3 Films By Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman (Stromboli/Europe '51/Journey to Italy)(The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

Ingid Bergman and Rossellini take cinema by storm and come up with Europa 51, one her very best with him..a heart-wrenching portrait of a woman supposedly losing her mind, as she begins to communicate with the world 'out there'The religious dimensions are always challenging in Rossellini's work, and none so much as with these three films.Il Viaggio in Italia is a masterpiece..a study of a marrigae with an ending that is shattering. NB, do not overlook the tour of the museum with Bergman and her guide, or the visit to the skulls!! Pompey also!!Stromboli, a real volcano, tempts Ingrid with its heat and power. A priest is involved, a young sailor, and her desire to get off this island that is a sort of hell or heaven or what?.This is what Bergman gave up Hollyuwoo for and was she on target. No longer Sister Ingrid in that Bells of St Mary, but an actress with powerful material to deal with, interpret, and a great director.Do not miss Rossellini's "St, Francis" a gem.

What is really impressive watching these three movies is that, at that time, Rossellini had already stormed the world with his War Trilogy.Therefore, counting on a celebrated Hollywood star like Ingrid Bergman, he could have had the world at his feet and made few lucrative blockbusters, consolidating his fame and personal fortune.He decided instead to go his own way, making these three difficult, courageous, delicate and amazing films.In my opinion, this second trilogy is probably the highest cinematic work of Rossellini, the true masterpiece of his art and of his life.How could, for instance, a cinema lover miss "Viaggio in Italia", the fascinating tale of "rediscovering love"?Missing these works of Rossellini would be like studying literature and missing the main works of Dante or Shakespeare.

This is one of the stellar packages from the Criterion Collection. The films have been restored in the best possible condition; as far as can be seen, the films have been rendered so that the flaws which plagued the original prints (bad sound synchronization, cuts from different version according to the country of release, etc.) have been corrected, which was no easy task! Incredible care and diligence have been taken with these films, and the extras are voluminous and entertaining as well as informative. This edition of 3 FILMS BY ROBERTO ROSSELLINI STARRING INGRID BERGMAN was obviously a labor of love for all concerned, but kudos must be given to Ingrid Isolte Rossellini and Isabella Rossellini: they waited until digital technology could fulfill all the restoration aims before allowing these films to be seen in their correct forms. This is a stunning achievement!

I am a huge movie fan and had never seen these films of Ingrid Bergman with Roberto Rossellini directing. So far the only one I have watched is Stromboli which was very interesting. If you watch it and then go on to see the extras you will gain a lot of insight as to Rossellini and Bergman and their working together. The difficulty of the working conditions on this island with no electricity. His way of working without a formal script. Criterion films for someone like myself is almost an education in film. Well worth the cost and always well done.

Roberto Rossellini is considered the godfather of Italian neorealism, having inspired the movement with his internationally successful Rome Open City (1945). This film and his next, Paison (1946), utilized the bombed out cities devastated by World War II in order to make films with real locations rather than sets. They also often used non-actors for the roles, so many saw it as a betrayal when Rossellini began working with Swedish actress turned Hollywood star, Ingrid Bergman. The professional relationship quickly became a romantic one, though never entirely private. The gossip about their relationship may have tainted audience perception at the time of release, or perhaps it was more of the stylistic departure that Rossellini had taken, but these three films are much more highly regarded today than they were initially received. The romantic and professional partners in film collaborated on six films together, with the three most notable included in this fabulous box set. Stromboli, Europe '51, and Journey to Italy have more in common than simply the star and director, also pairing together quite nicely as a trilogy of films about the difficulties of marriage. Stromboli (1950) is a bleak drama about a woman who is literally trapped in her marriage, stuck on a volcanic island with a man whom she married as an escape plan. In her first collaboration with the Italian filmmaker, Bergman plays a Lithuanian refugee who marries an Italian fisherman (Mario Vitale) as a way of leaving the prisoner of war camp she is trapped in. Unaware that she is trading one prison for another; her husband takes her back to his isolated village on a volcanic island off the coast of Sicily. What begins as a marriage of convenience becomes a cruel trap for both parties. Europe '51 (1952) plays down the aspects of marriage compared to the other two films in this set, though it clearly shows a breakdown in familial bliss when the bourgeois ideology of consumerism is not enough to keep the family together. The movie begins with a dinner party which has a couple of socialites too preoccupied to tend to their needy child. When this neglect leads to a suicide attempt and subsequent death, the child's mother, Irene (Bergman), is forced to look at the world differently. Suddenly aware of the suffering around her, Irene becomes dedicated to a self-sacrificial lifestyle which inevitably leads to her demise. The final bleak message of the film is that too much generosity and good will may be construed as mental illness in the world we live in. Journey to Italy (1954) was the most commercially viable of Rossellini's collaborations with Bergman, charting the decline of marital bliss between an English husband and wife (Bergman and George Sanders) on a road trip in the country near Naples. This is also the film which receives the most attention in this set, with a second disc exclusively for the supplements while the other films had only one. All three movies are presented with digital restoration and the original monaural soundtrack. Stromboli is presented with a 4K digital restoration, and also has a 2K digital restoration of the Italian-language version, Stromboli terra di Dio. Europe '51 is also available in two versions: a 2K digital restoration of the English-language version and a high-definition restoration of the Italian-language version, which is 9 minutes longer and a different cut of the same material. There is only one version of Journey to Italy, presented with a 4K digital restoration and uncompressed monaural soundtrack. All three films come with an optional introduction by Rossellini, as well as a plethora of other features with film critics and filmmakers alike praising the collaborations between these two international legends, including new interviews with film critic Adriano Aprà. Stromboli also has a making-of documentary from 1998 and Europe '51 has a new interview with film historian Elena Dagrada on the alternate versions of the film. Journey to Italy has a commentary track with film scholar Laura Mulvey, as well as new interviews from a handful of scholars and experts. The second disc has even more, including an additional short film directed by Rossellini and starring Bergman, and a documentary about each of them. There are also more interviews with family members and some home footage.FOR MORE REVIEWS [...]

