The National Treasure, Italian actor Roberto Benigni, is without a doubt one of the funniest comedians to ever come out of the Old Continent. In 1999 his inspired performance in La Vita e Bella a.k.a Life is Beautiful rightfully won him an Oscar and ever since Benigni's films have been enjoying the attention of a much larger group of curious cinephilles. Berlnguer ti Voglio bene a.k.a Berlinguer I Love You (1977), Benigni's acting debut, tells the story of an eccentric young man who has nothing else on his mind but beautiful women...a lot of them!! Mario Cioni (Roverto Benigni) is in a constant search for that special sexual experience which as fate will have it never materializes into something more than a disappointing wet dream. To make things even worse, Mario's mother (Alida Valli) desperately wants her boy to finally become a man. Mrs. Cioni has picked the perfect girl which, well, appears to be handicapped.

A bit too rough, at times rather slow, and clearly not as impressive as the cast suggests, Berlinguer I Love You certainly looks like a debut picture. The relationship between Mrs. Cioni and Mario which appears to be the building foundation for this Italian production never really develops into something special, something that will ultimately hold your attention until the end credits roll. Instead what we are offered are a few sporadic laughs sprinkled with some edgy and at times explicit dialog and maybe a scene or two where we truly see Roberto Benigni's talent shine.

I think that for those of you expecting to encounter yet another Benigni charmer full of finesse and contagious humor Berlinguer I Love You will come as quite a shock. This is a film that by large feeds off its script and not the talent of its actors. I don't regard this as a poor decision but I certainly think that the script does very little to successfully sustain such an approach. In fact, I think that the few areas where Berlinguer I Love You excels are precisely areas of the film where Benigni and Co. let loose and end up improvising parts of their lines. Unfortunately it all feels a bit too stiff, maybe even incoherent, as neither the humor not the acting is convincing enough.

Despite of the flawed construction Berlinguer I Love You conveys the inclusion of Roberto Benigni will certainly force die-hard fans of the Italian comedian to give this production a shot. His contagious facial expressions, the awkward walk, even the little jumps which he fancies are certainly present, even at this early stage of his career, but the smooth acting which one would undeniably look for after seeing La Vita e Bella is not quite here yet. As a result I think that you would be much better off lowering your expectations and simply enjoying Berlinguer I Love You for what it is...a semi-hilarious portrait of man with too much ambition and not that much luck. Certainly you would at least have the chance to witness the rising of a star which Italy has elevated to a near cult status.

How Does the DVD Look?

Presented in a letterboxed 1.66:1 aspect ratio but not anamorphically enhanced Berlinguer I Love You looks slightly above average. While contrast and tone colors appear rather tolerable there is plenty in this print that does not sit well with me. I see some occasional dust specs and aside from that the image feels a bit too unstable for my taste. I can not help but think that an anamorphic enhancement would have eliminated at least some of the flaws that are so easily noticeable with the current print. With this said, you will be able to enjoy the film should you view it on a standard tube and probably end up being a tiny bit more suspicious with the quality of this disc if you choose to run it through a high-end home theater system. All in all not disappointing but certainly not impressive either!

How Does the DVD Sound?

Presented with its original Italian 2.0 track the film sounds rather well. Certainly I was not able to notice any major flaws with the audio presentation and considering the age of the film I believe that Koch Lorber have provided a satisfying audio track. With optional English subtitles.

Extras:

Aside from the original Italian trailer for Berlinguer I Love You and a few trailers for other Koch catalog releases there is nothing else to be found on this disc.

Final Thoughts:

It is commendable that Koch Lorber have decided to provide Benigni's acting debut for the US market. I would think however that an anamorphic enhancement is now a mandatory requirement for all DVD releases that we would consider decent. So, I find it a bit disappointing that there are still companies in North America treating films in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 as being unsuitable for 16/9 enhancement (o, yes I am well aware of the technical argument against 1.66 anamorphic treatment...and I don't share it). Aside from that if you consider yourself a die-hard fan of the famous Italian comedian you would definitely want to see this film. If not, I would recommend you rent something more appealing. RENT IT.