The Desert of the Tartars - NoShame - 2 Disc Special Edition

Valerio Zurlinin ja Ennio Morriconen klassikkoteos.

Genre: Drama
Format: Color, Widescreen, Box set, Subtitled, DVD-Video, Dolby, NTSC
Language: Italian, optional English subtitles
Runtime: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 / 16x9
Director: Valerio Zurlini
Media Format: Color, Widescreen, Box set, Subtitled, DVD-Video, Dolby, NTSC
Run time: 2 hours and 20 minutes
Release date: Jan. 31 2006
Region: 0

This release includes a few interesting extra-features, which are all in Italian, and with optional English subtitles. Do note, that you have to choose English subtitles from the ”Main menu”, so the same language-option applies to the both movie and the extras.

- When you go to the movie itself, there´s a brief ”Film introduction” -featurette by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli before the film plays, running 0:51 seconds. He mentions something about the book, and how director Zurlini gave him pretty much free hands with his artistic visions.

- “Ghosts of the Desert” -featurette runs 34:49 minutes, and it´s a lengthy interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli. The look of the interview is a bit on the “Mini-DV”-side, but does the job rather well. Tovoli speaks continuously, having a clearly very intelligent and artistic way of approaching the world of filmmaking. This will eventually make some of his stories a bit heavy to swallow, but he gives some nice information about the director Zurlini (and also a few other directors from his career) and generally about the Italian cinema at the time. He tells a few anecdotes during the production of “The Desert of the Tartars” (like that the food and wine on the set came from Paris), and he obviously talks about some of his decisions when it comes to the cinematography of the film. Based on his own words, he wasn´t that experienced (although he had done already several movies, such as “The Passenger AKA Professione: Reporter (1975)”), and because of that he was ready to take some risks which eventually paid off. He also tells of his background as a student, and getting one of his first real jobs from the documentarian Vittorio De Seta (not “De Sica”). As many film buffs probably know, Tovoli later on went and did such a classic like “Suspiria (1977)”, and a few films in Hollywood.

- “The Most Important Role of My Life - Or How I Got Along with Kirk Douglas After He Hit Me” -vintage featurette runs 5:11 minutes, and it´s an interview with actor Giuliano Gemma. Conducted probably around the 1980s, Gemma tells a few funny stories of working with American actors such as Kirk Douglas. He also says a few things about “The Desert of the Tartars” (Gemma is very proud of the film).

- “Memories From the Fortress” -featurette runs 6:10 minutes, and is a more recent interview with actor Giuliano Gemma. In this one he talks more about the production, telling how it helped that he was a good horse rider, and he also says how the atmosphere at the set was a bit like the army itself, director Zurlini being the top of the rank. Too bad that the interview is a bit short, since Gemma always does some nice interviews, it seems. A few photos are also included.

- Italian theatrical trailer is included (4:14 minutes), and it also includes optional English subtitles.

- Photo gallery with music is running 1:50 minutes, and includes 22 photos (mainly stills, but a few posters are also included).

- 16-page booklet includes liner notes, and biographies (and selected filmographies) of Valerio Zurlini, Luciano Tovoli, and author Dino Buzzati by Chris D. It also includes (among a few photos) excerpts from essay “Eugenio Montale on Dino Buzzati´s The Desert of the Tartars (Il Secondo Mestiere Prose)”, and some notes about the soundtrack CD, as well as its track-listing.

Bonus disc:

Apparently recently discovered stereo master tapes from the EMI vaults have found their way onto CD, and the soundtrack of the film by Ennio Morricone is also presented on this release. It goes without saying that the music is just beautiful, and this is a great addition for the disc.

Here´s the track list (48:10 min):

1 Il Deserto Come Estasi (4:14 min)
2 Proposta (1:46 min)
3 Minaccia Continua (3:01 min)
4 Il Deserto Come Minaccia (3:33 min)
5 Un Cavaliere All'orizzonte (1:10 min)
6 La Casa E La Giovinezza (3:28 min)
7 Una Fortezza Su Una Frontiera Morta (3:11 min)
8 Stillicidio (4:09 min)
9 Le Stagione, Gli Anni... (4:49 min)
10 Il Deserto Come Poesia Della Fine (3:36 min)
11 Il Cavallo Bianco Dei Tartari (1:28 min)
12 La Cena Degli Ufficiali (3:47 min)
13 Marcia Nella Tormenta (2:42 min)
14 La Vestizione E L'addio (7:08 min)