Plot: What’s it about?
Arrow Video is one of the most spectacularly offbeat film distributors in the United States. To scroll through their catalog you can see small Italian horror films like Bay of Blood, Japanese Yakuza epics like Battles Without Honor and Humanity, or Italian crime films like the one I’m reviewing here, Wake Up and Kill. To say that the audience who would seek out these films is limited to a small group of avid collectors of small forgotten gems would be an understatement. Every time that Arrow Video plans a release, I have almost certainly not ever heard of it. They are similar to Criterion in their resourcefulness for importing films, but unlike Criterion they specialize in films that people can easily debate the artistic merit. For me, this is right up my alley, and has forced me to become a bit obsessive about watching as many of these films as possible. That is why I purchased a copy of Wake Up and Kill.
Wake Up and Kill is notable for a few reasons. It is written by Ugo Pirro, who would four years later pen Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, which is an absolute classic. It also features Gian Maria Volonté in a role, which is a big plus. The score is by the amazing Ennio Morricone. The director, Carlo Kizzani, directed Bitter Rice which Criterion released this year. Reading this line up, I was pretty excited for the film. Now that you have read this, I recommend that you lower your expectations somewhat.
The film tells the true story of Luciano Lutring (Robert Hoffman) a jewelry thief in Paris that brandished an axe or machine gun as he pilfered jewelry stores across Italy and France. Luciano falls in love with a singer named Yvonne (Lisa Gastoni) and they are quickly married. Her hope is that he will abandon his ways so they can live a normal life. He constantly is on the run from police and robbing or being framed for robberies. As she realizes that the only way to save his life is to help the police, she begins to assist Inspector Moroni (Gian Maria Volonté) to bring him in safely.
Overall, the story of the film is interesting, but the film never quite sticks the landing, despite some really interesting scenes here or there. The music by Morricone is solid, but not his best work. The acting is a bit campy by Hoffman and Gastoni. The cinematography is consistently pretty well done. I also have no idea as to why this film is called Wake Up and Kill, as the film is decidedly PG rated aside from some slapping around of Gastoni’s character. The film is a bit of a mixed bag. It is definitely entertaining, but would not be the first Arrow release that I would bring home.
Video: How’s it look?
Arrow Video did a pretty solid job on the transfer of the film using an MPEG 4 AVC codec of a new 2K restoration. The transfer looks good, and occasionally looks really good. There are a few small problems with the transfer, leading to a bit of a soft look. That said, I was happy with this release. It may not be as beautiful as a Criterion collection release, but for a release for a relatively small fan base, I appreciate all the steps that Arrow Video took. Also, the film itself may have just been fairly soft to begin with. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell.
Audio: How’s it sound?
The audio treatment of Wake Up and Kill was competent. Being a LPCM 2.0 track, it can be expected that range is severely limited, but Arrow Video delivers a well balanced and unmuddled Mono track. Ennio Morricone’s music is pronounced and very fun to hear in several scenes. They also have included the English dub for fans of dubbed tracks. No complaints here!
Supplements: What are the extras?
- Theatrical Trailer – Arrow opted to give a trailer that looked like it was pulled off YouTube. Maybe they couldn’t find the source material?
- English Version of the film
The Bottom Line
I love Arrow Video. I love what they are doing. I am literally their core demographic. That said, Wake Up and Kill, despite being somewhat entertaining and a few redeeming qualities, is not their shining hour. I would only recommend this for avid collectors of Italian crime films or for the Arrow Video completist. Otherwise, I would recommend renting it before a purchase as the supplements are almost non existent on this release.
