A cinematic "cry" from one of the most revered of all auteurs, Italian maestro Michelangelo Antonioni (L'avventura, La notte, Il Deserto Rosso) depicts a world of heartbreaking alienation, with characters riven by trauma, cast against the stunning backdrop of northern Italy's Po Valley, where the director spent his childhood.

When sugar refinery worker Aldo (Steve Cochran) is jilted by his mistress, Irma (Alida Valli), he takes to the road. With daughter in tow, Aldo wanders the Po River delta, seeking temporary – but always illusory – respite with a series of lovers, who only serve to remind him of Irma. Unable to find a new life, Aldo's haunted past gives way to a fateful finale.

With a script conceived by Antonioni, exquisite cinematography by Gianni Di Venanzo (including a signature concern with desolate vistas), and a plaintive score by renowned composer Giovanni Fusco, the award-winning Il Grido – which scooped the Golden Leopard at Locarno – is an early key work in the director's much-celebrated oeuvre.

Il Grido will be released for the first time on UK DVD on 25th May 2009 by Eureka as part of the Masters of Cinema series at the RRP of £19.99. Featuring a new high definition transfer of the film in its original aspect ratio and newly translated optional English subtitles, the disc will also have the following extra features:

• Original 1957 Italian theatrical trailer;
• Previously unseen footage deleted from the director's cut;
• 56-page booklet featuring a colour reproduction of the original Italian poster, archival publicity stills, an essay by William Arrowsmith (Antonioni: The Poet of Images), and writing and interviews from Michelangelo Antonioni.