22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Film, Nearly Invisible Subtitles, November 21, 2001
Buy the other edition. How many times do they need to use white subtitles in black-and-white films?!
Sometimes it is virtually impossible to read the subtitles during te film with this edition.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great movie, but black-and-white films should have yellow subtitles.
Or at least put black bars behind the subtitles so they can be read!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
poor transfer - terrible subtitles - but a great film, September 26, 2004
This is all that's available folks so suffer through the defects and watch a timeless gem of a film. Pasolini's movie is one of the most honest portraits of slum life in Italy - and in fact is more brutally honest than 'nights of cabira' by Fellini (Pasolini actually was responsible for some of the dialogue in that film).
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another strikeout from Waterbearer, August 5, 2003
The other reviews have covered the film sufficiently, so I'll just focus on this new DVD edition (although I will say that it seemed to be a bit of a re-hash of "Nights of Cabiria" without any of the pathos).
Actually, calling it "new" is a bit of a misnomer, as it appears to be a transfer from an old videotape. This is strongly evident near the end of the film where there are two instances of scrolling video distortion.
I really wanted to like this disc. The transfer itself is actually fairly clear (although slightly muted and/or washed-out) and mostly free of specks and dirt (except at the end of each reel). Unfortunately, as with the previous three Waterbearer Pasolini DVD's, this one suffers from no chapter stops and burned-in (non-optional), frequently-unreadable subtitles. At the price Waterbearer is charging, the consumer is going to expect a great deal more than they're getting.
Rent it if you're curious, but I'd advise against purchasing this disc unless you're a die-hard Pasolini fan.
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