A Pure Formality (1994) - March 17, 2020

[Akijama]

https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Formalit...es-tv&sr=1-402

From Giuseppe Tornatore, the acclaimed director of Cinema Paradiso, The Legend of 1900, The Best Offer and Malena, comes this dark and mysterious thriller with top-notch performances by Gérard Depardieu (Buffet Froid, Green Card) and Roman Polanski (The Fearless Vampire Killers, A Generation). Onoff (Depardieu) is a famed author who hasn’t published anything in years and has become a recluse. One rainy night, he is picked up by the police, who find him running across the French countryside in the rain, breathless, without any identification and apparently suffering from short-term memory loss. A murder has been committed in the nearby woods, and suspecting Onoff’s involvement, the authorities detain him at a dark, leaky command post to await the arrival of the Inspector (Polanski), who’s ironically a fan of Onoff’s work. Through painstaking interrogatory dialectic, the Inspector delves into Onoff’s mind, and brings the writer to a new and unexpected realization. Music by legendary maestro Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Sicilian Clan).

Special Features:
-NEW Audio Commentary by Entertainment Journalist and Author Bryan Reesman
-Optional English Subtitles
-Dual-Layered BD50 Disc
-Trailers

[bonehica]

This sounds very intriguing and worthy of a blind buy. Ennio Morricone is a huge plus.

[Aclea]

A Pure Formality was, to my surprise, one of the very best films I've seen in a long time. I'd seen snippets of the Italian version on Italian TV and the English-language one on US cable, neither encouraging me to delve further, but in its original French, with both Polanski and Depardieu voicing themselves, it manages to turn a potentially hoary old psychodrama into something much more life affirming.

Depardieu is the confused great writer arrested in the middle of a rainstorm and taken to a dark, leaking Italian police station where he is interrogated by Roman Polanski's inspector, who also happens to be an ardent fan, over the identity of a murder victim. Naturally, layers of self-deception are gradually pulled away on this long dark night of the soul before it reaches a not entirely unexpected but still remarkably satisfying conclusion. Despite the claustrophobic setting, Giuseppe Tornatore's excellent composition keeps it vividly cinematic, with several memorable moments (the most impressive a beautiful sequence following a song as it floats through the room). The flashbacks are sometimes awkward and I could definitely have done without Depardieu's nudity, but this is still one of the most remarkable films I've seen in recent years. Two-thirds through the movie a power cut hit for two-and-a-half hours, and it was excruciating waiting to get the chance to finish the film.

[SeanJoyce]

This definitely sounds interesting...I'm a fan of The Prisoner ('55) and The Offence, which feature terrific actors facing off in a series of intense interrogations in enclosed settings, and this would seem to offer many of the same pleasures.

Definitely a release I'll pay attention to. Kino does it again!

[tomahawk]

I can't say that I'm much a fan of this film - it's exactly what you'd expect giving a Twilight Zone-plot to the maudlin sensibility behind Cinema Paradiso - but it is in its own way a pivotal piece of 90s arthouse with many formidable names involved, and it probably should have had a release on blu-ray long before now.

[movieben1138]

I have only known this movie from its score all these years. Found the CD some time ago while digging through used soundtracks at an FYE, and I'll always grab a Morricone CD I don't have. I'm not sure I even realized it was Tornatore. Or if I did, I'd forgotten in the years since. I'll be interested in finally checking this one out.

[rip63]

Brilliant and a must-have for those who dig crime/psycho-dramas. Plus, a rare and excellent acting performance from Polanski.

[noirjunkie]

I'm excited for this one. I've only ever seen bits and pieces, but it looks like it might be a solid neo-noir.

[paraquem]

Delighted to see this film getting a bluray release. Probably my favourite Tornatore film. I was fortunate to attend a screening of this where Tornatore was present to answer questions after the film, he was a bit taken aback when asked to specify just what the ending "meant".

Morricone's score is suitably oppressive and discomfiting, the opening piece A Perdifiato is colossal, as kinetic and well judged as The Ecstacy of Gold, and Depardieu's rendition of Ricordare is quite beautiful. It's a major work, but doesn't get enough attention.

[Richard--W]

It will be nice to finally get this film in an English-friendly region A edition.

As a Roman Polanski completist I want all the European films in which he acted. He has
several needing an English-friendly blu-ray. Polanski originated the role of Mozart in the
French production of AMADEUS which I understand was videotaped for French television
in the early 1980s but never shown. I'd love to see that.

[DukeTogo84]

Watched this for the first time. Was not at all what I expected and left a little confused. Still, good performances and a solid release from Kino.