Voyage To Italy

France released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. Languages:o French (subtitles) o English (Mono) o Italian (Mono) Synopsis:Catherine and Alexander, wealthy and sophisticated, drive to Naples to dispose of a deceased uncle's villa. There's a coolness in their relationship and aspects of Naples add to the strain. She remembers a poet who loved her and died in the war; although she didn't love him, the memory underscores romance's absence from her life now. She tours the museums of Naples and Pompeii, immersing herself in the Neapolitan fascination with the dead and noticing how many women are pregnant; he idles on Capri, flirting with women but drawing back from adultery. With her, he's sarcastic; with him, she's critical. They talk of divorce. Will this foreign couple find insight and direction in Italy? Special Features:o Filmographieso Interactive Menuo Scene Access Product Description

AN EUROPEAN MASTERPIECE TO BE TREASURED.

Viaggio in Italia (1954) is a beautiful film by Neorealist director Roberto Rossellini. It features Ingrid Bergman (with whom the director was by then married) and George Sanders.

The film tells the story of an english couple who drives to Naples in order to sell a villa they inherited from a distant uncle. Katherine (Bergman) and Alex (Sanders), however, feel distant from each other and their relationship is marked by bitterness and the constant need for complaining and blaming each other for things they both are guilty of - it is clear their marriage is dead.

But once in Italy, the couple gets little by little knocked by Italy's surprises: its beauty, its people, their love for life, art and their ancient acknawledge of the life's shortcomings.

After one big fight, the couple separates to persue some time alone from each other... and that's where the voyage trully begins.

This is one of those films that could not have been made by any one else but Rossellini - who has a keen eye for composition and visual storytelling. In fact, this film is a masterclass of screenwriting for each character goes through an incredibly beautiful and thought provoking journey rarely see on cinema.

I've got too scenes that I love from this movie: the first one is Ingrid Bergman's visit to the Museum, where she gets extremely affected by the nudity and erocticism of the ancient roman statues. The whole scene is beautifully shot and the camera work really make those statues come to life. It goes like... here we have this sorry little english repressed woman surrounded by nudity and crazy emperors (laughs).

The second scene I love (close to the end) is when the couple decide to get a divorce then ends up visiting the ruins of Pompei - where they just discovered the inprint of... a man... and a woman... burried in volcano ashes 2000 years ago... a husband and a wife... love and death...

This film is absolutely breathtaking for its beauty, storytelling, camera work and one of the most poignant inner-journeys ever taken on the silver screen.

This film is trully a masterwork of European Cinema.

It deserves to be seen!!!!!

One note, however: Italy, Spain and France usually dub the films onto their own languages. Viaggio in Italia was shot in English - remember that George Sanders (who did not speak italian) and Ingrid Bergman play an English couple who cannot understand a word of italian. So most of the film is spoken in English except for the italians who speak Italian - and it makes sense in terms of narrative.

AVOID some european prints who dub the whole film into one single language. To me, it makes no sense. First, I like the actor's original voices... Second I like the Italian/English language gap which is part of the story.

...And this DVD edition includes the original English soundtrack alright!! (plus the French and the Italian)

Criterion should give this film the treatment it deserves. July 26, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...