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Released by: Pathfinder Pictures
Released on: 4/20/2004
Director: Max Pecas
Cast: Elke Sommer, Pierre Brice, Vittoria Prada
Year: 1962
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The Movie:
Olivier (Christian Pezey of Claude Charbol's Les Cousins) is a handsome young man, trying to get by as an art student in France. When he picks up a foxy young actress named Barbara (Vittoria Prada) one night, he begins making the rounds in her social group and ends up making acquaintances with a group of snotty rich kids. Most of these kids have nothing better to do with their time than live it on up along the French Riviera, partying their days away doing nothing particularly productive.
Soon though, Elke (Elke Sommer) starts to pay him more and more attention. Olivier seems to appreciate what she has to offer and he ditches Barbara to run off with Elke. The two just don't have the chemistry that that they need to make it happen. Olivier throws a bit of a fit and, oopsadaisy, he sets the gang's boat on fire. They're none too pleased with this, and swear their revenge.
Pecas' film is a cross between the arthouse films that Fellini was making around the same time and the exploitation that were coming out of America in this period. Most of the film seems like an excuse to have Sommer wander around in slinky outfits, strutting her stuff. Not that I'm complaining, mind you - she does a very nice job of looking good. But there isn't a whole lot of substance to the film.
That doesn't mean it isn't entertaining though. Sweet Violence is just goofy enough to hold your attention. It's a rather downbeat film but it's dated just enough to have some appealing kitchy moments. The meandering soul searching that the characters seem to do throughout the film was probably supposed to be deep and meaningful but instead comes off as pointless and obviously contrived. This leads to a kind of bizarre surrealism that makes the film work in spite of itself, but probably not in the way that Pecas and company had hoped it would work.
Either way, there's no disputing that even if the film is half retarded, it sure looks great. Elke runs around doing her best Bardot impersonation, pouting and sexing it up for the camera with terrific results. She looks fantastic and the camera makes sure we know it. The cinematography is nice and elegant, capturing the scenery of the Riviera nicely as well as the indoor locations as well.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen black and white transfer starts off with a big of a shimmering effect but thankfully this quickly remedies itself. The contrast levels are dead on, print damage is minimal and while there is some mild grain, it's nothing unexpected for a film of this age. Overall, this is a very nice effort on Pathfinder's part and the movie looks quite nice on this DVD.
There are two Dolby Digital Mono tracks on the DVD - one in French, and one in English. The English track has a few scenes where the dub was never recorded and so it reverts to the French track with English subs. During the French track the English subtitles are removable. There are a few spots where the track wobbles a little bit but other than that, it sounds decent. A few scenes contain some mild hiss and distortion but it isn't overly distracting. It could have been cleaned up a little more but the end result is a satisfactory track that sounds good enough for a film of this age.
Ric Minello contributes some very informative biographies for Elke Sommer and Max Pecas as well. He also contributes some production notes about the film that go into quite a bit of detail about the film and those who worked on it. These are well written and interesting pieces that are worth reading if you enjoyed the film or have any interest in the key players involved in making it. A small still gallery rounds out the extra features.
The Final Word:
Sweet Violence is a pretty goofy film but Elke's screen presence makes it worthwhile, as does the slick production values and nice cinematography. Pathfinder has done a very nice job on the DVD release and while the extras are slim, the transfer is quite good and Sommer's many fans should be pleased with this release.