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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka "Le foto proibite di una signora per bene" or "Días de angustia")
directed by Luciano Ercoli
Italy/Spain 1970
Before the influence of Dario Argento's
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage permeated every corner
of the
giallo genre, another strain of
these distinctive Italian thrillers enjoyed considerable
success. These ''melodrama gialli'', heavily inspired by
Clouzot's
Les diaboliques, relied less on graphic violence and
high body counts and more on psychological tension. Minou (Dagmar Lassander, Lucio Fulci's The Black Cat) leads a pampered but dull life with her frequently absent husband, Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi, The Cat O' Nine Tails). One night, while out walking on the beachfront, Minou is accosted by a mysterious blackmailer (Simón Andreu, Death Carries a Cane) who informs her that Peter is a murderer. Driven by misplaced loyalty to her husband, Minou gives in to the blackmailer's every whim in exchange for his silence. But as the blackmailer ups the ante, demanding that she submit to his increasingly obscene demands, can Minou hold on to what little remains of her sanity? Written by the prolific Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso), infused with a seductive score by the great Ennio Morricone (The Cat O' Nine Tails) and featuring a memorable turn by Nieves Navarro a.k.a. Susan Scott (Death Walks at Midnight) in the role of Minou's best friend, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is a trippy giallo delight that brings together the talents of many of the genre's leading lights on both sides of the camera. |
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Theatrical Release: 15 April 1971 (Spain)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Blue Underground Screen Caps!
(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT
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Distribution |
Blue Underground Region 0 - NTSC |
Arrow Video Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:35:39 | 1:35:44.780 |
Video |
2.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc One: 49,715,074,624 bytesFeature: 26,330,709,696 bytesVideo Bitrate: 29.93 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Blue Underground
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Bitrate:
Arrow Video Blu-ray
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Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
LPCM Audio Italian 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152
kbps / 24-bit Dolby Digital Audio English 320 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps |
Subtitles | None | English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack / English subtitles (SDH) subtitles for the English soundtrack, None |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Blue Underground Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
Chapters 24 |
Release Information: Studio: Arrow
2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc One: 49,715,074,624 bytesFeature: 26,330,709,696 bytesVideo Bitrate: 29.93 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details:
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New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief
of Diabolique Magazine
Blu-ray Release Date: January 14th, 201 9Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 13 |
Comments |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Arrow - Region FREE Blu-ray (January 2019): The new Arrow transfer is advertised as a "Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative" and you get the option of seeing the film with the Italian opening and closing credits or the English version of the same length (seamlessly branched.) The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion was shot in Technicolor Techniscope often used for lower budget Italian films (Paranoia, Day of Anger) in the 60s and 70's. The 1080P shows more information in the frame than the 2006 Blue Underground DVD and is thicker and more film-like. It also has richer colors and the overall image is tighter in the higher resolution. It looks very god in-motion on a dual-layered Blu-ray with a high bitrate. There are no significant marks or blemishes and only a rare speckle. Very solid transfer.Arrow offer original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks in linear PCM (24-bit) transfers. The DUB can be awkward but the sync is generally not as poor as we have seen. There are aggressive effects that come in flat but with depth and we get a score by the iconic Ennio Morricone (The Fifth Cord, Luna, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, U Turn, Stay As You Are etc. etc.) doing a wonderful job of supporting the tension and urgent tone of the more suspenseful scenes. The Region FREE Blu-ray offers optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack.Arrow offer a few very good supplements starting with a new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine. I thought she gave some of her best analysis discussing F-Giallos with appeal to female viewers with plenty of other film references and details on the director and cast. She's great - love her opinion of Gothic and Gothic romance films. Private Pictures is a 3/4 hour newly-edited documentary featuring archival interviews with actress Nieves Navarro and director Luciano Ercoli, and new interview material with writer Ernesto Gastaldi. Slightly longer is The Forbidden Soundtrack of the Big Three, a new appreciation of the music of Forbidden Photos and 70s Italian cult cinema by musician and soundtrack collector Lovely Jon and lastly The Forbidden Lady, a 44-minute Q&A with actress Dagmar Lassander at the 2016 Festival of Fantastic Films. We also get the original Italian and English theatrical trailers plus an image gallery. The package offers a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Twins of Evil and for the first pressing purchasers get an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Michael Mackenzie. Great to have another keen giallo on Blu-ray done to the 9s. In many senses it is very typical of the genre with titilation, deception, blackmail and murder-in-the-air. I especially enjoyed the Ellinger commentary and the video extras have value as well. Also nice to have the option of each language version with the appropriate opening and closing credits. This is an expertly produced Blu-ray package and Giallo fans should be extremely pleased with owning it. -Gary Tooze |
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Samples (from Italian version and English version) - Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)
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(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)
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(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)
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(Blue Underground - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Arrow Video - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM)
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