{"id":28003,"date":"2024-02-14T02:08:36","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T10:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28003"},"modified":"2024-02-14T02:08:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T10:08:36","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-goodbye-amen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28003","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: GOODBYE & AMEN (1978)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This film is being released as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d\nBlu-ray by Radiance Films.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After first seeing films on VHS by Dario Argento and Lucio\nFulci in the 1980s, this reviewer has done his best to see as many Italian\ngenre titles as possible. However, some efforts from that part of the world\nhave been extremely hard to locate in North America. This week, Radiance Films\nis presenting one of those titles. Goodbye & Amen<\/em> isn\u2019t a horror\nfilm, but it is a remarkably tense thriller with an exciting story and some\nmemorable imagery. It\u2019s too bad that it took so long for this tale to reach\nthis part of the world, but at least it now has the chance to find a welcoming\naudience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two versions of the film are included on this \u201cLimited\nEdition\u201d Blu-ray release (only 3000 copies will be made available through the\ndistributor). There\u2019s an Italian version as well as an American cut that is 7\nminutes shorter. This reviewer decided on checking out the longer, more\ncomplete version of the movie and is glad that he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film offers an interesting critique of US interference\nin setting up coups based on their own gains. American CIA agent John Dhannay\n(Tony Musante) plots a government overthrow of an African nation from his\noffice in Rome, only to see his plans become compromised when he learns a mole\nis leaking information. In the meantime, a mysterious figure named Donald\nGrayson (John Steiner) snaps, travels to a hotel and goes on a shooting rampage\nbefore seeking refuge in a hotel room. Once entering the suite, he takes famous\nactress Aliki De Mauro (Claudia Cardinale) and her secret lover hostage.\nDhanney learns that the killer may have a connection to the CIA and sets out to\nidentify and quietly try to put a stop to the threat. The situation becomes\neven more complicated when the US Ambassador to Italy (John Forsythe) arrives\nand adds further complications to the scenario. In the end, the US agents come\noff as bullies and in some respects very problematic in their manipulation of\nothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie was directed by Damiano Damiani (Arturo\u2019s\nIsland, Mafia, Confessions of a Police Captain<\/em> and The Case Is Closed,\nForget It<\/em> among many others) who had a lot of experience previous to this\ntitle and shows a sure hand in building suspense. It does have some exaggerated\nmoments early on from an extra or two during the shooting sequence, but the\nscenes with the gunman at the hotel are very effectively rendered. It is\nespecially interesting when armed forces station themselves outside the room\nand try to mount a plan to rush in with as little damage as possible. These\nscenes are remarkably claustrophobic and the camera positions are clever as\narmed figures try to peer and get messages through ventilation shafts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Before and during these events, it is also exciting to watch\nDhannay race around and try to figure out what is happening and, most\nimportantly, why it is occurring. Cardinale is also effective trying to talk\nthe madman down and get herself and her lover to safety. In the end, this story\nhas plenty of effective twists and turns. Since none of the leads are\nparticularly sympathetic or heroic people, it is difficult to determine exactly\nhow things will play out. The climax features the gunman and hostages moving\naround the hotel memorably dressed in black motorcycle outfits\/helmets, making\nit difficult to ascertain exactly who is who. It\u2019s well used and generates even\nmore thrills. The close is appropriately bleak, making the commentary and\nmessage effectively rendered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does take a bit of time for the story and intrigue to\nreally heat up, but for a relatively low-budget political thriller, the movie\nis far better than anticipated and it ultimately delivers the goods. The\nhostage scenes and climax do have elements that are unique, yet the tone won\u2019t\nseem unfamiliar to those who appreciate genre fare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once again, Radiance Films has done an excellent job\nbringing this title to Blu-ray. The impressive image is very sharp and clear\nand even the finale set in darker portions of the hotel looks excellent. It\u2019s a\ntop- notch transfer that still appears very crisp when upscaled by 4K players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film also boasts some fun extras that are well worth\nchecking out. There is a film historian commentary featuring Nathaniel Thompson\nand Howard S. Berger in which the participants note some of the picture\u2019s\noddities early on, as well as the unusual tone of the movie and its anti-US\nviewpoint. They admit that early scenes at the CIA offices in Rome are a little\nconfusing and are fairly generic in appearance, but are quick to point out\n(like most others who will watch the movie) that the filmmaker handles events\nincredibly well in the second and third act and the finale ends up being quite\neffective. It\u2019s an informative and entertaining track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The picture was edited by Antonio Siciliano and there\u2019s a\nnearly 40-minute interview with him as he talks about his career and the\nvarious pictures that he cut for director Damiani. He notes that he never\nreceived a great deal of notes from the filmmaker. The footage came in and it\nall seemed obvious in the way that the material should be put together. Damiani\nrarely questioned him, only saying that they had similar instincts and so it\nwas easy to work with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siciliano later talks about how nightmarish it is editing\npictures for younger directors. He states that they seem to shoot everything at\nthe same time from a multitude of angles but with little clear idea of how to\nfit it all together. The editor notes that he wishes more moviemakers would go\nin knowing exactly what they wanted, which would save every department time and\npresent a more cohesive vision for the film. He admits, though, that this is\nsimply the process by which most movies are now made and that he shouldn\u2019t be\nquite so severe on the young filmmakers he has worked with.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a funny archived conversation with supporting\ncast member Wolfango Soldati, who plays Dhanney\u2019s friend Harry Lambert, who is\nan early suspect in the crime. The two characters have a tense relationship due\nto the fact that the CIA agent may have had an affair with Lambert\u2019s wife. It\u2019s\nan eccentric little story tangent and Soldati seems to not have enjoyed his\nexperience on-set. This is not because the cast were rude, but because he\ndidn\u2019t like Diamani\u2019s distant directorial approach. He was generally confused\nand frustrated about his character and motivations (one thinks that Diamani\nmust have thought the actor was more familiar with the screenplay than he\nactually was). The actor is also annoyed that he was frequently mistaken for\nthe lover character who has a full-frontal nude scene in the movie. This\nbitterness does come off as amusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, this release includes a reversible sleeve\nfeature designs based on the movie\u2019s original posters and promo material, as\nwell as a booklet with an essay on the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This title is a very pleasant surprise. It has some quirky\nelements (which somehow end up adding to its strange charm), but delivers\ntension, excitement and a message about the negative influence and violence the\nstory\u2019s main characters can cause to innocent bystanders. This Blu-ray also\npresents a great picture and plenty of enjoyable bonuses. Those who appreciate\nItalian fare will definitely get a kick out of this picture.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film is being released as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray by Radiance Films. After first seeing films on VHS by Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci in the 1980s, this reviewer has done his best to see as many Italian genre titles as possible. However, some efforts from that part of the world have been extremely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[109,697,2933,3073,8508,8509,8510,8511,10042,16232,16584,22825,23095],"class_list":["post-28003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-109","tag-action","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-goodbye-amen","tag-goodbye-amen-blu-ray-review","tag-goodbye-amen-review","tag-goodbye-and-amen","tag-italy","tag-political-intrigue","tag-radiance-films","tag-thriller","tag-tony-musante"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}