(Francesco Barilli, 1974)
(essay by Kevin)
When I was approached by Jamie to participate in this countdown I knew I wanted to make sure Italian horror got its due. And when Jamie told me his intentions for the countdown – a numerical listing of films with the intent to raise awareness rather than rank one better than another – I knew I wanted to shed some light onto some Italian horror movies that weren’t as well known as the staples of the subgenre. These are films like The Short Night of the Glass Dolls (Aldo Lado) or The House with Laughing Windows (Pupi Avati); films that have a cult following within a cult subgenre. One of the real joys about this particular sungenre is the hope that the more you watch the same old gialli over and over that just maybe this time you’ll un-mine some hidden gem. Case in point: Francesco Barilli’s The Perfume of the Lady in Black, a fantastic addition into the most hallowed halls of Italian horror.
The story – an odd mix of giallo/Hitchcock and some of the baroque qualities of a Bava – concerns Silvia (Mimsy Farmer), an industrial scientist, who becomes increasingly disturbed by a series of eerie visions from her past. These visions, crucial pieces to solving the film’s puzzle, include a seductive woman who appears when she is about to make love with her boyfriend and a little girl who piques Silvia’s interest. What’s fascinating about the picture is the way Barilli approaches the mystery of these visions: are they specters acting as representations of something from Silvia’s past, or are they merely figments of Silvia’s imagination? Silvia’s psychosis becomes a point of emphasis, and it sucks the viewer in much in the same way Silvia is taken hold by these visions (it reminded me of the obsessed quest of Scotty from Vertigo). It isn’t long before Silvia’s neighbors, friends and Roberto, her lover, begin to take on sinister significance. Whether or not the significance of these visions is a clue to Silvia’s past, or something more sinister, is what makes the film’s mystery so brilliant. I was blindsided by the ending of this film, perhaps because of its deliberate pace and lush visuals I wasn’t expecting the visceral jolt I received with those final images.
The Perfume of the Lady in Black just feels different than any other Italian giallo. The film opens on a still photograph accompanied by the beautiful and haunting music by Nicola Piovani, and it’s offsetting because this is not how most Italian horror films begin…it’s almost too classy! From the opening image the viewer isn’t sure what to expect, and Barilli maintains this sense of mystery and uncertainty perfectly throughout the film, so, like all great gialli, we’re not certain of the answers to the film’s central mystery until the very last frames. The film employs a lot of the neon-aesthetic made famous by Argento in Suspiria, but Mario Masini’s cinematography predates Argento’s seminal horror film, and aside from it always a pleasure to look at (one of the major selling points of Italian horror), it’s clear that Argento wasn’t the only one who could do arty, garish horror films. What struck me most about the film was that I hadn’t even heard of the film until a few months ago. Sadly the film isn’t available on region one DVD in America, so I had to seek out, ahem, alternative ways to watch the film. But that’s what I love about this particular subgenre, there’s always something new to discover, and The Perfume of the Lady in Black is one of the very best of the recent discoveries I’ve made, an interesting precursor to what Argento would popularize with Suspiria.
* Below is the American trailer for the film…I’ll let the images of the trailer speak for itself, and act as the conclusion to this post. Enjoy.
(this film appeared on just one list, Kevin’s at #19)
There must be something laced in the drinking water coming out of the taps in the house the Olsen brothers grew up in… Last two days saw two incredible essays by TROY and, now, here comes a brilliant piece by Kevin barreling in. Again, a film I have not seen, but the review is so precise in motive and excitement of uncovering a gem we may not have heard of that it arrests the newcomers doubts and makes the film a must see… It seems with every new review that this count grows stronger everyday and I’m finding myself glued to the PC screen and Blackberry in anticipation to see what’s next and continue the joy I’m getting in the writings of these guys that are not wasting the spotlight provided them by Sam… Schmulee told me to give the guys time so they could find their footing and voices for the result would be something completely original and surprizing. As always, I should never doubt my old friend. This was, as I called Troys effort from two days ago, a DAZZLING piece that caught me from first word.
Dennis, thanks. this is a very nice post.
(Phew, just now catching up on the last few days of posts and comments).
Dennis — THANK YOU! I’m glad we are opening up some new options for your viewing pleasure. This film is available in full on YouTube and though the quality isn’t top notch, it’s worth the time to check out. I watched it that way, but after our ballots were submitted — otherwise this would likely have found a place on my list. I’d still like to seek out a better quality copy to get the full effects of the lush colors Kevin mentions, but just as with TOBY DAMMIT from earlier in the countdown, viewing a so-so copy is better than nothing.
A very enticing trailer. I definitely see traces of Hitchcock, Polanski, and Kubrick here – though in the last case, this actually precedes The Shining by 6 years (the little girl’s a dead ringer). I like it when videos are included in posts – it’s fun and can be useful to rehash, analyze, or engage with the movies in prose but every once in a while a video’s a good reminder of the tangible object at the center of our musings – an experience which, in some aspect of its essence, always eludes being “captured.” Looking forward to the film, Kevin!
This film I had never heard of and when we submitted our final 100’s and it was at 19 in Kevin’s list so I tracked it down. It’s a real obscure gem, that I believe I had to watch on youtube (that’s still the only place I’ve seen it available).
I read a review that described it as ‘…if Antonioni made a giallo…’, which sounds very strange, but it fits in a weird way. Kevin, again offers the sort of pick to non-genre fans that’s a blessing; you could be ‘into’ Italian horror for 10 years and never see this film (or never even become aware of it), I’m jealous of the non-genre fans here that will inevitably get into Italian horror/eurotrash after this list, they are going to see 10-15 of the real greats of the genre and not have to watch the 10’s or 100’s of rank garbage out there that one would have normally wade through to get to something like this.
Anyways, Kevin superb essay here.
For anyone in the Los Angeles area, the Silent Movie Theater is doing a giallo series in October and on the 21st they will be showing “The Perfume of the Lady in Black.” It’s the middle picture of a triple feature with “Amer” and “What Have You Done to Solange?” Here’s the link to their calender: http://www.cinefamily.org/calendar/index.html. I was planning to go, but after reading this piece I am even more eager to see it. Thanks!
Like the two other giallo films Kevin mentions, The Short Night of the Glass Dolls and The House with Laughing Windows, this is great because it takes many of the genre trappings and tweaks them just enough to be unique. That really is some kind of ending! Great recap here Kevin.
I love that Kevin mentions SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS by Lado in his review, that’s one of his first two films I believe, both are forgotten giallo masterpieces. (Much like the Martino, plus a few other Martino’s like ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK, and the VICE series).
Thanks everyone for the comments. Sorry I’m just now getting to this. I’m glad this has piqued the interest of the readers here.
Jamie…I made sure to point out Aldo’s films knowing what a fan of his you are.
I just got to this now Kevin. The trailer is dazzling, exhibiting the disorientation of SUSPIRIA. I’ll have to get hold of a copy! Terrific review of a unique discovery!