The Belle Starr Story is a rip-roaring Spaghetti Western starring Elsa Martinelli (Hatari!) and directed by the legendary Lina Wertmüller (Seven Beauties, Swept Away). It is the only Spaghetti Western to be directed by a woman – she replaced Piero Cristofani (using the pseudonym “Nathan Wich”) a few days into the shoot. Abused and dominated by men in her youth, Belle Starr (Martinelli) now out-rides, out-smokes, out-shoots, and out-gambles them as she makes her way around the Old West, usually wearing male garb.
For thoughts on The Belle Starr Story, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
[youtube https://youtu.be/tm8jJkHA-k0?t=2862]
Video Quality
The Belle Starr Story debuts on Blu-Ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in its original aspect ratio from an unknown source that does not exhibit the tell-tale signs of a carefully executed restoration. There is a decent layer of minor specks of print damage that remain, although they are at a level you can mostly overlook. The quality of the source material exhibits some swings in quality that do not do the film any favors. This transfer does showcase some decent stretches of clarity and detail in various aspects of the frame.
Close-ups hold up a bit more consistently than most long shots, which can appear quite soft. While there are not any shots or sequences that could be mistaken for DVD quality, there does appear to be slight room for improvement. Black levels could be a bit more robust as it displays a minor amount of crush. Digital noise does not prove to be a notable issue, but it can be spotted at various points. Colors are saturated well in a way that makes locations stand out as one of the high points, and the color grade is pleasant and consistent. While this is not the worst we have seen from Raro Video, we wish the presentation was a bit better realized.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a pretty solid DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track in the original Italian with optional English subtitles. The sync is not perfect due to the dubbing necessitated by the way in which the film was produced. Dialogue stays anchored in the center channel as it comes through pretty clearly without being consumed by competing sounds. The track achieves a decent balance with all competing elements so that dialogue comes through clearly. The score comes through in an enjoyable manner throughout the duration of the film. Environmental sounds such as gunshots and horses galloping are rendered well alongside everything else. There does not seem to be any major instances of age-related wear and tear. This audio presentation is a bit better than the video side of things.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Film Historian Samm Deighan provides a very illuminating commentary track in which she discusses the production history of the film, how it stands out in the spaghetti western genre, the themes you can see in other work from Lina Wertmüller, how the narrative diverges from the real-life Belle Starr, the history of the film and more.
- The Belle Starr Story – US Release Version: This release provides a version to watch the English audio track with an unrestored standard definition US release version that differs slightly from the original Italian cut.
Final Thoughts
The Belle Starr Story is a really unique and rewarding bit of film history as one of the few spaghetti westerns directed by a woman, along with one of the few to center on a woman with some degree of agency. There is definite room for improvement from a modern sensibility, but it is cool to see some of these boundaries being broken. Lina Wertmüller is not typically remembered for this film, but it is one that deserves to be remembered among her filmography. Raro Video and Kino Classics have delivered a Blu-Ray with a fair A/V presentation and an informative commentary track. If you want to shake the cobwebs off the spaghetti western genre, give this one a shot. Recommended
The Belle Starr Story is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Raro Video 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.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