As a longtime, heavy-duty Ingrid Bergman fan, I have been waiting and hoping for years for Criterion to produce a definitive box-set of the Bergman-Rossellini films. I am absolutely thrilled about this set, both for the films themselves and for the copious extras.Now I just hope that the two Bergman-Rossellini films missing from this set -- JOAN OF ARC AT THE STAKE (1954) and FEAR (1955) -- will follow very shortly. They are equally worthy of inclusion in a collection like this one.

Excellent

First of all, please be aware that these discs need a universal blu ray player. They will not play in a standard, Europe only, blu ray player. If you don't have one I suggest that you get one because you are missing lots of good films that are not available on the European system. Many good films from the 1980s backwards are available only on the American system.This set is far better than the set recently released by BFI. The quality of images is much better, the extra features are much better and more interesting, the presentation of the set is much better and the selection of films is more logical because the three films here are Italian bound whilst the third film of the BFI set "Fear", which is based on a short story by Stefan Zweig, is different from "Stromboli" and "Journey to Italy" and is passed in Germany. The third film of the Criterion set is Europe 51. the quality of image of this film is not as good as in the other two films.One odd thing is that the original source of some films, a restoration made in Italy, is the same for both Criterion and BFI sets but the images are very different. Images from the criterion set have more of a film texture whilst images from the BFI look too filtered and are washed out.Each disc has its own case, unlike in the BFI set where all discs are piled together. The box, cases and booklet have beautiful photographs of Ingrid Bergman and are elegantly designed in black and yellow (very different from the unimaginative pinky/beige colours of the BFI set).The booklet in this set is not something to be ignore as it happens in many sets. It has the usual academic texts (only thing you will find in the BFI set if I remember right) but has interviews with Rosselini and a short text he wrote about "Stromboli", the best final in the set.Some of the extra features are the same of the ones in the BFI set but the Criterion set has extra features not present in the BFI set and they are the best supplements. The criterion set has, for example, old TV interviews where Rosselini himself introduces the three films in the set.I watched "Stromboli" and "Journey to Italy" in the cinema many years ago. I watched the real thing, now probably extinct: 35 mm film projected on to a film screen in a dark cinema ( I was shocked to see, when I first watched a film in the UK , how bright is the cinema even after the lights are off. It is the usual health and safety exaggerated to the point of idiocy. The brightness in the UK theatres harms considerably the quality of the image you see on screen, as if it wasn't enough that you are watching digital copies, not proper films).I always wanted to watch those films again. I didn't know about this Criterion set so when I saw the BFI set advertised I pre ordered it and waited months for its arrival. I was very disappointed with the too clean, too filtered, washed out images of the films in the BFI set and its general presentation, packaging and extra features. It was only then that I found out about the Criterion set, which had been released two years ago! I don't know how I missed it but I ordered the set from All your Music ( I am mentioning the seller here because if you are going to order it I suggest that you get the set from them. I had bad experiences with other American sellers but All your music was always good and they are quite fast, considering, and the set arrived in a week).I had returned the BFI set for a full refund and didn't know what to expect from this Criterion set. But, once again, Criterion hit the nail on the head and I am very happy with this set. I hope, if you order it, that you will also like the set. It costs about £10 more than the BFI set and it requires an open regions blu ray player but it is really worth it.Amazon is not giving information about the set so I am pasting them here from the Criterion set:SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:New digital restorations of the English- and Italian-language versions of Stromboli and Europe ’51 and of Journey to Italy, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-ray editionsIntroductions to all three films by director Roberto RosselliniRossellini Under the Volcano, a 1998 documentary that returns to Stromboli fifty years after the making of the filmNew interview with film historian Elena Dagrada on the different versions of Europe ’51Audio commentary on Journey to Italy by film scholar Laura MulveyShort film