A White Dress for Marialé Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

A White Dress for Marialé Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 2, 2022

1972’s “A White Dress for Mariale” offers an Agatha Christie-style set-up for danger, sending a collection of disparate characters to a secluded place to deal with one another and the presence of a murderer coming after them. We’ve been here before, but director Romano Scavolini tries to bend psychology with the endeavor, which doesn’t even get to any point of suspense until the hour mark. It’s a long drive to a crisis situation for “A White Dress for Mariale,” which doesn’t reward the patience required to get through the film, but Scavolini certainly tries to bring style and threatening elements to the effort, offering an interestingly shot feature that’s appreciable on a technical level, but not always on a dramatic one.

Scarred for life after witnessing the murder of her mother as a child, Mariale (Evelyn Stewart) has grown up to be a shell of a woman, kept in tight control by her husband, who maintains authority over her actions while living in an old manor. In an act of defiance, Mariale manages to send invitations to her friends to come to the dwelling for a dinner party, and soon the guests arrive. Most curious about the situation is Massimo (Ivan Rassimov), who tries to make sense of Mariale’s living experience. A night of fun soon involves the exploration of the manor, uncovering a few of its secrets, and the festivities eventually transform into costumed chaos, allowing a mystery killer to pick off members of the gathering as Mariale deals with her past.

There’s a vivid opening scene in “A White Dress for Mariale,” highlighting the eponymous character’s moment of trauma, witnessing a brutal shooting that takes the life of her mother. There’s no coming back from that, and the screenplay explores a life lived with trauma, finding Mariale made a prisoner in her own home, with her husband trying to protect her by dominating her, giving the young woman another layer of torment to manage. A party is arranged in secret, escalating tensions in the manor as it fills with guests, and “A White Dress for Mariale” takes two acts to really examine these personalities, who deal with toxic relationships and concern for the host during the evening. Suspects are identified and creepy behaviors are introduced, but an overall sense of threat is difficult to appreciate, eventually set aside by the production as a Ken Russell-esque dinner party scene commences.

A White Dress for Marialé Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation is sourced from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. "White Dress for Mariale" deals with textured surfaces around the manor, and detail is excellent, capturing the spooky, aged qualities of the dwelling. Facial surfaces are also explored in full, along with costuming. Color is respectfully refreshed, preserving cinematographic moods and livelier clothing choices, which come alive when dress-up games begin. Decorative displays handle with deep primaries and distinct golds. Skin tones are natural. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is heavier but film-like. Mild wear and tear is detected during the viewing experience.

A White Dress for Marialé Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA mix offers clear understanding of dialogue exchanges, managing dubbed performances comfortably. Scoring cues support as necessary, with decent instrumentation. Sound effects, which deal with heavy weather events and manor exploration, are adequate.

A White Dress for Marialé Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "Forget This Movie" (20:20, HD) is an interview with director Romano Scavolini.

• "A White Dress for Evelyn" (55:03, HD) is an interview with actress Ida Galli.

• Audio Essay (16:37, HD) is critical analysis from film historian Rachael Nisbet.

• Deleted Scenes (3:28, HD) are presented with and without sound.

• And an Italian Language Theatrical Trailer (3:39, HD) and a French Language Theatrical Trailer (3:34, HD) are included.

A White Dress for Marialé Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"A White Dress for Mariale" gets some momentum going in the final act, following the path of a killer hoping to take lives, while Mariale works out some issues on her own. This is no nail-biter, emerging as a slow-burn study of mental health issues, with murder sequences coming a little too late in the movie to really enliven the viewing experience.