Official Synopsis:

Sophia Loren: 4-Film Collection -

Attila (1954)
In this dramatic war epic, Sophia Loren promises to marry Attila the Hun (Anthony Quinn) if he topples her hated brother, the Emperor of Italy, from power.

I Girasoli (Sunflower) (1970)
After her husband (Marcello Mastroianni) is declared MIA while fighting in Russia during World War II, his widow (Loren) searches records and cemeteries, only to learn he is alive and remarried.

Madame Sans-Gene (1962)
Sophia Loren, the outspoken, rambunctious laundress of an unknown lieutenant, Napoleon, later becomes part of Emperor Napoleon's court when she marries a soldier elevated to Duke by the Emperor.

Carosello Napoletano (1954)
A young Sophia Loren makes a guest appearance, along with some of Italy's most popular tenors of the time, in this Cannes Film Festival winner which celebrates Italian song and the city of Naples.

Catherine Deneuve: 5-Film Collection -

Manon 70
In this update of a French novel, Catherine Deneuve worships the luxurious lifestyle she attains by sleeping with wealthy men until she falls in love with a poor, young reporter (Sami Frey).

Le Sauvage
In this madcap romantic comedy, Catherine Deneuve follows a stranger (Yves Montand) to his private island and soon takes over his life.

Hotel Des Ameriques
In this atmospheric, powerful drama, an unexpected romance between an emotionally unbalanced man (Patrick Dewaere) and a successful doctor (Catherine Deneuve) has startling consequences.

Le Choc
In this tension-filled crime thriller, a hired killer (Alain Delon) determined to retire, hides from his crime bosses in the country where he succumbs to Catherine Deneuve.

Fort Saganne
The sweeping story of a young officer (Gerard Depardieu) whose military triumphs in the French Sahara transform him into a courageous war hero and the lover of a beautiful French journalist (Catherine Deneuve).

Our Take:

Lionsgate has once again delved into their recently acquired Studio Canal catalog to produce actor-themed box sets.  Following their collection of Brigitte Bardot films, Lionsgate has released collections for two more of cinema’s most attractive European women, Sophia Loren: 4-Film Collection and Catherine Denevue: 5-Film Collection.  As with the Bardot set, people will want these sets purely for the actresses they are dedicated to.  None of the major films in the illustrious canon of Sophia Loren or the French New Wave period of Catherine Denevue’s career are present.  Instead, the nine films contained in these two sets serve the single solitary purpose of watching these women act.  Both Ms. Loren and Ms. Denevue are excellent actresses, even if these films do not highlight their great talents.  It is a testament to them as stars that a company could release a whole collection of their minor works, which are still enjoyable, while the average “hot actress” today has nothing but a career of unfulfilling minor works.  Madame Sans-Gene is nothing more than a feature-length testament to Ms. Loren’s famously curvaceous figure and is the sweetest of the four saccharine films in her set. 

As for Ms. Deneuve, it is her role in Hotel Des Ameriques that stands out as director Andre Techine turns things on their head and has Ms. Deneuve, always the object of desire, becoming the one who does the desiring for a change.  This is also the most interesting film in either set, as Techine does more than just aim a camera at his beautiful star, but infuses the film with the emotional high and lows of love lost, sought, and had, all the while making profound statements on how we as people deal with our lovers’ past loves.  This was a shocking theme to see tackled by a French film seeing as popular sentiment would have us believe the French are far too advanced in the matters of sex and love to find such a topic worth discussing, even in film.  But, then again, Andre Techine, is no ordinary Frenchman, and is one of the great French directors even if his reputation does not precede him here in America.

Lionsgate has insisted on using the awkward soft-to-touch but rigid DVD cases they unveiled with their Bardot release.  This makes getting to the actual discs a bit of a pain and also, one of the cases has already cracked along its seams.  The video quality of the films is not as strong as I have come to expect from the Studio Canal masters Lionsgate has been using, but they are not distractingly bad.  The special features on the sets are as follows:

Sophia Loren: 4-Film Collection

* Sophia Loren: La Diva Popolana (18 minutes)

Catherine Denevue: 5-Film Collection

* No extras

Sophia Loren: 4-Film Collection and Catherin Denevue: 5-Film Collection are a classic case of beggars can’t be choosers.  I am thrilled to have these nine films finally available in the US, but Lionsgate could have spent a lot more time and effort on these releases.  It’s clear that these films were randomly thrown together with the only coherent link between them being the respective actresses.  Aside from Hotel Des Ameriques, there are no films contained among the two sets that require any more of the viewer than an appreciation of the physical beauty.  While I am glad Lionsgate is mining their Studio Canal catalog, it may be time for them to start exercising a quality-over-quantity approach.

Overall Picture:
Movies (on average): C+

Movie: Hotel Des Ameriques: B+

DVD sets: C
 
- Matthew Orlando
Staff Writer