Tales Of Ordinary Madness (Umbrella Entertainment PAL DVD/Region 0/Zero)
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD can only be operated on
machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Zero/0, PAL format
software, and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the
website address provided at the end of the review.
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: C Film: C+
Ben
Gazzara is the controversial and troubled Charles Bukowski in Marco Ferreri’s Tales Of Ordinary Madness (1981/3, from
the 1972 novel) taking risks with his health, life, strangers, substance abuse
and had highly dysfunctional relationships with women. Long before Mickey Rourke and Matt Dillon
brought him to life, Gazzara plays him as highly screwed up with no
hesitation. Though the film is not
great, the implications and ambitions make up for its flaws.
Best of
all, it feels more like a product of the 1970s than early 1980s, where if
Hollywood had gone near the subject would have tried some phony attempt at
rehabilitation because of his status as a poet.
Instead, the later versions followed this film’s lead and I also liked
the idea that this did not even begin to try to explore him as artist with some
psychological pretense. Instead, it
shows things raw and lets us build on that.
All in all, this is worth a look.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is from an older transfer for the 35mm
production, looking gritty, but soft with some print damage and minor color
issues. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is poorer
showing its age and the limits of the budget when it came to recording the
sound, though both are at least a generation down. Extras include a 46 minutes-long look at
Ferreri’s films and trailers for other Umbrella DVD releases.
As noted
above, you can order this import DVD exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
- Nicholas Sheffo
