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Released by: Radiance Films
Released on: May 2nd, 2023.
Director: Luigi Comencini
Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Marcello Mastroianni, Jean-Louis Trintignant
Year: 1975
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The Sunday Woman – Movie Review:
Luigi Comencini’s 1975 film, The Sunday Woman, based on the 1972 novel of the same name by authors Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini, is a quirky mix of reasonably dark humor, mystery tropes and light drama that benefits from a great cast and strong production values.
The story takes place in Turin, Italy where an architect named Garrone (Claudio Gora) is winds up beat to death by persons unknown. The murder weapon? A giant phallus. As Garrone was connected to some heavy hitters and wasn’t above cavorting about with those of the criminal persuasion, there are multiple reasons why multiple people might have wanted to do away with him.
When an unmailed letter from a wealthy married woman named Anna Carla Doslo (Jacqueline Bissett) to a dear friend, Massimo Campi (Jean-Louis Trintignant), details their desires to do away with the recently deceased, the police, led by Inspector Salvatore Santamira (Marcello Mastroianni) understandably needs to do his due diligence and look into things. That said, once he starts poking about and actually investigating the killing, he finds it increasingly difficult to resist Anna’s feminine charms. While Santamira works his side of the case, Lello Riviera (Aldo Reggiani), the secret boyfriend of Massimo that no one else realized was his secret boyfriend, begins his own amateur detective gig hoping to uncover the truth behind who really killed Garrone and, with a little bit of luck, why they did it in the first place.
Set to a typically excellent score from the typically excellent Ennio Morricone and very nicely shot by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, The Sunday Woman makes for fine entertainment. By mixing an arthouse-style sensibility with mass appeal elements of comedy and whodunit tropes, the movie never has a problem holding our attention, be it through simply entertaining us or impressing us with its lush mix of strong visuals and stirring musical cues.
The performances are just as strong as you’d expect from an A-list cast like this. Jacqueline Bissett is alluring and beautiful, effectively mysterious at times but always intriguing. She looks great and her acting is just as appealing as her looks. She has an interesting chemistry with the always enigmatic Jean-Louis Trintignant, well-cast here as her gay best friend. Trintignant shares an interesting chemistry with the film’s leading lady but also with Aldo Reggiani, equally well-cast as his clandestine lover. Supporting work from the excellent Marcello Mastroianni as the top cop in the film and from Claudio Gora as the sleazy murder victim is also very strong.
The Sunday Woman – Blu-ray Review:
The Sunday Woman arrives on Blu-ray from Radiance Films in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition widescreen presentation framed in two different options - 1.33.1 full frame (looking open matte) and 1.85.1 widescreen - in what the packaging is touting as a new 2k restoration from the film’s original negative. The film was made with broadcast in mind but director of photography Luciano Tovoli kept a 1.85.1 aspect ratio in mind when shooting. There are times where the 1.33.1 option looks a little too roomy but for the most part it looks just fine, with the 1.85.1 version tightening things up a bit without altering the compositions in a huge way. Having both options provided here is, obviously, idea. Picture quality is very strong here. Detail is frequently quite impressive while colors always look perfectly natural. Black levels are nice and deep and skin tones appear lifelike and natural throughout. There are no issues to note with any obvious compression artifacts, edge enhancement or noise reduction, and this always look like a properly film-sourced presentation.
The audio chores are handled by an Italian language 24-bit LPCM 2.0 mix with optional subtitles provided in English only. No problems to note here, the audio quality is also very good. The levels are properly balanced and there are no problems with any hiss, distortion or sibilance to note. The subtitles are clean, clear and easy to read.
The first extra on the disc is a newly filmed interview with academic and Italian cinema expert Richard Dyer, who spends eighteen minutes giving his thoughts on The Sunday Woman. He goes over the book that inspired the movie, the tone of the film and why it turns out the way it does in that regard, thoughts on the film’s style and its performances and other details surrounding the production.
Up next is a twenty-two minute archival interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli who discusses his work on the film. He talks about how his work on The Passenger shortly before this movie was made opened a lot of doors for him in terms of his career, his thoughts on what Comencini was like as both a director and a person, thoughts on his own work on The Sunday Woman and how the movie turned out, visually speaking.
A newly filmed interview with academic and screenwriter Giacomo Scarpelli runs thirty-six minutes and sees him discuss the life and work of his father, Furio Scarpelli and his writing partner Agenore Incrocci. He talks about their collaborative efforts, who was responsible for what while writing the script, the source material that they adapted the story from and some of the other people that he was lucky enough to work with during the boom years of Italian cinema.
The disc also contains a quick four minute archival French TV interview with Jean-Louis Trintignant in which the actor discusses his work on The Sunday Woman, as well as a trailer for the feature, menus and chapter selection options.
Radiance Films has also done a very nice job with the physical packaging for this release. The disc comes packaged with some reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters with an English poster art option on the main panel and an Italian poster art option on the reverse. Inside the clear keepcase along with the disc is a full-color, limited edition insert booklet that contains writing on the film by film critic and essayist Mariangela Sansone in an essay titled ‘The Sunday Woman’ and a newly translated version of an archival reviwe titled ‘A Fable Without Morality’ by Gerard Legrand that was originally written for Postif no. 181 in May of 1976. Credits for the disc and technical information on the transfer is also included in the back, and this release also comes packaged with a very cool obi strip that you can remove if you prefer to display your physical media without technical information and synopsis text on it - it’s a small thing, but it’s a nice touch.
The Sunday Woman - The Final Word:
The Sunday Woman is an interesting and well-made mystery with elements of comedy and drama that serve its narrative well. Luigi Comencini’s direction takes advantage of a smart script and strong production values to deliver a film that proves to be quite entertaining. The Blu-ray edition from Radiance Films is up to the label’s generally high standards, presenting the film in an excellent presentation and with a nice selection of extra features.