Woodyanders Review of Black Velvet

Black Velvet (1976)

An admirable and interesting attempt at something different

[8/10 · 21 November 2012]

Glamorous, but passive and browbeaten fashion model Laura (the eternally ravishing Laura Gemser) and her abusive photographer husband Carlo (Gabriele Tinti in fine slimy form) go to Egypt to visit Laura's wealthy, horny, and bitter friend Crystal (the fetching Susan Scott). While staying in Crystal's palatial abode, Laura befriends Crystal's cheerful free-spirited daughter Pina (charmingly played with considerable happy gusto by slinky blonde dish Annie Belle) and falls under the charismatic spell of shifty spiritual guru Horatio (hunky Al Cliver). Writer/director Brunello Rondi boldly goes against the expected trashy lowbrow soft-core exploitation grain with this unusual feature: The barely there meandering narrative unfolds at a leisurely pace, most of the characters are mean and/or miserable, a strangely glum vibe pervades throughout, there's a heavy and provocative central emphasis on unhappy people coming to terms with the horrible emptiness of their dreary lives, Carlo demeans Laura by forcing her to pose with dead animals, the bloodied bodies of slain folks, and even on a stinky pile of camel poop, and the whole thing culminates in a startling bizarre climax with Laura freaking out after drinking goat's blood (!). The solid cast holds the picture together: Gemser, Tinti, and Cliver do brave work in their demanding roles, Feodor Chaliapin Jr. is both funny and heartbreaking as washed-up old has-been ham actor Hal, and Ziggy Zandor impresses as Pina's lusty and frustrated sister Magda. Gastone Di Giovanni's sumptuous widescreen cinematography offers plenty of breathtaking shots of the gorgeous desert locations. Alberto Baldan Bembo's heady score does the intoxicatingly trippy and sensuous trick. A praiseworthy oddity.