I Knew Her Well isn’t something I normally watch and I wasn’t especially invested with the story or the character but it’s hard to deny the performance from Stefania Sandrelli was excellent and in the end I at least found it well made with a moving final scene.
I Knew Her Well
(1965)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Drama
The Criterion Collection | NR – 115 min. – $39.95 | February 23, 2016
Date Published: 02/17/2015 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE – 3.75/5 |
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Admittedly, a film like I Knew Her Well normally reside outside of my wheelhouse covering mostly mainstream movies but I decided to take a chance based on the title and description and although it’s nothing profound, as it’s your normal girl’s stride for fame concept, it does feature an amazing and captivating performance from star Stefania Sandrelli. The story is rather simple centering on a young woman named Adriana (STEFANIA SANDRELLI) who has moved from a small Italian village to the hustling and bustling streets of Rome with dreams, amongst so many others, to become a starlet. When she’s not auditioning or taking odd jobs, such as being a shoe model, she’s out and about of town having physical relations with numerous men. She’s also rather vapid not to mention naïve but as the film progresses so does her self-awareness and the fact her career is going nowhere. She’s also disconnected from her family to the point that, upon visiting them after years, discovers her sister had passed away and she’s more or less shunned by her mother.
This is the definition of a character study and heavily relies more on Sandrelli’s acting than the story or even dialogue. It seems to have the pinnings of so many Italian films of the 1960s with that extra commentary on fame which might be even more poignant today than even back then, no less demonstrated by the political landscape more interested in personality than experience. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5 |
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The 1-disc set comes housed in the usual clear Blu-ray case. Inside is a foldout with an essay by journalist and author Alexander Stille. Features-wise, for a Criterion release, this is rather light. There are interviews with Stefania Sandrelli (9:24) as the actress talks about her character and working with Antonio Pietrangeli and Luca Barattoni (21:51), a film scholar, who examines Pietrangeli’s career; this is probably the more substantive feature. Also included is Sandrelli’s Auditon (5:17) and the film’s Trailer (3:21). |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| The Criterion Collection releases I Knew Her Well on Blu-ray shown in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer using the 35 mm film negative (and restored to 4K resolution). The black and white picture showcases stark blacks that show no signs of artifacts, aliasing, scratches or dust marks. Detail is excellent and well refined. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The movie comes with an Italian PCM Monaural track which is more than serviceable for a film that is more dialogue driven though there is a nice soundtrack thrown to advance the story. It’s nothing exceptional or noteworthy but it is pleasing to the ears never really topping out and there no apparent hissing or other flaws. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
| Overall, I Knew Her Well isn’t something I normally watch and I wasn’t especially invested with the story or the character but it’s hard to deny the performance from Stefania Sandrelli was excellent and in the end I at least found it well made with a moving final scene. The Blu-ray released through The Criterion Collection is probably one of their more limited releases in terms of features but the video and audio transfers are both respectable. |
Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.