Slow moving, methodically paced psycho-thriller, with elaborately bizarre touches (the inclusion of a little girl, Alice in Wonderland, and a body organ feast, not to mention one old kook has an affinity for hippos), has a scientist, Silvia (Mimsy Farmer, Autopsy/Four Flies on Grey Velvet), slowly succumbing to madness as past demons, involving a mother's supposed suicide and her lover's attempted pedophilia, fail to leave her, and it doesn't help that her friends/colleagues seem to participate in sinister activities she's unaware of. The little girl is an obvious manifestation of Silvia, a reminder of a difficult childhood, not to mention, her mother reappears in vivid form. Director Francesco Barilli has a camera that wants to capture everything, following Silvia as her mental instability grows, and there's never a sense that the world revolving around the lead character is ever quite normal. African witchcraft is discussed towards the beginning, and there's a "reading" of Silvia that unveils parts of her past, so her social circle are certainly openly into the occult which might somehow explain the surreal ending. Farmer, almost from the very beginning, conveys a fragile mind holding on for dear life. Not a giallo, as the title might suggest, with really no violence or bloodletting until a couple of cleaver murders in the last twenty minutes (and these might or might not be real, the real possibility Silvia imagined them, including a brick to a familiar's head when he attempts to rape her). Farmer is a stunner and she bares all in the final scene which has to be seen to be believed. May be a bit too dull for some (it was for me), the lagging pace (to reiterate, the director is in no hurry and scenes following Silvia have a tendency to drag on) will probably test some viewers. I can't say I personally found it satisfying but understand why "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" has a cult following. What I think this film does best is illustrate how a person can become consumed by unexorcised demons. The director gets a lot of mileage out of the apartment complex where Silvia lives, especially downward shots of the stairwell, definitely breathtaking. This could feature Farmer's best work as an actress.
Review of The Perfume of the Lady in Black
