RaroVideo U.S. Announces February & March 2012 DVD Releases

(Hollywood, CA & Rome, Italy) -- Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian Film Boutique RaroVideo announces an exciting slate of February & March 2012 DVD releases. First off, from the Oscar® winning director Alfredo Giannetti, starring the icon of Italian Cinema Anna Magnani (who Alt Film Guide calls “one of the greatest actresses of the 20th century”) and music from cult composer Ennio Morricone comes THE AUTOMOBILE. In one of his last works, with an all-star international cast, Italian cinema maestro, Luchino Visoconti assembles an unlikely crew of characters (including Burt Lancaster and Helmut Berger) all under one Roman palazzo roof for CONVERSATION PIECE. From one of the masters of Italian cinema Antonio Pietrangeli, director of Adua and her Friends (Available now from RaroVideo) comes the rare gem THE VISITOR. Finally, written by Fernando di Leo, the maestro of mafia mahem, the 1976 Euro-crime exploitation film YOUNG, VIOLENT, DANGEROUS examines how three privileged youth from northern Italy loose all sense of right and wrong and set off to kill with reckless abandon.

THE AUTOMOBILE (1971) From the 1962 Oscar winner writer of Divorce Italian Style and available for the first time on DVD, The Automobile, an episode from the TV mini-series The Three Women, featuring Italian movie icon Anna Magnani with music composed by the genius Ennio Morricone, comes this classic 70s Italian story of Anna, an experienced prostitute who has become an institution in the Roman nightlife. In reality she is lonely and aimless, and decides to buy a car in order to satisfy her need to feel like a normal woman. On an outing to the beach to celebrate her new sense of freedom she meets two men who convince her to let them drive her new car, and things deteriorate from there. RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 28, 2012

CONVERSATION PIECE (1974) (Luchino Visconti’s award-winning classic examines the solitary life of a retired American professor (Burt Lancaster) who lives alone in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. When he is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa and her companions – her lover, her daughter and daughter’s boyfriend – he is forced to rent them an apartment on the upper floor of his palazzo. Before long his quiet routine is turned upside down and the introverted professor becomes entangled in his tenants’ machinations. In the midst of this chaos each of the new neighbors’ lives – including that of the professor himself – takes an unexpected but inevitable turn. Visconti’s penultimate film, CONVERSATION PIECE marks the culmination of his career as a master of Italian cinema. RELEASE DATE: MARCH 13, 2012

THE VISITOR (1963) Thirty-something stunning beauty Pina (Sandra Milo) takes out an ad in the personal column hoping to find a man to take her away from the tiny Italian village where she lives. For months now she has been trying to find the right one – a man with a solid career, a family in mind, and plenty of stamina. Adolfo (Francois Perier) lives in Rome running a profitable business. Looking to share his life with that special person and willing to raise a family Adolfo replies to Pina’s ad. The two arrange to meet in the village where Pina lives. Incorporating flashbacks that highlight Pina’s and Adolfo’s lives, the complexity of the characters are slowly revelaed and when the two finally meet Pina quickly concludes that Adolfo is the one. He appears noble, cultured, and ready for a serious commitment – Pina can hardly believe her luck! RELEASE DATE: MARCH 13, 2012

YOUNG VIOLENT DANGEROUS (1976) Paul, Joe and Louie, three young men from good families, who decide to go on a bloodthirsty and pointless crime spree, much to the dismay of Paul’s girlfriend (Eleonora Giorgi) and the local police commissioner (Tomas Milian). The group starts by robbing a gas station where Paul guns down three innocent bystanders. They later rob a bank and a grocery store where Paul kills more people. It isn’t long before the entire police force is looking for the 3 criminals, who pick up the girl and proceed to hightail it to the Swiss border killing everyone in their path. RELEASE DATE: MARCH 13, 2012

Antonioni’s The Vanquished, Fellini’s The Clowns, Pasolini’s The Anger, Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man, Body Puzzle, Come Have Coffee With Us, The Overcoat, Murder Obsession, The Secret of Dorian Gray, Crime of Love, To Be Twenty, The Perfume of the Lady in Black, Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show and The Fernando di Leo Crime Collection are all available now from RaroVideo U.S.


THE AUTOMOBILE
Price: $29.98 (DVD)
Street Date: February 28, 2012
Pre-Order Date: January 31, 2012
Running time: 98 minutes
Distributor: ENTERTAINMENT ONE
DVD UPC: 1601801030
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Rating: NR

THE AUTOMOBILE – SPECIAL FEATURES
Original trailer
Fully illustrated booklet
New English subtitles
Newly digitally restored

CONVERSATION PIECE
Price: $29.98 (DVD)
Street Date: March 13, 2012
Pre-Order Date: February 15, 2011
Running time: 131 minutes
Distributor: ENTERTAINMENT ONE
DVD UPC: 1601801031
Language: English
Rating: NR

CONVERSATION PIECE - SPECIAL FEATURES:
Original Trailer
Interview with film critic and screenwriter Alessandro Bencivenni
English language
Fully illustrated booklet
Newly digitally restored

THE VISITOR
Price: $29.98 (DVD)
Street Date: March 13, 2012
Pre-Order Date: February 14, 2012
Running time: 115 minutes
Distributor: ENTERTAINMENT ONE
DVD UPC: 1601801032
Language: Italian with optional English subtitles
Rating: NR

THE VISITOR – SPECIAL FEATURES
New HD transfer
Video interview with Ettore Scola (Director and author of the screenplay)
Video interview with Armando Trovajoli (Composer of the music)
Video interview with Paolo Pietrangeli (Director)
New transfer from original 35mm negative print
Digitally restored fully illustrated digital booklet containing critical analysis of the film
New and improved English subtitles
Director biography and filmography

YOUNG, VIOLENT, DANGEROUS
Price: $19.98 (DVD)
Street Date: March 13, 2012
Pre-Order Date: February 14, 2012
Running time: 96 minutes
Distributor: ENTERTAINMENT ONE
DVD UPC: 1601801033
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Rating: NR

YOUNG, VIOLENT, DANGEROUS- SPECIAL FEATURES:
Documentary Ragazzi Fuori
Director filmography and biography
New transfer from original 35mm negative print
Digitally restored
Fully illustrated digital booklet