Elio Petri's 'The Assassin' Bound for Blu-ray
The Italian crime thriller starring Marcello Mastroianni is coming to Blu-ray in April.
In an early announcement to retailers, Arrow Academy is preparing 'The Assassin' for Blu-ray on April 18.
Released within months of Fellini's La Dolce Vita and Antonioni's La Notte, Elio Petri's dazzling first feature The Assassin (L'Assassino) also stars Marcello Mastroianni, this time as dandyish thirtysomething antiques dealer Alfredo Martelli, arrested on suspicion of murdering his older, far wealthier lover Adalgisa (Micheline Presle). But as the increasingly Kafkaesque police investigation proceeds, it becomes less and less important whether Martelli actually committed the crime as his entire lifestyle is effectively put on trial. Best known for Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion and The Tenth Victim, Petri was one of the finest and yet most underrated Italian directors of the 1960s and 70s. Highly acclaimed on its original release but unjustly neglected since, The Assassin is a remarkably assured debut from one of the cinema's sharpest chroniclers of Italian social and political realities. Petri said that he wanted to reflect the changes wrought by the early sixties, and to examine ''a new generation of upstarts who lacked any kind of moral scruple''.
The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an Italian mono soundtrack, and supplements will include:
- Elio Petri and L'Assassino, an introduction by Italian cinema expert Pasquale Iannone
- Tonino Guerra: A Poet in the Movies: Nicola Tranquillino's documentary about the great Italian screenwriter
- Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Booklet featuring writing on the film by Petri expert Camilla Zamboni, Petri's own critical analysis of 1950s Italian cinema, plus a selection of contemporary reviews
Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.95.
You can find the latest specs for 'The Assassin' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under April 18.
