Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Slave Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 22, 2014

Pasquale Festa Campanile's "The Slave" a.k.a. "Scacco alla regina" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the disc include new video interviews with critic Roberto Curti; new video interview with Justin Harries from London's Film Bar; cast and crew profiles; original trailers; and more. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The Mistress

Haydée Politoff is Silvia, a young and wealthy girl who has intense erotic dreams. In them, Silvia is dominated by nameless men and women in exotic outfits.

When Silvia is introduced to Margaret (Rosanna Schiaffino, La Sfida, Ro.Go.Pa.G.), an elegant movie star living in a secluded mansion, her life takes an unexpected turn. Margaret invites Silvia to stay with her and begins training her to be a model. But the two women become attracted to each other and their professional relationship gradually evolves into something entirely different.

Loosely based on Renato Ghiotti ‘s novel, Pasquale Festa Campanile’s Scacco alla regina a.k.a. The Slave (also distributed in the United States under the alternative title Check to the Queen) has been undeservedly described as an erotic film. It actually belongs to a rather large group of 'decadent' films that were made during the late '60s and early '70s. A great number of them initially appeared in Italy and France -- good examples are Campanile’s earlier film The Libertine with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Spaak, Piero Schivazappa’s The Frightened Woman with Dagmar Lassander and Philippe Leroy, and Radley Metzger’s Camille 2000 with Daniele Gaubert, Nino Castelnuovo, and Eleonora Rossi Drago -- and later on, for a short period of time before the explosion of hardcore porn films, in the United States.

Though sex is always a key theme in these films, they are never explicit. Virtually all of them are beautifully lensed and frequently exceptionally well choreographed, with the focus of attention being on the excessive lifestyle -- hence the superb decors many of the films have -- of their protagonists. Some of the greatest European composers were also contracted to score them.

The Slave is a mostly unknown on this side of the Atlantic 'decadent' film which was produced in Italy in 1969. Practically the entire film takes place inside the lavish mansion where the wealthy movie star who demands to be addressed as Mistress exists in an alternate reality populated by ‘slaves’ willing to serve her (in exchange for proper compensation). Silvia becomes the latest addition to her collection of human objects, but as time passes by her beauty and charm have an unexpected effect on her.

The film’s wonderful dreamy aura is its biggest strength. Campanile and cinematographer Roberto Gerardi’s (Mario Monicelli's The Great War, Vittorio De Sica's Marriage Italian Style) use of color and light is frequently absolutely stunning. The dream sequences in which Silvia is dominated in particular look like drug-induced hallucinations which were miraculously captured on film. The mansion's interior design is also phenomenal, while the massive mechanical horse the movie star uses to entertain herself has to be seen to be believed.

The film is complimented by an appropriately atmospheric soundtrack courtesy of one of Italian cinema's all-time greatest composers, Piero Piccioni. It blends mellow acid jazz and lush psychedelic pop.

Campanile's writing credits include: Luchino Visconti's The Leopard and Rocco And His Brothers, Elio Petri's The Assassin, Dino Risi's Poor But Beautiful, and Nanni Loy's The Four Days of Naples.

The Slave Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Pasquale Festa Campanile's The Slave arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent U.S. distributors Mondo Macabro.

The release uses a high-definition transfer which was apparently struck from the original negative and as far as I am concerned the film looks wonderful on Blu-ray. There are a few tiny specks and scratches that pop up here and there, but depth and clarity are very pleasing. Virtually all of the close-ups are well lit and look great (see screencaptures #1 and 16), while the few outdoor shots boast pleasing fluidity. Some contrast fluctuations exist -- primarily during the dream sequences where contrast and color saturation are also intentionally manipulated (see screencapture #3) -- but they are part of the film's original image design. Colors are stable and natural, never appearing artificially boosted. The best news, however, is that there are no traces of compromising degraining or sharpening corrections. Quite predictably, from start to finish the film has a very pleasing organic appearance. Lastly, the are no encoding or compression anomalies to report in this review. All in all, I am enormously pleased with Mondo Macabro's first Blu-ray release and very much look forward to seeing other European genre films treated with similar care and attention. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Slave Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 1.0. For the record, Mondo Macabro have provided imposed English subtitles for the main feature. (They cannot be turned off via the disc's main menu or with the player's remote control). The subtitles appear inside the image frame).

The film is complimented by a superb, very atmospheric soundtrack courtesy of one of Italian cinema's all-time greatest composers, Piero Piccioni. The music is clean, well rounded, stable and free of distortions (there are a couple of tiny pops, but the majority of viewers will not notice them). Overall dynamic intensity is rather limited, but this should not be surprising as there are no elaborate action sequences. The English translation is excellent.

The Slave Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Roberto Curti - in this new new video interview, critic Roberto Curti discusses some of the key differences between Renato Ghiotti's novel and Pasquale Festa Campanile's film, the socio-political climate in Italy at the time when the film was made, the Italian director's legacy (including his work as scenarist), Rosanna Schiaffino's career, etc. In English, not subtitled. (28 min, 1080p).

• Interview with Justin Harries - in this new video interview, Justin Harries from London's Film Bar 70 discusses some of the unique qualities of Italian genre films from the '70s, as well as Pasquale Festa Campanile's The Slave. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).

• About the Film - presented here is information about the production history of The Slave. In text-format.

• Cast and Crew Profiles - presented in text-format.
  
  1. Rosanna Schiaffino (Margaret).
  2. Haydée Politoff (Silvia)
  3. Pasquale Festa Campanile (director)
  4. Piero Piccioni (composer).
  
  Included with the profiles are trailers for the following films:
  
  1. La collectionneuse/The Collector (Eric Rohmer)
  2. Interrabang (Giuliano Biagetti)
  3. Queens of Evil (Tonino Cervi)
  4. Hector the Mighty (Enzo G. Castellari)
  5. Count Dracula's Great Love (Javier Aquirre)
  6. The Human Factor (Edward Dmytryk)
  7. The Libertine (Pasquale Festa Campanile)
  8. Con Quale Amore Con Quanto Amore (Pasquale Festa Campanile)
  9. When Women Had Tails/When Women Lost Their Tails (Pasquale Festa Campanile)
  10. Soldier of Fortune (Pasquale Festa Campanile)
  11. Hitch-Hike (Pasquale Festa Campanile)
  12. The Girl From Trieste (Pasquale Festa Campanile)
  13. Bingo Bongo (Pasquale Festa Campanile)

The Slave Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mondo Macabro's release of Pasquale Festa Campanile's The Slave is easily the best Blu-ray debut from an independent distributor that I have seen in years. Not only is the technical presentation very good, but the film itself is a delicious period gem I am convinced many viewers will fall in love with. Buy with confidence, folks. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.