featuring footage of the Rossellinis during the production of Journey to ItalyNew interviews with film critic Adriano Aprà about all three filmsSurprised by Death, a new visual essay by film critic James Quandt on the historical and artistic themes of the trilogyLiving and Departed, a new visual essay by Rossellini scholar Tag Gallagher on the evolution of the director’s style in the trilogyNew interview with filmmaker Martin ScorseseNew interview with Rossellini and actress Ingrid Bergman’s daughters, Ingrid Rossellini and Isabella RosselliniRossellini Through His Own Eyes, a 1992 documentary on the director’s approach to cinemaNew interview with G. Fiorella Mariani, Rossellini’s niece, featuring Bergman’s home moviesIngrid Bergman Remembered, a 1995 documentary on the actress’s life, narrated by her daughter Pia LindstromMy Dad Is 100 Years Old, a 2005 short film directed by Guy Maddin and starring Isabella RosselliniThe Chicken, a 1952 short film directed by Rossellini and starring BergmanNew English subtitle translationsPLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Richard Brody, Dina Iordanova, Dagrada, Fred Camper, and Paul Thomas; letters between Bergman and Rossellini; a 1950 article by Rossellini; and two interviews with the director, from 1954 and 1963New covers by F. Ron MillerIn the late 1940s, the incandescent Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman found herself so stirred by the revolutionary neorealist films of Roberto Rossellini that she sent the director a letter, introducing herself and offering her talents. The resulting collaboration produced a series of films that are works of both sociopolitical concern and metaphysical melodrama, each starring Bergman as a woman experiencing physical dislocation and psychic torment in postwar Italy. It also famously led to a scandalous affair and eventual marriage between filmmaker and star, and the focus on their personal lives in the press unfortunately overshadowed the extraordinary films they made together. Stromboli, Europe ’51, and Journey to Italy are intensely moving portraits that reveal the director at his most emotional and the glamorous actress at her most anguished, and that capture them and the world around them in transition.P.SIf you are more interested in "Stromboli" and don't want to buy a whole set of discs then my suggestion is to get the French blu ray"Stromboli", listed on Amazon fr as STROMBOLI (version intégrale restaurée) [Blu-ray]. As a matter of fact, I've recently checked four different copies of Stromboli and I think the French blu ray is the best copy of Stromboli.It is the director cut and is actually longer than the BFI version. It has 106 minutes instead of 100 minutes of the BFI disc. ( The film is also 106 minutes long in the Criterion set. )It is a remastered blu ray. The image doesn't have the resolution of the BFI disc and it's not so clean but it has much more of a film texture and it is not washed out like the BFI disc. I can see two styles of remastering here. The French copy is like the raw milk you can drink in a farm. It has imperfections but it tastes good, it tastes like real milk . The BFI copy is like those super filtered, super clean, super pasteurised, super homogenised milk that doesn't really taste like milk. Not if you ever drank real, raw milk.The French blu ray disc has subtitles in English. The subtitles are easy to read because they are light yellow. This is the third and best copy of "Stromboli" that I've seen. I am happy with this copy and will keep it. The studio is "Films sans Frontières" and the disc was released in january 2015.

The Bergman/Rossellini quagmire that toppled the neo-realist director from his perch and forced a Hollywood diva into nearly a decade long exile did not produce any lasting 'fruits of their labors. The movies in this set - Stromboli, Europa 51, and, Journey to Italy are a very mixed bag; narratively unstable and heavy-handed on their themes of sin, fallen women and redemption. We get 2 cuts of Stromboli and Europa 51 - English and Italian - and some very fine extras.But the condition of the prints used in these remasters are weak and abysmally sub-par at best. Don't expect perfection or anything even close. Now, to be fair - Stromboli and Europa 51 have always looked as though their original camera negatives were fed through meat grinders. Criterion's transfers improve the clarity and overall contrast of these careworn elements. But they are still softly focused in spots and heavily saturated with age-related artifacts that are quite distracting.That, plus the fact that none of these movies is a masterpiece (Stromboli is a snore) and Journey to Italy is just a mistake - lead me to suggest you could easily pass on this collection and still remain a Bergman devotee besides. Bergman's women in these movies is a martyr and a scamp. Not the way I want to remember this Swedish sex symbol. Regrets.