The Eyes of Others and The Lesson - Thrillers on Home Video
Two Italian film productions that also show good artistic intuition
The Eyes of Others by Andrea De Sica and The Lesson by Stefano Mordini arrive on home video from CG Entertainment with different approaches to psychological thriller, but both built around characters unable to escape increasingly difficult-to-control situations.
The first is inspired by the Casati Stampa affair, where the aristocratic environment of the 1960s becomes the setting for a relationship that transforms desire into a tool of domination. Lelio involves Elena in a game of initially consensual voyeurism, destined however to become a form of control. The elegant staging and the bright shots of the island effectively contrast with the darkness of the relationship, while Jasmine Trinca delivers a performance of great intensity. The film is less convincing when it tries to delve into the protagonists' motivations, leaving some psychological dynamics unresolved.
Lesser-known Italian cinema, all to be discovered
The Lesson, on the other hand, starts from the story of Elisabetta, a convinced lawyer who believes her ex-partner has resumed stalking her, just as she becomes involved in the case of a professor accused of sexual violence. Matilda De Angelis and Stefano Accorsi carry a tense and ambiguous first part, in which it becomes difficult to distinguish between real threat and paranoia. The problem emerges when the film has to tie up loose ends: the second half abandons some of the initial balance and leads the narrative towards less convincing developments.
Italian film productions that show good intuitions but also some limitations, finding in the performers and formal care the elements capable of making them interesting for a (re)discovery on Home Video.
Without specific technical indications, we can still assume native digital 2K footage. De Sica's film has a 2.39:1 aspect ratio (1920 x 1080/24p), AVC/MPEG-4 encoding on a dual-layer BD-50. The film with Accorsi, on the other hand, is 1.85:1 (720 x 576/25i), MPEG-2 encoding on DVD-9. It's a shame that in this case too, the high-definition route was not chosen, which would have allowed Luigi Martinucci's cinematography to "breathe" better. This work is inevitably the most limited in video quality, while still being viewable without particular critical issues. The Eyes of Others presents a certain grain across the entire frame, with some hints of banding and inferior rendering of nuances in the backgrounds, but the spectacle is not lacking even on large screens. Extras for both editions include a several-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, with the DVD version being longer.
The work with Timi and Trinca has a definite edge in audio, with an unusual offering of not only DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 but also 7.1 channels (always 16 bit), further opening up to a greater stage presence in the rear, with echoes and soundtrack support. Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks and audio description for the visually impaired (always 224 kbps) are included. The film on DVD offers a decent Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps), 2.0 (192 kbps), and also audio description here.