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Released by: One 7 Movies
Released on: September 11, 2012.
Director: Salvatore Samperi
Cast: Monica Guerritore, Lorenzo Lena
Year: 1985
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The Movie:
Originally released in its native Italy as Fotografando Patrizia, Salvatore Samperi's 1985 film on the love that should not be has been retitled The Dark Side Of Love for its domestic DVD debut courtesy of One 7 Movies. When the film begins, we learn that Emilio (Lorenzo Lena) has recently lost his mother and given that he's a little young to be completely on his own and more than a little bit socially awkward, his older sister Patrizia (Monica Guerritore) moves back home to take care of him until he's ready to be fly solo.
It takes Patrizia some time to adjust to life with her younger brother. He refuses to go outside and wants nothing to do with anyone around him, content instead to keep to himself and spend as much time indoors as possible away from the world around him. Aside from the fact that he spends a lot of time masturbating to movies, he shows no interest in interacting with girls his own age, though when Patrizia gives him a completely innocent sisterly hug, she can't help but notice that his pants are unusually tight. When Patrizia decides to pleasure herself one night and catches her younger brother watching, she puzzlingly figures that telling him stories about her sexual past will spur him to head outside in search of a woman of his own, but that doesn't work at all and before you know it, the two are getting uncontrollably turned on by one another. As their feelings for one another head into taboo territory, they start becoming jealous of each other and are soon playing head games with one another.
Those hoping for seriously graphic couplings between brother and sister will be disappointed in how this one plays out but the film is not short on nudity and completely inappropriate sexual situations. All of this is nicely shot and very well framed by cinematographer Dante Spinotti and set to a moving and evocative score from composer Fred Bongusto and as such, it's got a somewhat classy exterior gloss given its subject matter but the end result is a film that goes about half way in either direction.
The storyline seems to want to explore what would make these two characters fall for one another the way that they do here and there are moments where the script goes in that direction. Emilio is obviously using his sister as a surrogate for his mother at times and she in turn has some sort of maternal instinct for him but we don't get far enough into their respective psyches to really explain the incestuous turns that the film takes. On the flip side, the film doesn't quite deliver all that you'd expect out of something obviously quite intent with taking on a completely taboo subject matter. Despite the graphicness of certain scenes, there is obvious restraint evident throughout the picture in terms of just how far it is willing to go. Ultimately the film is quite well made, beautifully photographed and very well acted. This makes it worth seeing, but keep in mind that it seems to get muddled towards the end and that things tend to go off in strange directions lacking purpose.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Dark Side Of Love looks decent enough in this 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation from One 7 Movies. Colors are nicely defined and the framing looks good judging by the compositions seen in the movie. The source material used for the transfer seems to have been in nice shape as there are no problems with anything but very minor print damage. Black levels aren't perfect but they're strong and there are no issues with compression artifacts or heavy edge enhancement.
The disc offers up both English language and Italian language tracks, both in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, but there are no subtitles provided for the Italian track, meaning that most viewers will be opting for the dubbed English version. Clarity is fine, levels are well balanced and there are no issues with any hiss even if some mild distortion is audible in a couple of spots.
There are no extras outside of a static menu and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Way too sexed up and sleazy to work as a serious dramatic picture and way too dramatic to work as a balls out exploitation film, The Dark Side Of Love is interesting even if it isn't ultimately all that successful. How much you get out of it will probably depend on your interest in its taboo subject matter, which it obviously treats quite sensationally but if it sounds like your bag, One 7 Movies has made this oddity available in a very nice, if completely barebones edition.
