Europa '51 (Rossellini)

[Dan8700]

So, this Rossellini masterpiece was issued back in Jan 2019 by Cecchi Gori advertised as "Restored version". This week, I finally took the plunge and bought it (at present, it's only 5,20€ at DVD-Store.it). Well, it's true: the disc features the latest 2015 restoration by Cineteca, which improves on the old master featured on Criterion's Rossellini set: the black crush is gone, so now we can see more detail in the dark areas; gone are the blown-out whites and the video noise too, and, above all, gone are the thousands of white and black speckles which appear basically at every frame on the old resto. The ratio has been corrected to 1.37:1 (the old one is a 1.32:1). The only thing I don't like is that the new resto lacks contrast and a bit of luminance (it's all too grey), so remember to adjust these parameters.
Oh, last thing: this new print is 18" longer than the old resto!
Criterion print: 1:57:59 Cecchi Gori: 1:58:17

I didn't compare sequence by sequence, but I'm quite certain the discrepancy is due to missing frames on the older resto.
Unfortunately, the Italian disc is not English-friendly, so you'll have to add an Eng sub track (if you have an Oppo player or similar). There are several supplements, some already featured on the Criterion disc. All in all, a pretty good upgrade, even if not flawless.

Criterion (2000 resto)


Cecchi Gori (2015 resto)