{"id":28499,"date":"2024-04-30T02:54:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T09:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28499"},"modified":"2024-04-30T02:54:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T09:54:27","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-misunderstood-1966","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28499","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: MISUNDERSTOOD (1966)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This feature is now available as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d\nBlu-ray from Radiance Films.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Radiance Films has become well-known over the past year or\ntwo for delivering wonderful transfers of unique and hard-to-find European and\nAsian features. Most have subject matter that appeals to genre fans, so one\nmight not expect the company to focus on a story that many would classify as a\nmelodrama. However, the Italian feature Misunderstood <\/em>aka Incompreso\n(Vita col Figlio)<\/em> definitely falls into this category. Despite the fact\nthat it isn\u2019t the kind of entertainment that a cult movie enthusiast might\ninitially seek out, it\u2019s hard not to be impressed by the title. This is a\nbeautiful movie and an excellent disc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those unfamiliar with the story, it is set in Florence,\nItaly and follows the sons of stuffy UK Consulate General John Duncombe (Sir\nAnthony Quayle) immediately after the tragic death of their mother. In fact,\nthe film begins with Duncombe trying to figure out how to break the news to his\nkids. He fears that sensitive 6-year-old Milo (Simone Giannozzi) will need more\ncomforting and support than 12-year-old Andrea (Stefano Calagrande), who\ndoesn\u2019t initially appear as upset about the loss (he almost comes across as\nindifferent). But in many respects, Milo is more calculating and emotionally\nmanipulative than his older brother. Regardless, Andrea is perceived as icy and\nends up being blamed for whatever trouble occurs around the house. The father\nburies himself in work, failing to read the older boy\u2019s despair and communicate\nmeaningfully. Things pick up when eccentric Uncle William (John Sharp) arrives\nand tries to help the parent and son connect, but these issues continue into\nthe climax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For an individual used to seeing Hollywood portrayals of\ntots, what stands out about this adaptation is the children and their\nexceptional performances. They are the story\u2019s main characters and easily carry\nthe leading parts. The film feels far more authentic than others of its ilk,\nbecause the kids act out in ways that are rarely seen in big productions. In\nfact, they frequently veer between being cute and wicked. Overall, the two are\ngenerally empathetic, but do behave badly at various intervals. Younger Milo is\nsurely suffering, but lashes out and screams when others try to help him and\nmanipulates those around him (sometimes to make his older sibling get into\ntrouble). Andrea behaves in an increasingly distant manner, but only because he\nis convinced his father has lost support for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All the drama is realistic and believably presented. Even\nthe father, who, while well-intentioned, completely mishandles the situation.\nGenerally speaking, most of his assumptions about his kids are incorrect. The\nyoung, seemingly more innocent Milo is far more adept at dealing with the loss\nthan the older child, who is being ignored. It results in compelling scenes\nbetween the kids and adults that ring true. They include both kids tormenting a\nnanny in a grimly funny way, as well as Milo seemingly trying to make himself\nill to garner more attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Part of the story involves a lone recording of the mother\u2019s\nvoice that Andrea is desperate to hear. When the tape is erased, he becomes\nobsessed with recovering the audio. Andrea\u2019s exploits traveling to the city\ncenter and begging an old shop-owner to recover the voice are heart-wrenching.\nNoting the unfortunate situation, the man gives the child wine (which leads to\nanother potentially disastrous situation when he returns home drunk).\nAdditionally, as Andrea becomes more isolated and alone, there\u2019s an amusing and\nsad scene of him going to the movies, drowning his sorrows in soda, and trying\nin vain to befriend other kids at the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It all culminates in another tragedy and a big emotional\nfinal act that forces the two opposing family members to deal with their\ndifferences and come to some kind of understanding. The circumstances are\ngrandiose, but the movie manages not to overplay them and succumb to excessive\nsentimentality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a very strong family drama and one that also\nbenefits from impressive photography. The Florence locations are gorgeous and\nthe stately manor is striking on the eyes. There are a lot of big, open spaces\nhighlighting the distance between characters and plenty of interesting hues\nthat highlight story elements (there\u2019s a great deal of yellow that appear to\nsignify the late mother). The 2K restoration from the original film negative is\ngenerally very good. It isn\u2019t perfect and there are a couple of brief moments\nthat are spotty, but most of it is sharp and the film no doubt looks better\nhere than it ever has before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The disc also comes with plenty of bonuses. There is an\narchival interview with an Italian film critic that covers director Luigi\nComencini\u2019s career. It does include trivia about this movie. Apparently, the\nfilmmaker had done an earlier picture with similar themes about a lower-class\nfamily, but felt that the political elements and family drama were fighting for\nscreen time. Making the family wealthy in this feature allowed him to deal\nspecifically and entirely with the inner dynamic between father and son, rather\nthan become distracted by any kind of class or financial struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for his work in general, it seems Comencini had a lot of\nhits in his homeland with comedies, but never really stuck to one specific\ngenre and ended up making a wide variety of pictures. The historian notes that\nthis drama was another commercial success for the moviemaker, but was frowned\nupon by local critics. He explains that there was a great deal of ill-will\nplaced on Comencini by the press. The expert asserts that they hated him for\nactually being popular with the masses. As a result, the film was critically\nignored in its homeland before being rediscovered (as well as his other works)\nby French critics in the late 1970s. They applauded his catalog, finally giving\nhim the recognition he deserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s an interview with the daughter of Comencini and one\nof the several screenwriters on the picture, who shares the unusual writing\nprocess for the picture. It seems the writers and directors would get together,\ntalk about the story and hash out plot points together, writing as they\nprogressed. These meetings took place over a period of about five months. The\ndirector\u2019s daughter also comments on the film\u2019s lasting impact and the\nemotional resonance it has, causing many Italians to cry whenever they view\nit.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there is another bit with a film expert who notes that\nmany of the director\u2019s works star children. He analyzes these pictures, looking\nfor common themes and detailing each one individually. Comencini always managed\nto get excellent performance from his young casts (who rarely acted again), and\nthis historian thinks that the moviemaker had a knack for picking children who\nwere naturally similar to the characters they were playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disc also includes a trailer. And, like their other\ntitles, it comes with a booklet featuring essays on the movie, as well as\ndetails on the cast and crew. The cover also has a reversible sleeve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Misunderstood <\/em>is a powerful drama that feels very\nauthentic in how it deals with children and the various, sometimes unexpected\nways they cope with loss. It isn\u2019t always pretty or straightforward, but that\u2019s\nthe point. This is an exceptionally well told and beautiful-looking character\nstudy featuring incredible performances from both its young and established\ncast members. If you\u2019re looking for a well-regarded drama from Europe, this is\na great Blu-ray to take a chance on.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This feature is now available as a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray from Radiance Films. Radiance Films has become well-known over the past year or two for delivering wonderful transfers of unique and hard-to-find European and Asian features. Most have subject matter that appeals to genre fans, so one might not expect the company to focus on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[96,1591,2933,2939,3073,4225,6251,10042,13672,14102,14103,14104,16584,19011],"class_list":["post-28499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-96","tag-anthony-quale","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-childhood","tag-drama","tag-italy","tag-melodrama","tag-misunderstood","tag-misunderstood-blu-ray-review","tag-misunderstood-review","tag-radiance-films","tag-stefano-calagrande"],"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\/28499","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=28499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}