I Knew Her Well (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Description

This prismatic portrait of the days and nights of a party girl in sixties Rome is a revelation. On the surface, I Knew Her Well, directed by Antonio Pietrangeli, plays like an inversion of La dolce vita with a woman at its center, following the gorgeous, seemingly liberated Adriana (Divorce Italian Style s Stefania Sandrelli) as she dallies with a wide variety of men, attends parties, goes to modeling gigs, and circulates among the rich and famous. Despite its often light tone, though, the film is a stealth portrait of a suffocating culture that regularly dehumanizes people, especially women. A seriocomic character study that never strays from its complicated central figure while keeping us at an emotional remove, I Knew Her Well is one of the most overlooked films of the sixties, by turns hilarious, tragic, and altogether jaw-dropping.

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
– New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
– New interview with actor Stefania Sandrelli
– New interview with film scholar Luca Barattoni about the career of director Antonio Pietrangeli
– Trailer
– New English subtitle translation
– PLUS: An essay by journalist and author Alexander Stille