L'invenzione di Morel (Morel's Invention, 1974)

Director: Emidio Greco
Starring: Giulio Brogi, Anna Karina, John Steiner
Label:  Ripley's Home Video (2012)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 0
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: English, French

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

A fugitive lands on an apparently deserted island, but soon some strange tourists arrive... Based on Adolfo Bioy Casares' science fiction novel, the film reduces the plot to its bare essentials, focusing on the metaphorical level.  The style is both minimalist (no word is spoken in the first 30 minutes) and surrealist, with a dreamlike quality of mise-en-scène. Very demanding but also very inspiring.

Recommendations
...if you enjoy arthouse cinema, here you have a sci-fi fantasy in form of Borgesian paradox.

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Sangue bleu (The Princess of Monte Bello, 1914)

Director: Nino Oxilia
Starring: Francesca Bertini, Angelo Gallina, André Habay
Label:  Cineteca di Bologna (2014)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Subtitles: Italian, English, Dutch

Bonus:

* Featurette on Nino Oxilia (11 minutes, with English subtitles)
* 1913 short, Kri Kri e il tango (5 minutes, with English subtitles)
* Photogalleries
* 28 page bilingual booklet

Available from Cineteca di Bologna and Amazon.it.

What's the film about?

A noble lady divorces from her husband and gets blackmailed, losing her child's custody. Among the greatest divas of Italian cinema, Francesca Bertini stars as a fallen woman in this maternal melodrama. Perhaps not on the same level with Assunta Spina or Mariute, but Nino Oxilia's tableaux are alway enriched by his mastery in blocking and lighting. The 1913 comedy short, starring Raymond Frau, is also quite enjoyable.

Recommendations
...if you are interested in Diva-films, this is an indispensable release.

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