The Perfume of the Lady in Black – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1974
Director: Francesco Barilli
Writers: Francesco Barilli, Massimo D’Avak
Cast: Mimsy Farmer, Maurizio Bonuglia, Mario Scaccia, Jho Jhenkins, Nike Arrighi, Lara Wendel, Aleka Paizi, Renata Zamengo

Release Date: June 26th, 2017
Approximate running time: 103 Minutes 55 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono English, LPCM Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: OOP

"Hardened giallo fans have been screaming out for a British release of 1974’s macabre masterpiece THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK. Long considered one of the genre’s greatest achievements, this surreal and spooky exploration of a beautiful Hitchcockian blonde and her breakdown into oddball visions of childhood and violence, not to mention a bloody body count that seems concurrent with her mysterious and malevolent mindscapes, is a truly unique spin on the long-running Italian terror-trend." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.75/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the Film sourced from the Original Negative.” 

The Perfume of the Lady in Black comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 30.5 GB

Feature: 29.1 GB

The 88 Films transfer is a massive improvement over the Raro Videos transfer in every way. Also, 88 Films dedicates almost 17 more GB to the main feature. It should be noted that 88 Films' transfer also exhibits digital noise, which fortunately is not as pronounced as it is on Raro Video’s transfer.

Audio: 3.75/5 (LPCM Mono Italian), 3.5/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in English and a LPCM mono mix in Italian. These audio tracks are compared to the audio tracks on Raro Video’s Blu-ray release. Included with this release are removable English subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 20 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), Italian opening and closing credits (2 minutes 24 seconds, LPCM mono, and reversible cover art.

Summary:

When one thinks of Italian thrillers, the image of black-gloved killers lurking in the shadows often springs to mind. And while not every Italian thriller is bound to these aforementioned staples of the genre, very few Italian thrillers since Mario Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much have diverged much away from this tried and true formula.

Content wise, the two most obvious influences on Francesco Barilli’s The Perfume of the Lady in Black are Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby. In fact, one could go so far to say that Roman Polanski’s cinematic style had the most undeniable influence on Francesco Barilli while making The Perfume of the Lady in Black. Besides the aforementioned Rosemary’s Baby, there are also many similarities that can be found between The Perfume of the Lady in Black and Roman Polanski’s Repulsion.

Though the narrative structure can be challenging at times, the climatic payoff is oddly appropriate and makes everything that has unfolded become clear. Between the hypnotic visuals, pitch-perfect pacing and Nicola Piovani’s (Flavia the Heretic) evocative score, the overall style reinforces the fractured state of mind of The Perfume of the Lady in Black’s protagonist. From a production standpoint, The Perfume of the Lady in Black excels in just about every imaginable way.

Also exceptional are the performances from its entire cast, especially Mimsy Farmer (Four Flies on Grey Velvet) in the role of Silvia Hacherman, the protagonist of this film. This is easily one of the strongest performances of her career. Another performance of note is Lara Wendel (My Dear Killer) in the role of the adolescent Silvia.

Italian cinema has never shied from cloning whatever cinema was in vogue at the time. And while there are certainly many moments in which The Perfume of the Lady in Black flamboyantly flaunts its influences, the end result is a film that, more than any other Italian film of the era, transcends its initial inspiration.

88 Films gives The Perfume of the Lady in Black its best audio/video presentation, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer