Under English Heaven, with Italian Subtitles and Americanisms Thrown In
583749
This was not your average English village mystery.  The introduction of the protagonist, an American woman, newly married to a recently widowed young English vicar was clever and unfolded in an interesting way.  She is more complex and human than one usually finds in these fictional situations.  Almost none of the characters are what they seem or are what they would be assumed to be.  The mystery unfolds throughout the book and the twists and turns made for a very enjoyable read.  I look forward to reading more from this author.
2295436
Sophia Loren is at the top of her game in this 1964 film by Vittorio de Sica, and she and Marcello Mastroianni display real chemistry acting together. The story is much more than just a slick comedy, and can keep you guessing what's coming next.

Most of the reviews here complain bitterly about the poor quality of the DVD transfer. Well, it isn't great, but I've seen far worse. And it's really only in the first few minutes of the movie that the video quality is especially poor; it improves considerably a little further on, and then remains that way.

At least one reviewer has remarked that without subtitles the video quality is much better. There's a simple explanation for this. There are actually two separate complete copies of the movie on the DVD, taken from different sources. If you'll notice, the Carlo Ponti Italian release (without subtitles) begins with red curtains, whereas the Joseph E Levine American release, with burned-in subtitles, omits that intro. The original Italian copy that was used for that portion of the DVD was in much better condition than the original of the American release.

The bottom line is, if you care more about how sharp your picture is than about the qualities of the movie itself, then this is definitely to be avoided. But if you're able to excuse a less-than-pristine copy of an important film, or alternately, if you can manage some Italian without subtitles, then go for it.

--------------------------------------------
EDIT: One previous reviewer complained that the movie is dubbed, and another complained that the English version was wanted but the Italian version had been sent.

Neither of the two different copies on this DVD is dubbed into English; both are in the original Italian. I'm not aware of a dubbed version ever having been made. The American release of the movie has subtitles in English (granted, not the best or most complete job of subtitling possible, but not at all bad -- they're in the film stock itself rather than being added for the DVD, and are exactly the same as what you would have seen in a theater in 1964), while the Italian copy does not.

I sense a bit of piling-on in these reviews -- something doesn't meet your highest expectations, and then you find all these 1-star reviews here, which just reinforces your own disappointment, so you add another one instead of putting the situation into perspective. Many of these old Joseph E Levine releases of foreign films are in fair-to-poor condition, and the DVD issuer used the best copy they could find; they didn't screw it up just out of laziness or to annoy people. It's true that with a lot of expensive equipment and an enormous amount of time and labor a film can go through a restoration process where each frame is digitally cleaned up, and perhaps eventually an outfit like Criterion may turn their attention to this one. In the meantime, this is what there is.

So don't buy this DVD unless you're willing to watch a great movie with less-than-perfect video.
125359
This is a story about an Italian man who goes to Istanbul to settle the estate of his deceased aunt.  Though eager to sell off the property she has left him, when he discovers that the property is a hamam (Turkish bath), he becomes ambivalent about selling.  His own perspectives on his life, Istanbul, the hamam, and the family with whom he is staying are highlighted by his aunt's words which we hear throughout the movie as he reads her returned letters.
Istanbul is somewhat romanticized, with old and new customs side by side, sometimes competing and other times in harmony.  All in all, it's a lovely film in Italian with English subtitles.
3888203
Hard to fathom why there's no Region 1 DVD of this film available.  I don't mind a non-English version, though subtitles would be nice, but this one begs to be given the Criterion treatment, or at least MOD.  Look to it, Hollywood sophistos!  Give those young lawyers some work to do!
312305
And A&E does it again, shame on them. Although they have an amazing library of video spanning decades of interesting and entertaining shows, they choose to shun their non English-speaking viewers by not including subtitles, not even in English for the deaf and hard of hearing. A little investment in translation and subtitles, and maybe even not the translation, just the plain transcription of the dialogues, could have bolstered sales of shows like this one, UFO (the British edition by ITV Studios Home Entertainment does offer subtitles), Shaka Zulu and so many others. One exception is the new edition of Upstairs, Downstairs, which will be released next month and which seemingly will include SDH subtitles. However, it will be released through Acorn Media, so A&E is not off the hook.

