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Released by: Raro Video
Released on: March 13, 2012.
Director: Alfredo Gianetti
Cast: Anna Magnani, Vittorio Caprioli, Christian Hay
Year: 1971
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The Movie:
The third in a trilogy of made for Italian TV movies directed by Alfredo Gianetti and starring Anna Magnani (the film was preceded by Tre Donne and 1943: Un Incontro but you don't need to see those earlier films to understand and appreciate this one even if it might have made sense for Raro to release all three films collected) as a middle aged practitioner of the world's oldest profession named Anna. Having reached an age where turning tricks for is not only starting to become impractical but also more of a challenge than it once was, the still quite beautiful Anna decides to leave her life of lavish nightclubs and big city living behind in post World War II Rome and head out the outlying towns that surround it. To do this, she spends a large amount of cash on a yellow car, one that she's had her eye on for ages and never pulled the trigger on.
As she heads out and about through the small towns of Italy, she finds herself drawn to them, thinking she may put down some roots of her own and not return to her native Rome at all. Once she starts mingling with some of the locals, however, she realizes that not everything in the small town setting is as pastoral and serene as it might seem to those just passing through.
A decent mix of comedy, drama and arthouse sensibilities, The Automobile moves along at a decent pace and makes very good use of its Ennio Morricone score (which oddly enough recycles bits and pieces from some of his horror films, the most obvious swipe being from Argento's Four Flies On Grey Velvet). It's very well shot and if it's periodically intentionally soft for stylistic purposes, a tactic overused a few times in the film, so be it. The small town settings contrast nicely with the hustle and bustle of inner city Rome, making for some interesting backdrops against which all of this can play off of, and you can't fault the film on the visual side of things.
In the middle of all of this, the lynch pin of the film if you will, is Magnaci - though thankfully her performance is a strong one. Despite this production coming towards the end of not only her career but also her time on this planet, the actress delivers a very committed turn in front of the camera showing a knack for emotion and complexity that really help her make the role her own. This results in a fairly performance driven film, more of a showcase for Magnaci's thesping than much else, though to her credit she pulls it off and Gianetti is smart enough to make sure that the camera loves her throughout the film.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The film's low budget roots are sometimes a bit obvious in the 1.33.1 fullframe transfer as it doesn't look like the greatest film stock in the world was used for the shoot. Some print damage pops up here and there throughout but the disc is a well authored release of some iffy looking source material. For an obscure made for TV movie, it looks fine for the most part.
The only audio option is an Italian language Dolby Digital Mono track with subtitles provided in English only. It's on par with the video presentation, a little rough in spots but perfectly serviceable.
Extras kick off a sixteen minute interview with film critic Mario Sesti, who provides some welcome background information on the director and the cast even if he doesn't offer up as much historical information on the production as we might have liked. Additionally there's a trailer for the feature, menus and chapter stops. The DVD-Rom equipped can also pop the disc in their computer to access some liner notes from Bruno Di Marino that provide biographical information on the director and Magnani.
The Final Word:
A well acted 'dramedy' featuring an impressive performance from Magnani, The Automobile gets a completely respectable North American home video debut from Raro, who continue to unearth interesting titles from Italy's film vaults.
