From one of Italy’s most revered directors, Marco Bellocchio (The Traitor), comes Kidnapped, the true story of Edgardo Mortara. Mortara was a young Jewish boy living in Bologna, Italy, when in 1858, after being secretly baptized, was forcibly taken from his family by the Pope, to be raised Catholic. His parents’ struggle to free their son became part of a larger political battle that pitted the papacy against forces of democracy and Italian unification.

For in-depth thoughts on Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara, please see my colleague M.N. Miller’s review from its original theatrical release here.

Video Quality

Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that is quite impressive as it captures the dampened aesthetic of the past. This is a visually dynamic film with gorgeous shots of the architecture in which horrors of indoctrination occur. This transfer provides a notable amount of detail. The skin tones look very textured and natural all around. The deep, reserved colors are favorably saturated with unique hues of costumes and elements of the production design. The deep blacks do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts, and highlights are handled beautifully. There are no serious instances of intrusive digital noise in the presentation. Cohen Media Group has treated this one well.

Audio Quality

The film comes to Blu-Ray with a nuanced DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in the original Italian with forced English subtitles. The movie does not feature much in the way of action outside the storming of a religious institution, but these moments are tense enough to conjure exceptional environmental activity which comes through well. The low end of the track is not the draw of the audio experience, as subtle environmental sounds make more of an impression in the surrounds. Dialogue and sound effects are deftly balanced with the haunting score where nothing gets muddled in the track. Surround channels get immersive activity from hearing chatter in the church and other acts of protest. This track represents this experience quite well.

Special Features

Introduction by Director Marco Bellocchio: A minute-long video with the director thanking you for watching the movie.

Interview with Director Marco Bellocchio: A 19-minute interview with the director in which he discusses focusing on this period of the subject’s life in the film, his background in religion, working with the young performer, and more.

Trailer: The minute-and-a-half-long trailer is provided here.

Final Thoughts

Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara is a shocking story that leaves you in a state of indignation wondering how such practices ever could have been allowed. That being said, the execution of the story on screen does not seem to be the most effective way to approach this one. The movie dials up the melodrama a notch or two too high to let the emotions land authentically. The film is also too long when it comes to presenting the content that we do. This leads to many moments when the mind wanders and you lose touch with your emotional stakes in the story. The movie is passable in its efficacy, but it is rather forgettable. Cohen Media Group and Kino Lorber have released a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation and a couple of special features.

Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Cohen Media Group and Kino Lorber have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.