The Witches (1967) Blu-ray

In the mid-sixties, famed producer Dino De Laurentiis brought together the talents of five celebrated Italian directors for an anthology film. Their brief was simple: to direct an episode in which Silvana Mangano (Bitter Rice, Ludwig) plays a witch.

Luchino Visconti (Ossessione, Death in Venice) and screenwriter Cesare Zavattini (Bicycle Thieves) open the film with The Witch Burned Alive, about a famous actress and a drunken evening that leads to unpleasant revelations. Civic Sense is a lightly comic interlude from Mauro Bolognini (The Lady of the Camelias) with a dark conclusion, and The Earth as Seen from the Moon sees Italian comedy legend Totò team up with Pier Paolo Pasolini (Theorem) for the first time for a tale of matrimony and a red-headed father and son. Franco Rosso (The Woman in the Painting) concocts a story of revenge in The Sicilian s Wife, while Vittorio De Sica (Shoeshine) casts Clint Eastwood as Mangano s estranged husband in An Evening Like the Others, concluding The Witches with a stunning homage to Italian comic books.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements produced by Arrow Films exclusively for this release
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original Italian mono audio (uncompressed LPCM)
• Brand-new audio commentary by film critic and novelist Tim Lucas
• Interview with actor Ninetto Davoli, recorded exclusively for this release
• English-language version of Vittorio De Sica s episode, An Evening Like the Others, starring Clint Eastwood
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Pasquale Iannone and Kat Ellinger