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Released by: Cult Epics
Released on: December 31st, 2013.
Director: Tinto Brass
Cast: Anna Galiena, Gabriel Garko, Franco Branciaroli, Antonio Salines
Year: 2002
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The Movie:
Directed by Tinto Brass in between two fairly lighthearted sex comedies in 2002, Black Angel (or, if you prefer, Senso 45), is a period drama based on the novel by Camillo Boito. Set during the Second World War, the plot of the film revolves around a woman named Livia Mazzoni (Anna Galiena), the beautiful wife of an important government official. We learn early in the film that she is unfaithful to her husband when we see her take a drive with a lawyer named Ugo Oggiano (Franco Branciaroli), one of her husband's confidants.
He's taking Livia to Venice where she'll meet with her lover Helmut Schultz (Gabriel Garko), a German lieutenant - the two are obviously involved in a clandestine affair. As Livia goes about her travels, we see through flashbacks how and why she's wound up in the situation she is in, how her life has become ruined despite her obvious privilege and why she must travel to Venice. As to the city itself, it's a hot bed of corruption and political turmoil as the war ravaging Europe seems to be coming to a close. All of this comes to a close as we learn what Livia has been willing and able to do to get what she wants while Helmut's influence over the occupying SS forces in Italy grows, allowing him to manipulate some pawns in a very dangerous political chess game.
Featuring some interesting book end segments shot in stark black and white and giving the movie a noirish feel at times, Brass' take on Senso once again finds him working in the setting of the Second World War (he'd done this previously in Salon Kitty to nice effect). As fans are apt to expect from his later period work, the film allows him to really go to town with the camera work, using painterly compositions and carefully constructed angles to accentuate mood, atmosphere, tension and frequent bouts of intense sexuality. Considerably heavier on drama and character development than many of the lighter films that he made in the decade before, Black Angel has a tendency to steer towards darkness but not at the cost of the eroticism you'd anticipate would be such a focus of a Tinto Brass picture. There's a lot of sex here, frequent nudity, and a debauched orgy scene that flirts dangerously close to hardcore but the story frames it all in such a way that it never takes you out of the movie.
The performances here are all quite strong. Gabriel Garko plays the SS officer well, showing some range as the conflict that his character experiences starts to take a toll on him. He looks the part, and Brass is not afraid to play up his good looks even if he is strutting about in fascist garb. Beautiful and voluptuous, Anna Galiena really steals the show here. She's got a remarkably natural beauty to her, the kind that not only makes her easy on the eyes but which also grounds her in reality. Brass and company ensure that she always looks fantastic here, she's consistently dressed to the nines and they really bring out not just her good looks but her impressive screen presence as well. She's more than just a pretty face and a pair of long legs though, she shows excellent ranger throughout the film and handles the emotional side of her character just as well as the sexualized side.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Like the previous DVD releases from Italy and the UK, the movie is framed at 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen, slightly cropped from the 1.66.1 theatrical aspect ratio that Brass seems to prefer. While a new HD master and a Blu-ray presentation would have done a really nice job of accentuating just how lush and beautifully shot this movie is, the standard definition picture here is quite good. Detail is pretty solid and while there are some very minor compression artifacts in a few of the darker scenes, colors are reproduced beautifully and there are no problems with print damage, dirt or debris.
Italian language audio options are provided, with optional English subtitles, in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. Both tracks sound quite good, with the 5.1 mix getting the edge by spreading out the score rather nicely. Dialogue sounds crisp and clear regardless of which option you choose and the levels are properly balanced throughout.
Extras start off with a twenty-five minute long Making Of Black Angel featurette which features plenty of input from the cigar chomping director himself. He discusses the source material, how he took the novel and re-wrote it to work in the historical context of the Second World War, and what it was like working with the different cast and crew members, Anna Galiena in particular. The principal cast members show up here as well and discuss their thoughts on the film, Brass' directorial style, and their characters.
The disc also contains an eight minute promotional segment that is basically an advertisement meant to generate sales, an Italian language theatrical trailer, a decent sized still gallery and the option to listen to the excellent Morricone on its own without any dialogue. Menus and chapter stops are also included.
The Final Word:
Black Angel lets Brass do what Brass does best, and that's deftly meld period drama with some strong performance, beautiful visuals, excellent production values and scenes of scintillating eroticism. The uncut DVD from Cult Epics looks pretty solid and contains some decent extras too. A solid standard definition offering for a very well made and interesting slice of erotic period drama.
