A follow up of sorts to his earlier film, the seminal Caliber 9 (1972), Blood and Diamonds (1977) blasts its way into familiar poliziotteschi territory, leaving scars, bullets and tire tracks in its bloody wake. After being set up by the Mafia gang he is part of, Guido (Claudio Cassinelli) is sent to prison but upon he vows to take revenge on those who betrayed him. Another must for all collectors of high octane Italian crime thrillers from the 1970s.
For thoughts on Blood and Diamonds, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
Blood and Diamonds arrives on Blu-Ray thanks to 88 Films with a fairly pleasing 1080p master sourced from a 4K remaster from the original negative. While there is no doubt that the label has given this title a great new life on physical media, there are some concerns that keep it from being perfect. The most apparent issue is the color temperature fluctuation that ebbs and flows throughout the feature. From the opening Titanus logo, there is greenish quality that is not usually found when compared to other releases with the same logo. Other moments later can lean towards a yellowish quality. My personal history with this title is limited to this viewing, so I’m unsure what the intention of this film is supposed to be, but the palette seems to be lacking a certain vividness. Black levels do not exhibit any trace of black crush or compression artifacts.
Outside of these color timing concerns, this transfer is very impressive. The transfer is very clear with natural grain intact and nicely resolved. There are moments that spike ever so slightly when it comes to darker moments, but these instances are fairly brief. The contrast is well defined, and there is very little print damage to be found outside a few stray moments of subtle nicks and scratches. There is a terrific amount of detail present with textures on the clothing. There is also a sizable amount of depth added to the environments, although the close-up shots hold up better than the long shots. 88 Films has provided a solid transfer which only offers a few concerns in one particular area.
Audio Quality
Blood and Diamonds comes with an LPCM 2.0 mono track in the original Italian with an additional English language option for those who do not care for subtitles. While we always advocate sticking with the original intended audio for creative purity, both tracks deliver what they need to for a positive sonic experience. Some of the dialogue has been post-looped which results in some loose sync instances that may be annoying to some, but it is a product of this period in filmmaking.
The dialogue comes through clearly without being burdened by the sound effects or score. The evocative score brings a very distinct mood to the proceedings that is represented favorably in the mix. The environments which hold the action create a whirl of sound that provides some excellent ambient details. All of the various sounds in the mix seem precisely rendered so that nothing ever feels askew. There are several powerful moments of gunshots that make an impact without becoming a muddled mess. These tracks are presented with a notable fidelity with only the occasional instance of sound presenting as a bit thin or boxy. This presentation is mostly free of any hiss or other age-related wear-and-tear. 88 Films has done a nice job with this one.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson provide a very enlightening commentary track in which they discuss where this fits in the career of Fernando Di Leo, the attitudes of the genre of the time, the atmosphere of Italy when this was created, the background of the performers, the music utilized, the humanistic tone of the narrative and much more.
- Down By Di Leo – A Journey Of Love Discovering Fernando Di Leo: A 97-minute Italian documentary is presented here in upscaled HD and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio in the original Italian with optional English subtitles. This provides a really expansive, wonderful look at the career of Fernando Di Leo by those who worked closely with him and knew him best. This is a terrific crash course for those who are new to the filmmaker. This is nearly as entertaining as the main feature itself.
- Blood And Di Leo – A Portrait By Luc Merenda: A nearly 20-minute interview with actor Luc Merenda who discusses his collaborations with Fernando Di Leo in other projects, his directing style, the legacy he leaves behind and more.
- Italian Opening, Intermission and Closing Titles: A four-minute presentation which provides what is described in the title.
- Original Trailer: The three-minute Italian trailer is provided here with optional English subtitles.
- Booklet: This release comes with a bound booklet featuring the essays “Diamonds and Bills” by Francesco Massaccesi, “Forgotten Gem” by Andrew Graves, and “Roma Calibro 9” by Rachael Nisbet.
Final Thoughts
Blood and Diamonds offers little that is truly groundbreaking in this subgenre of Italian crime thriller, but established fans of this type of film will have a decent time with it. The violent turns are effective and the pacing of the narrative is rarely sluggish. Plus, you have a few performers propping up things with memorable turns. 88 Films has a Blu-Ray with a good A/V presentation and terrific special features. Fans of this director will appreciate this release. Recommended
Blood and Diamonds is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: 88 Films has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.