RaroVideo Announces January 2012 Releases

ROME, ITALY & HOLLYWOOD, CA (January 28, 2011) -- Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian DVD label RaroVideo announces an exciting January 2012 slate of DVD and Blu-ray releases beginning with the Blu-ray edition of the boxed set that DVD Talk called “one of the year’s best DVD releases.” Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times and USA Today also highlighted this incredible collection of films. FERNANDO DI LEO CRIME COLLECTION BLU-RAY BOX SET will arrive in-stores and online on JANUARY 31, 2012. All the films have been newly transferred from their original 35mm negatives and have never before been available on Blu-ray. FERZAN OZPETEK’S STEAM – THE TURKISH BATH is the winner of numerous international awards and high praise from The New York Times and The Village Voice, STEAM – THE TURKISH BATH explores how one man’s search for self, after returning to his homeland Turkey, becomes a way for him to also understand his sexual identity. Extras include interviews with the director, producer and a twenty minute documentary on the film. Rare and hard-to-find ALBERTO LATTUADA’S THE OVERCOAT is based on the short story by Nikolai Gogol. The DVD extras include interviews and a fully illustrated booklet. Nothing could be better for horror film lovers than a horror film within a horror film. UBALDO TERZANI HORROR SHOW explores how the main character is manipulated by the one that creates the horror films and we get to witness the insanity and bloodshed that follow. The DVD extras include a short film, screen tests and audio commentaries. ALBERTO LATTUADA’S THE OVERCOAT will arrive on DVD on JANUARY 17, 2012. THE FERNANDO DI LEO CRIME COLLECTION BOX SET SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY, UBALDO TERZANI HORROR SHOW and STEAM – THE TURKISH BATH will all arrive on DVD on JANUARY 31, 2012.

ALBERTO LATTUADA’S THE OVERCOAT(1952) Based on Nikolai Gogol’s story with the location changed from Russia to Italy and the time changed to the present, the story is about a poor city-hall clerk (Renato Rascel) whose only desire is for a new overcoat. The town Mayor (Giulio Stival) is planning a reception for some visiting VIP’s in honor of a new, wasteful piece of construction. The clerk bungles his assignment and is fired. But he stumbles onto some bribery concerning the architects and, to keep him quiet, he’s given his job back plus a bonus. He buys his long-cherished overcoat, and it makes him so presentable he wins a new found respect from everybody. But his coat is stolen and the bitter weather causes him to contact a fever and he dies. His funeral upsets the Mayor’s reception when he returns as a ghost. RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 17, 2012

FERNANDO DI LEO CRIME COLLECTION BLU-RAY BOX SET (1972-76) Fernando Di Leo is the master of garish, intricately plotted, ultra-violent stories about pimps and petty gangsters and he perfected the genre with an uncanny accuracy. For the first time digitally restored and remastered in collaboration with the Venice Film Festival: 4 of Fernando Di Leo’s masterpieces – CALIBER 9 (1972), THE ITALIAN CONNECTION (1972), THE BOSS (1973) and RULERS OF THE CITY (1976) - in one box set. RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 31, 2012

STEAM – THE TURKISH BATH (1997) Tired of his troubled marriage, an Italian businessman’s life changes dramatically after he learns that an aunt has left him property in Istanbul. Francesco Alessandro Gassman arrives to the Turkish city hoping that he can take care of the matter swiftly and return to Italy. He is surprised to discover that the property is actually one of the last traditional hamams (old-fashioned bath houses) in Turkey. The family that has been running the Turkish bath for his aunt, takes him in and Francesco gradually rediscovers a long-missing sense of family as he accustoms himself to Turkish culture. Matters become complicated though when the couple’s daughter Fusun falls for Francesco, who discovers himself increasingly and disconcertingly interested in her darkly handsome brother Mehmet. The situation comes to a head when Francesco’s wife arrives to make an announcement. RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 31, 2012

UBALDO TERZANI HORROR SHOW (2010) Alessio Rinaldi, a 25-year-old director, gets the charge from a producer to write the script of his first movie with Ubaldo Terzani, a well-known writer of horror novels. Alessio moves into Terzani’s house to start this collaboration, and a strange relationship of psychological dependence grows between them: Ubaldo Terzani unveils his dark side, and Alessio falls into a state of insanity ruled by the script they are creating and the nightmares he has because of it. RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 31, 2012