The Official Lina Wertmüller Thread

[pro-bassoonist]

Hello Brad,

I am responding to your question in this thread. Maybe in the future the information will be helpful to other members of the community. People will also be able to update the thread

1. Blu-ray Releases

Currently, there are three films directed by Lina Wertmüller that are available on Blu-ray in the United States and one that is available in France. The U.S. releases, all courtesy of Kino Lorber, are The Seduction of Mimi (1974), Love and Anarchy (1973), and All Screwed Up (1974). You can purchase the individual releases below or the box set. I am posting a few photos so that you can see what the box set looks like:







2 DVD RELEASES

Director Wertmuller's very best films are still available only on DVD. In the United States, there is a very good box set from Koch Lorber, which includes the classic Swept Away. The transfers are good (for DVD releases) and the box set is quite nice, though I prefer the individual releases for my library. I have the five individual releases below, but the same films and special features are in the box set.





There is a surprisingly good MOD DVD release of Night Full of Rain with beautiful Candice Bergen from Warner Archive. It is worth picking up, though a Warner Archive Blu-ray release would have been a much better option.





Additionally, in the United States Scorpion Releasing released Blood Feud on DVD, but you should know that it has only the English track (the Italian track isn't included). I still think that it is worth picking up because overseas releases have been quite poor. This disc is also cheap.

As mentioned above, Blood Feud is also out in France, and it does have the same English audio track. If you wish to wait a bit, we will be covering this Blu-ray release in early September. (August is already full for me).



As far as European DVD releases are concerned, only Shampoo, Sex und Politik a.k.a. The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics is worth recommending, as it is English-friendly and anamorphic, but I looked around and it appears that this German release is now out of print.





In Italy, these two films are out on DVD: Up to Date, with Rutger Hauer, Nastassja Kinski, and Peter O'Toole, and Camorra: The Naples Connection, with Angela Molina and Harvey Keitel. However, I have never seen the latter on an English-friendly release, and the former I do not own, so these are releases I cannot recommend.

Finally, as you probably know well, there is a very special relationship between Wertmuller and Federico Fellini. On Criterion's Blu-ray release of Fellini's 8½ there is a wonderful interview with Wertmuller Another shorter but very good interview with the Italian director is also included on Criterion's release of La Dolce Vita.



I hope this helps.

Have a wonderful week, Brad.

Pro-B