I have until September to wind up my film reviewing world. I have decided that I will choose a few films a month to review, one to aid my magazine and two, because there are some stunning releases on their way that I am excited to see. This doesnt mean that I will return. No. I am off to work with children as a psychologist and that will be very demanding. It is more that there are great labels, doing gods work and not getting enough publicity in return. Like Radiance, who have seemingly made it a point to find films rare seen or left to the side by easily distracted film fans. These fans aren’t to blame. More it is those ignorant loud mouths on socials who seem to know nothing, not created anything, yet self serve by resisting releases from labels of the films they say they love. These three films, starring Franco Nero and directed by Damiano Damiani (A Bullet for the General), is a case in point. I wont digress mind.

Brave, bold, brutal but equally brilliant, I have only seen one of the three films housed here. THE DAY OF THE OWL. Also here is HOW TO KILL A JUDGE and  THE CASE IS CLOSED: FORGET IT. All three are a lot of punch and honesty, mixed with politics and passion. THE DAY OF THE OWL stars gravel voice, brash brute Lee J Cobb. He is the mafia boss with a sense of brutal deliver and a fear at losing it all to those others chasing his tail. His challenger is not another criminal but instead is a police chief with guts, Franco Nero. Adapted from the celebrated novel by Leonardo Sciascia, it never wavers from being frankly honest about organised crime in Sicily. I think I saw it as a child. Remembering little. It looks a million dollars. Well done to those who restored it. There are lovely notes of rich sun and arid ground. It feels as good as it looks. There are also two version of the film, both hold up equally and I honestly am indifferent to either being best.

HOW TO KILL A JUDGE, the best film here is more contemporary. A film director, Giacomo Solaris (Nero) is more than a renegade taking on the Italian system. He makes films that matter. His latest sees a judge accused and abused for crimes of fraud and failure. Then when a real world judge is murdered and the mafia looking likely to have been cleaning house, its getting nasty.  Then the judges wife Antonia Traini (Françoise Fabian) gets involved. She blames him, saying that the film mirrored and then made her husband a target. Its feeling for the power of media, whispers and manipulation resonates now. Damiani directs with urgency, noting the mafias strangle hold over a lot but also how it is coaxing others out to play. Not nicely mind. It looks again wonderful. The later day, sunshine, outside scenes glow with the suns warmth.

Finally THE CASE IS CLOSED: FORGET IT. Beatings and bloodied sticks reveals the grim reality of life behind bars.

The mafia controls everything. What delivers the power is a great cast, good story and a reflection of an age of crime paying. Well those on top. Nero is Vansi, a newbie to the justice of the jail. He has been sent down for a crime he didn’t commit (who has). Things get bad. The jail is a scum filled place of vice and as he witnesses corruption, criminality and crushing of the spirit, he nears breaking. Control by the mob, the inmates and the prison guards leave all vulnerable . It helps that the film has been given a solid pass by the restoration (three out of three, not bad.) The notes of six colours are rewarded with clarity from a print obviously well kept. Its solid, dips into a world that is rare seen and seems hard to get wrong.

So thats that then. I will mention that these films are A picture films about crime. Think the difference between THE GODFATHER and say later mob movies. Now finally the extras. There are a lot of good bits here. I didnt see the booklet but will mention the three best extras on the set. The third best is Malloy discusses The Day of the Owl. Its context that is key here and if you, like me are a fan of Italian Policesi films (my word for it not the genre geeks), this helps ground the film/s in a world that is (being honest) the more upscale realms of crime films in Italy. The second feature which I loved a lot, was Franco Nero discussing The Case is Closed: Forget It. He is so natural. Really lovely and honest. Open. Not much comes out mind. Finally, the best, Casting Cobb: A Tale of Two Continents. Cobb is shown as a man that drew in so many because he not only acted but was a black hole for attention. Brilliant.

Blu-ray Limited Edition Box Set Special Features:

• 2K restoration of The Day of the Owl from the original negative presented in the original Italian version (109 mins) and the shorter export cut with English audio (103 mins)
• 2K restoration of The Case is Closed: Forget It from the original negative presented with Italian and, for the first time, English audio options
• 2K restoration of How to Kill a Judge from the original negative presented in Italian and English audio options
• Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
• New interview with star Franco Nero, featuring archive footage of Damiano Damiani and Leonardo Sciascia discussing The Day of the Owl (2022, 17 mins)
• Archival interview with Franco Nero, writer Ugo Pirro and production manager Lucio Trentini discussing the making of The Day of the Owl (2006, 27 mins)
• Identity Crime-Sis: filmmaker and Italian crime cinema expert Mike Malloy discusses The Day of the Owl in the context of the formation of the Italian crime film genre (2022, 20 mins)
• Casting Cobb: A Tale of Two Continents: A video essay by filmmaker Howard S. Berger looking at actor Lee J. Cobb’s career transition from Hollywood to Italy and the archetypes he tended to play (2023, 33 mins)
• Archival interview with Claudia Cardinale from Belgian TV in which she discusses her long and storied career (2017, 22 mins)
• New interview with star Franco Nero discussing The Case is Closed: Forget It (2022, 14 mins)
• Archival documentary on the making of The Case is Closed: Forget It featuring actor Corrado Solari, assistant director Enrique Bergier and editor Antonio Siciliano (2015, 28 mins)
• Italy’s Cinematic Civil Conscience: An Examination of the Life and Works of Damiano Damiani: A visual essay on the career of Damiani Damiani by critic Rachael Nisbet (2023, 35 mins)
• New interview with star Franco Nero discussing How to Kill a Judge (2022, 13 mins)
• New interview with Alberto Pezzotta, author of Regia Damiano Damiani, who discusses Damiani’s contribution to the mafia and crime genres and the reception of his films in Italy (2022, 34 mins)
• Lessons in Violence: A new video essay on How to Kill a Judge by filmmaker David Cairns (2023, 22 mins)
• Original trailers for each film
• New and improved optional English subtitles for Italian audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for English audio for each film
• Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters for each film
• Limited edition 120-page book featuring new and archival writing on the films by experts on the genre including Andrew Nette on Leonardo Sciascia’s The Day of the Owl; Piero Garofalo on The Case is Closed: Forget It; Paul A. J. Lewis on depictions of the mafia in each of the films within this set; Shelley O’Brien on each of the scores; a newly translated archival interview with Damiani; Nathaniel Thompson on Franco Nero; Marco Natoli on Damiani’s place within the cinema politico movement in Italian cinema; a critical overview for each the films by Cullen Gallagher and credits for each film
• Limited edition of 3000 copies (each for the UK and US), presented in a rigid box with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings