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Perfume of the Lady in Black (The) AKA Il Profumo della signora in nero (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Powerhouse Films Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (8th September 2025). |
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The Film
 Mimsy Farmer (Four Flies on Grey Velvet), Maurizio Bonuglia (Ludwig), and Mario Scaccia (We Still Kill the Old Way) lead the cast of The Perfume of the Lady in Black, a surreal giallo thriller directed by Italian polymath Francesco Barilli (Hotel Fear). Silvia (Farmer) is tormented by hallucinations from her troubled childhood, including her mother applying perfume in a black dress. Her mental state unravels as she struggles to separate her surreal visions from a series of violent occurrences. Photographed by Palme d’Or-winning cinematographer Mario Masini (Padre Padrone) and scored by Academy Award-winner Nicola Piovani (Life Is Beautiful), The Perfume of the Lady in Black is an eccentric and stylish classic of the Italian giallo.
Video
This is a languorous marriage of giallo and supernatural horror, exquisitely crafted with fine performances and an intriguing plot. Certainly a better, more accomplished work that Death Carries a Cane, it's release stablemate. I first saw this many years ago on the Italian Raro DVD which this new version blows out of the water and that DVD was decent for it's time. A fine showcase for American actress Mimsy Farmer who had a great career acting in European movies: More (1969), Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971), Autopsy (1973) and The Black Cat (1980). From the booklet: The Perfume of the Lady in Black was scanned in 4K at Augustus Color in Rome using the original 35mm negative. 4K HDR colour correction and restoration work was undertaken at Filmfinity, London, where Phoenix image-processing tools were used to remove many thousands of instances of dirt, eliminate scratches and other imperfections, as well as repair damaged frames. No grain management, edge enhancement or sharpening tools were employed to artificially alter the image in any way. Audio conform and restoration work on the English and Italian tracks was carried out by Michael Brooke using iZotope RX 10.The first thing you notice on this new 4K restoration is that the colours pop from the off. Ruddy flesh tones, vivid greens, vibrant reds (checkout the dark room scene early on). This is a stunning looking film and the transfer sears the eyes with it's richness. Black levels and contrast are perfecly judged to allow depth in the image and detail to shine along all focal planes but closeups have a three dimensional quality. You can see individual hairs on Mimsy Farmer's head blowing in the breeze, each clearly delineated. The encode is top notch and the grain is beautifully resolved. Every shot brings wonders, this is definitely a demo level disc for a film of this ilk and era ('A+'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.85:1 / 104:27
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (48kHz, 24-bit) Subtitles: English (for the Italian Track), English HoH (for the English Track) The English track is well done and the preferable option as it matches the lip movements very closely and it's got Farmer doing and the late Niké Arrighi - The Devil Rides Out (1967), Countess Dracula (1970), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Day for Night (1973)- doing their own dubbing. All the usual issues one would expect from a dub-track, a slightly canned quality and this affects the Italian dub as well. Both also have the usual analogue hiss and occasional sibilance but they are fairly normal for European dubs. Scoring omes through nicely and the dialogue remains front and centre. These tracks are presented about as good as they can be. Both subtitle tracks are meticulously done covering all the nuance, at least on the sections I sampled ('B+').
Extras
Audio commentary with film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth and Nathanial Thompson (2025) As with their track for Death Carries a Cane, this trio cover all the bases one would expect: cats, key creatives, where the film sits in the Italian genre tradition etc. a lively, strong track. Once gain Ercolini is more of a moderator but he has much more of a presence on this yaktrak which is very welcome. Presented in lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no subtitle options. "Exploring Beauty: Francisco Barilli on The Perfume of the Lady in Black" 2025 interview (19:59) "The Death of Cinema: An Archival Interview with Francisco Barilli" 2025 featurette featuring a 2015 interview (16:05) "Portrait in Black" 2004 interview with Francisco Barilli (24:26) 60:30 worth of interviews with the 82 year old Barilli. Sadly the twenty one years spanning the three sessions are all too obvious and he's looking and sounding rather frail in 2025. He's got much to say and is always very interesting covering his approach to film, the era he worked in and the film itself. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 (2025, 2015) and upscaled 1080p24 1.33:1 (2004) with lossy Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) with optional English subtitles. "The Memories of the Lady in White: Daniela Barnes AKA Lara Wendall on The Perfume of the Lady in Black" 2025 interview (11:23) Audio Interview set to clips and stills with former child actress Barnes is fairly brief but covers her father - actor Walt Barnes (1918-98) - the film and her subsequent career; she was in Federico Fellini's Amarcord (1975) and Dario Argento's Tenebrae, 1982. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) with optional English subtitles. "The Profumo Affair: Stephen Thrower on The Perfume of the Lady in Black" 2025 interview (34:19) Thrower is rapidly becoming a mainstay of more than Jess Franco and Lucio Fulci releases and he's just as detiled nd interesting here discussing Barilli and The Perfume of the Lady in Black. He can always be relied upon to give us a detailed and passionate analysis. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no subtitle options. "A Classical Approach: Lovely Jon on Nicola Piovani and the Music of The Perfume of the Lady in Black" 2025 interview with Jon Casbard (33:28) Casbard under his professional alias gives us the low down on Piovanni's career and a fine, detailed look at his evocative nd memorable score. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no subtitle options. "Barilli's Roma: The Locations of The Perfume of the Lady in Black" 2025 featurette (5:51) Short look at the incredible Rome locations both in 1974 and 2025. Presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with lossy Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 192Kbps) with no subtitle options. Italian Theatrical Trailer (3:22) International Theatrical Trailer (3:21) Vintage promos presented in 1080p24 1.85:1 with uncompressed sound, Italian LPCM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) wIth optional English subtitles and English LCPM 1.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) with no subtitle options. The Perfume of the Lady in Black Image Gallery: Original Promotional Material (21 images) A small HD still gallery. 80-page liner notes book with a new essay by Paul Duane, a career-spanning archival interview with director Francesco Barilli, an archival profile of actor Mimsy Farmer and full film credits We have a comparatively rare interview with director Barilli which is interesting. The new essay gives us a nice potted history of the film and other pieces also offer great contextually added value.
Packaging
Not sent for review.
Overall
Francissco Barilli's well-regarded mashup of giallo and superntural horror gets the deluxe treatment from Powerhouse Films in the UK. The new 4K restoration is available in both standard BD and UHD BD packages, with the former being the disc under analysis here. Image and sound are as strong as can be with the former no doubt getting a huge boost on it's perfection by the added resolution and HDR (Higher Dynamic Range) of the UHD BD. Extras are also well up to standard with pride of place being another fine commentary, and the more than 100 minutes of featurettes. One of the discs of the year for me, highly recommended ('A').
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