Blu-ray Review: Luciano Ercoli’s The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion

No fan or cinephile’s knowledge of the giallo would be complete without seeing Luciano Ercoli’s film.

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above SuspicionIn the opening scene of The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Minou (Dagmar Lassander) lies in a bathtub, taking a drag from a cigarette, telling herself in voiceover that today she’ll give up smoking, whiskey, and pills. These objectives aren’t for better health; rather, as Minou further states, they’re meant to appease her husband, Pier (Pier Paolo Capponi). Minutes later, Minou contemplates an alternative to giving up her vices: telling her husband that she wants a divorce. Minou’s oscillation between appeasing her husband and breaking away from him neatly establishes the film’s attention to reality versus possibility. Since Minou neither stops indulging her habits nor tells Pier that she’s leaving him, the film generates an underlying tension regarding Minou’s ability to act on behalf of herself that extends beyond the basic plot points of blackmail and potential murder that recur within Italian gialli throughout the 1970s.

Although the screenplay by Ernesto Gastaldi and Mahnahén Velasco doesn’t make tensions between genders into a spoken theme, numerous scenes pit a woman’s word against an unbelieving man’s point of view. After Minou is accosted on the beach by an unnamed blackmailer (Simon Andreu) who claims that Pier is a murderer, she recounts the events to her husband, who immediately casts doubt upon the veracity of Minou’s story.

Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, from the same year as Forbidden Photos, is comparably absorbed by the (in)accuracy of eyewitness testimonies, though in that film’s case, the male protagonist is implicated as the attacker himself. Even Otto Preminger’s 1949 noir thriller Whirlpool, which also depicts men distrusting a woman’s perceptions, invests its dramatic stakes in whether or not that woman will be found guilty of murder. Conversely, director Luciano Ercoli emphasizes Minou’s role as a spectator to the deceit of the creditors and financiers who comprise Pier’s business. By eliminating the possibility of Minou’s being implicated in a crime, Forbidden Photos is able to take a playful, melodramatic tone that more fully explores the interior life of its female protagonist.

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The film’s attention to Minou’s plight as a woman is redoubled with the appearance of Dominique (Susan Scott), whose liberated sensibilities free her from the anxieties about her body and sex that inform Minou’s apparently monogamous devotion to Pier. After the two become close, Dominique casually shows Minou nude photographs of herself as if they were mere snapshots from a summer vacation. Even when Minou realizes that her own blackmailer is a participant in Dominique’s photos, Forbidden Photos doesn’t get bogged down by its routine plot elements; while resolving the blackmailer’s identity and motivations are essential to the film’s resolution, Ercoli has more fun juxtaposing how the two women perceive themselves within the social fabric of ’70s Rome.

In a memorable shot, the pair have lunch on the roof of a high-rise café overlooking the sea. Dressed in similar hats, coats, and skirts, the pair bond over their experiences as women in a city filled with desiring men. Their relationship comprises the film’s true center, something Ercoli tips his own hat to with a closing aerial shot of the two driving around a Rome that seems renewed with possibilities both sexual and professional.

It’s difficult to view Forbidden Photos and not see Scott as its greatest strength—something Ercoli apparently agreed with given that he cast her as the lead in his next two films, Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight. Ercoli’s vision of the giallo provides a thrilling B side to Argento’s own—one that’s much more engaged with how women navigate the terrain of marriage, sex, and their own happiness, even if that means, as its seems in the end of Forbidden Photos, waving goodbye to men altogether.

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Image/Sound

Arrow Video’s 2K scan from a restoration of the original camera negative abounds in image clarity; as with Arrow’s previous releases of Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight, colors pop and flourish throughout, with nary a texturing flaw in sight. Whether showcasing a wide shot of Rome or a close-up of Minou preparing herself for Pier’s approval, the transfer displays a remarkable attention to detail. Grain remains consistent and present throughout; while there are sporadic instances of image defects, they’re minor and confined to a small blip or a slight crack, likely the result of irreparable damage to the negative. The Dolby Digital track comes in both monaural Italian or English and does a commendable job of balancing Ennio Morricone’s memorable score with crisp dialogue and Rome’s street noise.

Extras

A host of fine extras is highlighted by a feature commentary from critic Kat Ellinger, who contextualizes the film within the giallo tradition. Most helpfully, Ellinger distinguishes between the “F giallo” and the “M giallo,” which are designations meant to indicate whether a film has a female or male protagonist. “Private Pictures,” a newly edited documentary featuring archival interviews with Susan Scott and Luciano Ercoli, elaborates on how the film came into being and the impact it had on each of their respective careers. The documentary also features new interview material with Ernesto Gastaldi, who went on the pen numerous other gialli throughout the ’70s. Musician Lovely Jon hosts a tour of music from Forbidden Photos and other ’70s Italian cult cinema, supplementing his informed perspective with facts and trivia from the era. The disc also contains an interview from 2016 with Dagmar Lassander, original Italian and English theatrical trailers, and an image gallery.

Overall

No fan or cinephile’s knowledge of the giallo would be complete without seeing The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, which receives a lovely Blu-ray transfer and a slew of informative supplements from Arrow Video.

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Score: 
 Cast: Dagmar Lassander, Pier Paolo Capponi, Simon Andreu, Susan Scott, Osvaldo Genazzani, Salvador Huguet  Director: Luciano Ercoli  Screenwriter: Ernesto Gastaldi, Mahnahén Velasco  Distributor: Arrow Video  Running Time: 96 min  Rating: NR  Year: 1970  Release Date: January 15, 2019  Buy: Video

Clayton Dillard

Clayton Dillard is a lecturer in cinema at San Francisco State University.

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