PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
The Consequence of Love (Le Conseguenze dell'amore) (2002)

The Consequence of Love (Le Conseguenze dell'amore) (2002)

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Released 15-Nov-2005
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating	?
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	100:03
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Paolo Sorrentino
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Toni Servillo Olivia Magnani Adriano Giannini Antonio Ballerio Gianna Paola Scaffidi
Case	?	Starring
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	No Audio Data available for this title
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

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Plot Synopsis

This film is the tenth of eleven films in the Italian Film Festival 2004 box set. The films are very different and the only real link between them is that they were all made in Italy in the last couple of years. This one shares the last disc of the collection with Certain Children.

Unfortunately, the plot summary for this film will need to be very short as otherwise the central premise of the film will be spoiled. All I can really tell you is that this dramatic, intriguing and stylish film is set in Switzerland, although most of the important characters are Italian. The most important character is an insomniac chain smoker from Salerno, Titta De Girolamo, who has been living alone in a Swiss hotel for 8 years. He is a middle aged man who obviously has quite a lot of money and tends to mostly sit in the hotel bar watching the world go by. It is not until 70 minutes into the film that you find out who he is and what he is doing there. Also living at the hotel are Carlo and Isabella, an older Italian couple who used to own the hotel but who have been reduced to living there due to Carlo's reckless gambling.

This film certainly keeps you guessing right to the end and it has a very different and poignant finish, although certainly not an ending which a director would get to keep in Hollywood. It is very interestingly and quite beautifully shot and features quality acting.

That's about all I can tell you but if you enjoy interesting and intriguing films which are out of the main stream, this one is certainly worth watching.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video quality is very good.

The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

The picture was very sharp and clear, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was quite good.

The colour was very good although the colour scheme did not lend itself to much bright colour.

Artefacts were restricted to some edge enhancement such as at 6:44, 53:47 & 90:03 and a few jagged edges.

There are burned-in subtitles in English which are clear and easy to read, something different for this box set. Due to the aspect ratio they were mostly in the black bar rather than within the actual picture which is a good thing.

*Video Ratings Summary*
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The audio quality is very good.

This DVD contains an Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

Dialogue seemed clear and there was no problem with audio sync that my very limited knowledge of Italian allowed me to detect.

The music by Pasquale Cantalano is very well used and the film uses the device of loud music compared to silence in a very powerful way.

The surround speakers added significant atmosphere when played with Dolby ProLogic II.

The subwoofer added bass to the music, which is obviously a function of my amp's bass management rather than the soundtrack directly.

*Audio Ratings Summary*
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

None.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This film is available on DVD in Italy (Region 2) and the UK (a different Region 2 release). Both include a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and English subtitles for the feature (in a subtitle stream). Both also include extras, however, only the UK version allows for English speaking people to watch the extras, so this is the one to go for.

Summary

A fascinating and stylish suspense thriller.