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My Voyage to Italy AKA Il Mio viaggio in Italia (Documentary)
R2 - United Kingdom - Mr. Bongo Films Review written by and copyright: Mark McManus (22nd August 2011). |
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The Film
 "I saw these movies. They had a powerful effect on me. You should see them." – Martin Scorsese That quote from acclaimed director Martin Scorsese pretty much sums up this epic, 4 hour long love letter to Italian cinema. Starting in his home neighbourhood of New York’s Little Italy, Scorsese talks about his family’s Sicilian roots, including some home movie footage, and how his first introduction to Italian movies was via a small black and white TV set in the family home. Though dubbed into English, for his immigrant family these films were an important link back to their homeland, and were eagerly lapped up. Mixing clips from the films that helped shape both his young life and his subsequent career with a commentary style voice over and direct to camera pieces, Scorsese takes the viewer on a journey through Italian cinema, concentrating on directors Luciano Visconti, Roberto Rossellini, Vitorio De Sica, Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni, and spanning the years 1914 to the 60s. Each of the five main directors discussed gets a dedicated ‘chapter’, and Scorsese enthusiastically presents and narrates clips from films like Rome Open City, Il Miracolo, Voyage to Italy, La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2. Watching the film, and listening to Scorsese speak, his deep passion for these directors and films shines through, and the influences on his own films are clear to see. Despite lasting 4 hours, the film breezes along, helped in no small part by Scorsese’s voiceover and pieces to camera. He explains without ever being patronising, but by being authoritative and friendly, making one want to know more. In fact, I dare say that, if narrated by Scorsese, a 4 hour documentary on the drying progress of a freshly painted wall would be worth a watch. The only criticism I could make is that by focussing on just these main five directors, there is no doubt a lot of other fascinating information about Italian cinema that has been left out. On the other hand, this film is as much about Martin Scorsese and his influences as it is the films themselves, so perhaps we can forgive a little bias on his part.
Video
Video quality is hit and miss. The black and white footage with Scorcese talking to camera is crisp and clear, as are the still photographs that punctuate the clips and narration. However, the clips from the films he is talking about – especially the earlier ones - are variable to say the least. While it’s a shame that some remastering couldn’t be done when this film was made (1999) or for this new release, those early prints have obviously seen better days, and have been held in various storage conditions, so the fact many survived at all is something to be grateful for. Problems range from some light scratches, to quite obvious print damage, and the dark, heavily grainy image endemic of a print several generations removed from the original negative. Thankfully, things improve greatly when it comes to more recent films, with a nice amount of detail on show, along with natural grain inherent in the source material. As the films get more modern, colour makes and appearance. Again the quality can be variable, with some clips being washed out and lacking contrast, while others are a little dark. As with the black and white clips, some of the clips are much better, verging on sumptuous, and while I’m sure the film makers did their best with the available material, it is a shame that over all the presentation is so inconsistent. The film is presented in its original 1.33:1 ratio, and for Scorcese’s to-camera pieces and the old film clips this works well, but as the more recent films are discussed, they are shown in the their ratios of 1.85:1 & 2.35:1, letterboxed inside the 1.33:1 frame, meaning that for those viewing on a widescreen display will see this footage window boxed, with significant black borders around the frame. One major positive point is that, given the long running time and having the whole almost 4hr film squeezed onto one disc, compression artefacts are virtually absent.
Audio
Again, audio quality is variable, following the pattern of the video presentation. Dialog on the audio from the film clips is always clear and audible, but the older clips do suffer from hiss, crackles and occasional light muffling. Again, the inconsistency is a shame but understandable. Thankfully, Scorcese’s pieces to camera and voice over are clear. In all this is a pretty undemanding soundtrack, and is unlikely to give your system a work out. A quick note on the subtitles – when these are switched on, they will only appear for the foreign language clips, not over any English language sections.
Extras
None
Overall
There are no extras included. That said, given the content of the film, there’s not really any need for further documentaries or commentaries.
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