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Released by: Shameless Films
Released on: 11/03/08
Director: Maurizio Lucidi
Cast: Tomas Milian, Pierre Clementi, Katia Christina, Aldo Tonti
Year: 1971
The Movie:
Essentially a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers On A Train, director Maurizio Lucidi's 1971 oddity, The Designated Victim, has languished in obscurity for years. Thankfully Shameless Films have seen fit to release this twisted little thriller onto DVD where it can hopefully find a larger and more appreciative audience!
The movie tells the story of a man named Stefano (Tomas Milian), who wants to get rid of his meddling, albeit very foxy, wife, Luisa (Marisa Bartoli), so that he can get on with his life and continue nailing his mistress. Seemingly by chance, Stefano meets a man named Count Matteo (Pierre Clementi), a well to do aristocratic type who is in a similar predicament. The pair hit it off and decides to take care of their respective problems for each other - Matteo will kill Luisa for Stefano and Stefano will in turn off the Count's troublesome brother.
Stefano agrees to the deal but doesn't really take things too seriously. Matteo, on the other hand, is completely sincere in his pledge and soon seems to be forging a rather unorthodox bond with Stefano…
Tense and beautifully photographed in and around the instantly recognizable city of Venice, The Designated Victim is a treat for Milian fans as the picture finds him delivering an atypically subtle performance and doing it very effectively at that. Milian is completely convincing as the playboy Stefano and his increasingly strange interplay with Clementi's bizarre Count Matteo is the real backbone of the picture. As their relationship becomes more and more unusual, their performances reflect their respective individual tension and it makes for fairly riveting viewing, even if it isn't all too difficult to figure out exactly where the movie is ultimately heading.
Lucidi, best known for a handful of Spaghetti Western and crime films in the seventies, keeps the film moving along at a strong pace and tosses in just enough salacious nudity and inferred perversion to make the film more than just a simple remake of a Hitchcock classic. While the picture is short on bloodshed it's got more than enough atmosphere to make up for it and the two strong leads and excellent camerawork, coupled with a very nice score from Luis Bacalov, all add up to a very worthwhile effort indeed.
So Shameless Films have given The Designated Victim its DVD debut in what they're touting as the 'Fan Edition.' What does this mean? It's basically a composite. Shameless have taken bits and pieces from the various international releases of the film and edited them into a more cohesive whole. Given the general lack of knowledge of the film, this is a fairly daunting task but the film really does play out well in this version, it's most complete form to date. It's nice to see the label go the extra mile with this release, which is surely a niche film and won't likely move set sales records.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shameless' 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is culled from a couple of different sources. For the most part, the materials used for this transfer are in very nice shape and look pretty nice, though some of the inserts, which are taken from an old VHS tape (and these bits, as infrequent as they are, are surprisingly non-anamorphic for some reason), don't fare quite as well. Regardless, overall, fans should be pleased with how good the movie looks here. Despite the use of some inferior source material, this 'fan edit' version of the movie presents the film in its original aspect ratio and in good condition. It's very watchable and while there is some print damage here and there, the colors generally look pretty good and detail levels are solid.
The DVD contains an Italian language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track and an English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track, with optional English subtitles and both tracks sound pretty good overall. There is a little bit of distortion in a couple of spots but if you're not listening for it you probably won't even notice it. The levels are well balanced and this mix certainly gets the job done nicely.
Shameless has included an interesting 'fact track' that comes courtesy of Stefan Novak. This basically serves as a 'pop up' commentary track and as the movie plays out, interesting facts appear. Novak is a self avowed lifelong fan of the film and his commentary adds quite a bit of very welcome background information on this obscure film.
Shameless have also managed to dig up a selection of nine deleted scenes and they've included them on this DVD as well. They're presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and look to have been taken from a television broadcast but it's still neat to see them here. Aside from some animated menus and chapter selection, there are a few trailers for the feature and for a few other Shameless DVD releases.
The Final WordL
A taut and well made thriller, The Designated Victim is a welcome addition to Shameless' increasingly interesting selection of titles. They've obviously put a lot of work into this release and it shows. Good stuff!
Want more info on this and other fine Shameless DVDs? Click here!