Martin
Scorsese, director of such movies as The Last Temptation of
Christ, Goodfellas, CapeFear,
Gangs of New York, and the upcoming The Aviator
loves Italian cinema which has influenced both his personal and
professional life. Scorsese uses his filmmaking talents along with
his in-depth knowledge of film history to explore Italian cinema
in My Voyage to Italy.
CRITIQUE
I could go
either way with this film. Scorsese loves Italian cinema, but that
doesn’t necessarily mean that you do, or will. My Voyage to
Italy will not play well for the casual viewer. It is for film
buffs and anyone that relishes Italian history. It is not
necessarily entertaining; however its content is extremely
valuable.
In this documentary
Scorsese intelligently, and succinctly explains some of cinema’s
greatest moments. He goes into detail about casting choices, plot
devices, historical context, and directorial motivations. I wish that
I had had this film in my possession when I was studying film history
and theory in college. Scorsese is much more interesting than reading
dry textbooks on the subject, and his clips of the films got their
importance and meaning across without having to sit through the entire
film.
With that in mind,
it isn’t the best compliment to say that a film is more exciting than
reading a textbook. While I recognize the importance of My Voyage
to Italy, part of me feels that Scorsese is preaching to the choir
here. My Voyage to Italy is approximately four hours long and
entirely in black and white. Only serious viewers will pick this film
up and give it much more than a momentary perusal and these people are
likely to have already watched the films featured in Scorsese’s
documentary.
On the other hand,
Scorsese single-handedly gives the lay person access to clips from
films that are otherwise very hard to come by. When Scorsese isn’t
doing a voice-over, he is present showing the viewer things like the
street that he grew up on, or as a talking head. The rest of the film
includes cuts of what Scorsese finds to be examples of important
Italian cinema. He cuts each featured film down to a mere ten to
fifteen minute segment giving the plot outline of the film and showing
key sequences while explaining how the film effected him specifically
and cinema in general. Some will argue that it is best to watch the
films in their entirety and that Scorsese is undermining the very
films that he is putting on a pedestal, much like Cliff Notes do for
Shakespeare, others will say that even this limited exposure to
essential films is better than nothing.
From a professional
and studious perspective I found myself entranced by Scorsese’s
interpretations of films that I had previously slept through, and
added some of the titles including La Dolce Vita and Umberto
D. to my list of movies to revisit. From an entertainment
perspective I found myself dozing repeatedly through portions of the
film.
THE VIDEO
My Voyage To
Italy
is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, that is enhanced for
16x9 televisions. This means that portions of the film are
widescreen while others only use a portion of the television
screen. Much of the footage is transfers of some very old films.
However the transfers are particularly good and very clean. This
is great footage to add to any film library.
THE AUDIO
My Voyage To
Italy
is presented in Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Once again though,
the transfers must be taken into account for, all of the sound
is limited to the front three speakers. It is shown in the
original language tack which is English and Italian with English
Subtitles.
THE EXTRAS
None.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My Voyage To Italy
is a valuable DVD for any film buff. It is heavy material though and
not necessarily for anyone to sit through. Scorsese offers insightful
critiques of Italian film. This is by far the most interesting way to
learn about an important aspect of cinema for anyone that is
interested.
