6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
When a narcotics detective finds out that his beautiful wife - who is an ex-criminal - is cheating on him, he hires a professional hit-man to bump her off. However, things don't go quite according to plan.
Starring: John Mills (I), Luciana Paluzzi, Robert Hoffmann, Renate Kasché, Tullio AltamuraForeign | 100% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
What exactly constitutes a spoiler? All of us who review at Blu-ray.com have experienced annoyed messages or forum posts from various readers complaining that we’ve “spoiled” some salient plot point, when by the very nature of a review, where at least a general outline of the film’s story must be addressed, something (whether minor or major) is going to get “spoiled”. But beyond the confines of a review, indeed within the context of a film itself, what might be thought of as a spoiler? There were a lot of jokes back when Titanic was released which actually made fun of people who were apparently upset that both the film and casual audience members “gave away” the fact that there was a certain calamity that attended the journey. Really? And so we come to the kind of interesting 1968 quasi-giallo A Black Veil for Lisa, a film which begins with Lisa herself (Luciana Paluzzi, Thunderball) attending a funeral in that titular black veil. And in fact the title of the film at least hints that the voluptuous Lisa is evidently going to be mourning someone, and considering the fact that the film soon divulges she’s married to an older policeman named Franz Bulon (John Mills), some viewers may feel like things are “spoiled” fairly early on. Putting that qualm aside, A Black Veil for Lisa is often fascinating on its own relatively lo-fi terms, with an admirably pulpy feel that carries the film through some florid touches.
A Black Veil for Lisa is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This has a fairly dated look, one which doesn't help obviously aged and damaged elements. The palette has faded at least slightly (and at times more than slightly), with densities and saturation fluctuating throughout the presentation. Contrast is generally solid but can't overcome deficits in shadow detail in some of the darkest sequences. That said, there's still quite excellent delineation between the black raincoat and gloves of the killer and some of the shadowy backgrounds he moves through. Detail is very good in close-ups, but generally speaking sharpness and clarity are only average. The grain field is relatively heavy throughout the presentation, giving a kind of palpable texture to the proceedings.
A Black Veil for Lisa features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track that has a fair degree of boxiness, along with the perhaps unavoidable surreality that often attends Italian films which were at least partially post-looped. Fidelity is good to very good, with no real damage to report, but no overwhelming vivacity either.
There are no supplements of any kind on this Blu-ray disc. The main menu offers Play and Chapters options.
A Black Veil for Lisa manages to be unexpectedly compelling even when it can't quite gain sufficient traction to be really memorable. Mills is better at detailing the angst of his character than Bulon's supposed toughness, and it's in the emotional breakdown of the Inspector that the film finds whatever emotional resonance it attains. Dallamano invests the film with quite a bit of style, and some of the framings are unusual and quite interesting. As a curio if nothing else, and despite only average technical merits, A Black Veil for Lisa comes Recommended.
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