to the hotel where Aida is staying. When he arrives, she’s already enjoying the company of others who invite her and Lorenzo to dinner. After dinner she goes outside and dances with a man while Lorenzo jealously looks on. The other of these moments takes place at a train station where Lorenzo stalks Aida and her former lover. While Aida and her former lover are having lunch, the glass window between them and Lorenzo keeps their discussion private.

Besides unrequited love, other themes explored in Girl with a Suitcase include classism, betrayal, and deception. There are many moments where characters' expressions and sounds tell much more than any spoken word. Another strength is Mario Nascimbene’s exemplary mood-reinforcing score. Ultimately, Girl with a Suitcase is a film that quickly draws you in, and its moment of truth lingers in your mind.

Girl with a Suitcase gets a definitive release from Radiance Films, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer