Coming to Blu-ray on February 13th from Radiance Films
An agent who was plotting something quite different is caught up in a hostage situation in a foreign hotel.
Written by Nicola Badalucco, Damiano Damiani, and Francis Clifford, and directed by Damiani, this international thriller has a story that has some unexpected twists and turns even this many years later. The story here is tight and well written and the direction brings it to the screen in just the right way for its treasons and tricks. There is something here that makes it easy to see why some folks really love this film over 4 decades later and why it would be getting the deluxe re-release treatment. There is something here and it’s hard to describe, but in a world where we see so many spy films, treason stories, and others in the same vein, they can easily become stale, this one isn’t. The film is easy to get into and keeps the attention until the very end.
The cast here is interesting with Tony Musante in the lead, giving a very “1970s” agent performance. It’s as expected, but also exactly what the film needs, so it’s the right performance here. Wolfango Soldati as Harry Lambert is interesting to watch here and so is Claudia Cardinale as Mrs. De Mauro. The cast has a bunch of performances that bring attention to their scenes and then let the lead take over when needed. The acting here is like a well-choreographed dance between many players who all have skills and know how to use them for themselves and to serve the others around them.
The look of the film here is dated, but in the best of ways. It has a specific look that just works. The cinematography by Luigi Kuveiller, paired with the editing by Antonio Siciliano and the art direction as well as decor and costumes, gives the film a look that is very much of its time and place, but also, it gives the film a charm now that is hard to reproduce without a lot of research and study. The look of this film could easily be used as the basis for that of a current period piece taking place in the late 1970s. This is brown 1970s, not the disco flashy 1970s, this is the version most people lived, the look that makes the decade float into the early 1980s effortlessly.
Goodbye & Amen is a very good thriller from its era, giving viewers the twists, turns, and treason they come to it for. The look here is fantastic, the acting is solid and that of a rue ensemble, and the story works really well. This is a solid film that is worth checking out.
The new release by Radiance Films is beautiful with a great packaging that has all its rating and other release markings on a removal piece so that the box can be as pretty as it can, leaving room for the art to shine. The film itself is presented in a new restoration from the original negative that looks great. The sound is in its original mono version, but sounds as good as it can get for this. Of course, there are extras here including what folks have come to expect from these kinds of re-releases including beautiful art on a reversible sleeve, a booklet with new writing, new subtitles, and a commentary by film experts. The best bits here are the new restoration of the film which is really fantastic and the archival interview with Wolfango Soldati (from 2013) and an interview with Antonio Siciliano (editor). The quantity of the extras is not exactly large, but this release goes for quality over quantity.