If this edition had subtitles, either in English or Spanish (my mother tongue), I might make the jump to Blu-ray right now. I can only think of what Syndrome said to Robert Parr (Mr. Incredible): Lame, lame, lame!
2426715
If you can get past the language, this is a good movie.
3710886
OMG I LOVE SISSI! Always have always will. If you are watching this hoping to learn german by reading subtites-- DONT! The subtitles most of the time do not match what was actually said. Franz' father is hilarious but the english subtitles ruin his jokes.
(I am a native german speaker, english is my second language)
3011752
There are a few English speakers who are hard of hearing, and who depend on subtitles or closed caption.  Especially to make up for the mumbling and bad recording quality that seems to be common in Hollywood works.
4833410
More, please!! The culture of the middle class northern Italian comes right through
the translation, which was very well done except for the switch to inches and pounds.
I would have kept it metric. Euros weren't changed to Dollars, after all.
A lucky find!!!
4679244
NOBODY KNOWS THE MEANING OF "STO CAZZO!" IN ITALIAN? 5 STARS ONLY FOR THE TITLE!
2365862
Not for us!  Americans, MAYBE if you are into English, Chinese HUMOR.
2266314
The show has great promise, but if you can' t understand the dialogue you miss 90% of the fun. If the producers had included English subtitles, this show would be a runaway best seller. Really too bad and very short sighted of the producer.
3266248
This romp pits a group of subterrean folks-misfits is not really the right word-against well-connected interests in a very unfair world. The gadgetry and Parisian backgrounds (mostly in non-tourist venues) are a rich canvas for the antics, however improbable, of this troup. The characters are mostly believable and well-drawn. The movie's only flaw is that the subtitles are not complete. I can't comment on accuracy since I am not a Francophone. But there are several segments when the characters are singing or speaking and the subtitles are absent. Most subtitling of foreign films for Anglophone audiences is poor quality and it's this kind of carelessness that turns people off from subtitled films they would otherwise enjoy. If this movie were carefully dubbed in English it would have a much wider appeal to Anglophone audiences.
2727151
i'm not sure why i'm the first to comment that this book is 80% universal body language (demonstrated by colorful italian characters)/20% actual italian body language/hand gestures. if you want to laugh at 'translations' of a man holding his stomach and grimacing ("italian" for "i ate like a pig!"), or holding his nose ("italian" for "you stink!") then buy this book. if you don't know what a woman rolling her eyes with a dreamy expression means (in "italian" --"he's a hunk") or how to say "don't touch me" in "italian" (point your ever-handy wooden spoon at someone and flare your eyes), then get this book. the few actual italian hand gestures are ok but there aren't many.
993081
I read "In other words" in a few hours. As I closed the book, my first thought was: congrats Mrs. Lahiri, now you know what it feels like to learn a new language. That's how everyone feels: me, when I learned English and a few others languages, students on a daily basis, half New York city subway riders, surely that lady sitting close to me, with whom I am having a conversation. She is from Cuba and is learning English; she struggles to make the transition from Spanish to English, she does it without glory and without Pulitzer prizes. She, too, had to learn it as an adult; she, too, feels frustrated and sad.
What makes your experience different, Mrs. Lahiri? What makes you superior in your self-pity and whining? That you were chilling and hanging around Rome learning Italian? How about work? How about those individuals who have to get away from their country, come to terms with a new life, a new job, the necessity of learning a new language?
Oh, but you did it out of a self-indulgent, hobby-turned-into-obsession whim.
"In Other Words" is a panegyric in which Mrs. Lahiri claims she is embarking on a unique journey of desperation, obsession, frustration, sadness, depression, in learning a new language. 94.1 % of European adults have studied a second language and can express themselves in it. What is so unique about her enterprise?
Let's leave alone motivation and talk about her Italian, her prose, her style. Undoubtedly, she has an advanced knowledge of the language. Yet her short memoir gave me the goosebumps. She piles up awkward adjectives that in Italian don't work, one after the other, all synonyms of sad, frustrated, confused and so on and so forth. Adjectives used perhaps by Verga, or Petrarca, or whomever she read, but that make little sense now. "mi preoccupo che il mio italiano suoni un po' imbranato", "il primo idioma della mia vita", "l'andirivieni linguistico mi scompigliava", that awful chapter "PENOMBRA".
Last but not least, playing the racist game doesn't really suit you or benefit you, Mrs. Lahiri: it is very ambitious of you to claim that Italians pretend they do not understand you "because you don't look Italian", because they judge you by your looks. If they compliment your husband, he certainly speaks better than you. Italy has 307.5 thousand immigrants as of 2015. Every colour, race, country of origin. No, we wouldn't pretend we can't understand someone just because of their skin colour.
Bottom line: stay away from this book; it's a meagre and pretty useless exercise in style, a sort of diary nobody wants to read about a subjects we all know too well, even better than Mrs. Lahiri.
I heard she is a terrific writer about the Indian experience in America; as for her struggles with Italian language, it would be better to give vent to her frustration with her Italian teachers, as all of us both learners and teachers of foreign languages constantly do.
3845149
Awesome, if only presented either English dubbed, or with English actors.
1708450
The meticulous translation from the Queen's English to American English is a credit to Muratori's talent. The author's humour is well-rendered throughout the volume, and I eagerly await Volume II.