NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Cult Films Blu-ray (November 2021): Cult Films have transferred Marco Ferreri's The Ape Woman to Blu-ray. It is cited as being a "New 4K-Restored Version".

"This presentation shows different endings:
Complete and uncut, director Marco Ferreri's own original Director's Cut shows the callous real-life tragedy which inspired this film. This version has an optional pointer which shows where the Italian censors had arbitrarily cut the last 15 minutes of the film in order to permit its original cinema release.

Producer Carlo Ponti instead requested a longer version with additional feel-good end scenes. This longer 'Happy Ending' version was made for the 1964 Cannes Film Festival where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or.

This 4K restoration was made in 2017 by L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory (Bologna -Paris) from a first-generation interpositive film source preserved by TF1 studio. The sound was restored from the original optical negative."

The image quality is at the modest end of the spectrum but is consistent and clean with appealing texture. Contrast is pleasing - it can be a bit clunky in-motion but overall the 4K-restotred transfer produced a rewarding 1080P presentation.

NOTE: We have added 40 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Cult Films use a linear PCM dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original Italian language. The Ape Woman has no demonstrative aggressive moments but a music performance and score by Teo Usuelli (Amuck, Dillinger is Dead), sounding supportive in the lossless transfer. Cult Films offer optional English and English (SDH) yellow subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Cult Films Blu-ray offers a 1.5 hour, 2007, documentary, Marco Ferreri: Il regista che venne dal futuro, on Marco Ferreri with interview snippets from Gerard Depardieu, Philippe Noiret, Cristophe Lambert, Ornella Muti among others. It is accurately described on IMDb as "Depicts the highlights of director/writer Marco Ferreri's career. A nonconformist man, extreme, provocative in his ways, always close to the bleeding edge, and considered a visionary experimentalist."

Marco Ferreri's The Ape Woman is loosely based on Julia Pastrana (1834 – 1860) who was born in Mexico, during the 19th century. She had a genetic condition, hypertrichosis terminalis, where her face and body were covered with hair. The condition was undiagnosed in her lifetime as she was a performer and singer - often in 'freak shows' under the stage name "Ape Woman". Ferreri's The Ape Woman is actually a biting satire playing with melodrama, tragicomedy and absurdity - leaving the dual ending a real treat. This film deserves the benefit from some deep analysis - a commentary or the like. It's a fascinating gem of a rare double-film viewing. The differences between the Producer's 'happy ending' and Director's 'tragic' one provide a unique experience that warrants being brought into a new cinema conversation. I was so pleased with the Cult Films Blu-ray that also includes the revealing feature-length documentary. Tons of value here. Certainly recommended!

Gary Tooze