The Scent of the Night Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Scent of the Night Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 20, 2022

Claudio Caligari's "The Scent of the Night" (1998) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video. There are no supplemental features on the release. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

When the terrific Italian TV series Rocco Schiavone reached American shores, I was not unfamiliar with Marco Giallini. I own on DVD quite a few films that Giallini made earlier in his career. For example, I own Sergio Castellito’s Don't Move, Renato De Maria’s Love Me, Paolo Sorentino’s The Family Friend, and Alex Infasecelli’s Almost Blue. I have the excellent TV series Romanzo Criminale, too. On Blu-ray, I have Stefano Sollima’s A.C.A.B.. More recently, I picked up Massimiliano Bruno’s All You Need is Crime too, which is the first film in a very funny trilogy. The other two films in the trilogy are The Return of the Criminal and Once Upon a Time There Was a Crime, and together, I think, they are like a very elaborate variation on the fun activities from Jean-Marie Poire’s Just Visiting. If given a chance in America, I am quite certain this trilogy will do very well. But because Giallini has appeared in plenty of films, I am unfamiliar with his entire body of work. Also, as you could easily guess, he makes films in Italy and they are not at all easy to acquire even if I wanted to track down all of them on DVD or Blu-ray.

One of these films that I did not yet have in my library was Claudio Caligari’s The Scent of the Night a.k.a. L'odore della notte, which Raro Video just released on Blu-ray in America. I was more than a little surprised that I had not picked it up over the years because I remember seeing the old Italian DVD numerous times when it was available for purchase. I know the story The Scent of the Night recreates, too. However, I checked my catalog multiple times and I know for a fact now that I have never owned it before.

The Scent of the Night is based on Dido Sacchettoni’s novel "Le notti di Arancia meccanica", which reconstructs events from a true story that apparently started in the late 1970s. However, I do not think that this is entirely true, and once you see The Scent of the Night I am quite certain you would agree with me. Sacchettoni’s novel is about a gang of robbers that terrorized the wealthy neighborhoods of Rome for a couple of years and Caligari focuses on its busiest period, but in the film, it is casually revealed that the three main characters were troublemakers earlier as well. It makes sense that they were, too. All three came from the slums of Rome where unemployment was a very serious issue, so at a very early age, they must have learned how to break the law to make ends meet.

The unusual element of the story is this: for a while, one of the robbers, Remo Guerra (Valerio Mastandrea), was a cop. He was not well-connected or someone with access to police records that made the gang’s crimes easier. He was just a bad cop that did a lot of bad things on the streets of Rome. When his colleagues finally kicked him out, he became a full-time robber.

Remo’s assistants were Maurizio Leggeri (Giallini) and Marco Lorusso a.k.a. Bully Boy (Emanuel Bevilacqua). According to Remo, who narrates the entire film, Maurizio was unreliable because he cared only about supporting his flashy lifestyle -- or at least initially while he was still single. Later, Maurizio became a little more careful about the work they were doing. Bully Boy was borderline crazy, which is why it took a while for Remo to learn how to partially control and trust him. Remo, Maurizio, and Bully Boy’s recipe for success was simple. They did small jobs, mainly robbing nicely dressed couples, upscale call girls, and the occasional cheating bureaucrat. They were caught after they became more ambitious, or perhaps reckless, and began targeting prominent local politicians.

Judged by Italian cinematic standards, The Scent of the Night is not a very violent crime film. However, it does feel a bit over the top. Why? Because it tries very hard to expose the great divide between the environment of the robbers and the environment of their victims. Thankfully, it is not one of those preachy crime films insisting that all criminals are the real victims because they have been mistreated by society.

Giallini’s performance is difficult to praise. He often looks stiff, even unnaturally unfunny while trying to be entertaining. Mastandrea is in control of his character but he is not a dramatic figure that leaves a lasting impression. Bevilacqua looks like a legit loose cannon and immediately reminded me of the big bad bully Edoardo Pesce plays in Matteo Garrone's excellent thriller Dogman.

The Scent of the Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Scent of the Night arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Raro Video.

The master that was used to source this Blu-ray release is not brand new, but it is quite good. The entire film has a stylized appearance that imitates what has been done in the past in various poliziotteschi to enhance their atmosphere. This is why the visuals have a slightly faded yellowish hue, which feels most appropriate. (All of the events in the film take place during the late 1970s). Delineation, clarity, and depth are usually very good, though a few darker areas could reveal better shadow detail. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. On a dual-layer disc, with various encoding optimizations, the visuals could have been more impressive, but even on a very large screen, they hold up quite well. Image stability is very good. I did not encounter any cuts, damage marks, or other similar surface imperfections to report in our review. All in all, even though the film could look a bit better in high-definition, I think that currently it has a fine organic appearance and looks quite attractive. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Scent of the Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The dialog is always very clear, stable, and easy to follow. Dynamic intensity is good, but there are a few areas where it feels like the entire audio field should be bigger and more diverse. Since the current master is older, I am unsure if this is how the audio was created or the mix was finalized. It is possible that a brand new lossless track could reveal some small but meaningful improvements. Regardless, there is nothing you need to worry about on the current lossless track.

The Scent of the Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this release.

The Scent of the Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is unlikely that The Scent of the Night will surprise you in any way because the progression of its crime story is very familiar. I liked the film because it is very Italian. What does this mean? It revives the attitude of the edgy poliziotteschi from the 1970s but does not produce any controversial material. It does not channel politics either, so its transparency feels rather refreshing. Raro Video's Blu-ray release offers a solid organic presentation of The Scent of the Night, but it would have been nice to have at least one short featurette exploring the true story that inspired the film. RECOMMENDED.