The Black Tulip
Kino Lorber
Video: 1080p High-Definition
Audio: 5.1 Surround (with a 2.0 option in the Audio menu)
Subtitles: English SDH
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by "Doc" Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Director

The Movie: Good

The Black Tulip opens with a voice-over explaining that the titular Black Tulip is an unknown figure from the French Revolution, ignored by history. Coincidentally Alain Delon, who plays the Tulip, passed in 2024 and was similarly overlooked by the In Memoriam segment of the 97th Academy Awards on March 2nd. "But Fortunately," the voice-over continues, "the cinema is here, with its camera that explores time, its lens that pierces the night of centuries. Thanks to it, this great, unknown figure will finally be revealed to you. Justice will be done to it." Amen.

Here, Delon plays Guillaume de Saint Preux, an aristocrat who moonlights as a proletariat vigilante, a bit like Batman, or Zorro (whom Delon would go on to play in 1975). After falling for a decoy carriage set-up, and receiving a facial scar from the Baron La Mouche (Adolfo Marsillach), Guillaume sends for his identical twin brother Julien (also played by Delon) to pretend to be him while his wound heals. The film then balances the swashbuckling action with a fish-out-of-water romance as the naturally more libertine Julien finds his way as a new nobleman and eschews Guillaume's numerous female companions, instead falling for the tomboyish Caroline (Virna Lisi) after they have an honest-to-goodness meet-cute!

According to the commentary track from author and film critic Simon Abrams, Delon wanted to play a swashbuckling hero after seeing fellow French leading man Jean-Paul Belmondo's success in Cartouche in '62 (the trailer for which is included in this release) and he used to dual roles of Guillaume and Julien to flex his skills as an actor. The Black Tulip would go on to become the 10th highest-grossing film at the French box office in '64, as well as earning a tidy sum internationally.

I was a big reader as a kid, and early on, a good amount were the kind of swashbuckling, historically-based (if not exactly historically accurate) adventure tales that get polished up and presented to kids: Robin Hood, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, etc. The Black Tulip is of a kind with these stories. This film is attributed to Alexandre Dumas, who wrote both Count of Monte Cristo and Three Musketeers, but this credit is in name only. Dumas' The Black Tulip is a story of betrayal and competitive tulip cultivation, set against the backdrop of Tulip Mania, which gripped the Netherlands from 1634-1637. I have not read it, but as far as I can ascertain, there is no swashbuckling, no identical twin shenanigans, and no sticking it to the aristocracy.

But if there had been a book of the Black Tulip's exploits, with all the swordplay, authority-baiting, and lighthearted romance featured here, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it.

The Packaging: Average

Average for Kino Lorber is still generally better than your run-of-the mill offering. The cover art is reproduced on a cardboard slipcover and features a dashing illustration of Guillaume (or is it Julien?) both masked and unmasked, and in action, mid-swordfight.

The Video: Excellent

I could not believe how beautiful, crisp and clear this film was. The colors are bright, the shadows have depth, and the action scenes, notably the opening carriage heist and the big, multi-part battle at the lumber camp, look exactly like you would have imagined; sun beaming down, footfalls kicking up dust surrounded by green forest under bright blue skies.

My one quibble is the day-for-night sequences. Shooting day-for-night, if you're unaware, is a technique where sequences filmed in bright light are underexposed, and usually tinted blue, to simulate being filmed at night (as it's much easier to shoot during the day for numerous reasons). When it's done well, you might barely even notice. In The Black Tulip, most of these sequences were still prohibitively dark with black shadows and the Tulip's signature black apparel sometimes barely visible against dark indigo skies.

Given how legitimately breathtaking the rest of this film looks in this edition, I'm willing to give Kino the benefit of the doubt and guess this was just the best that could be done. What these sequences lack in clarity, they make up for with some interesting, almost surrealist visuals: a cerulean blue splash swallowing a near-silhouette as La Mouche falls into a river, for instance. The occasional drop in visual acuity doesn't harm the story any, for what it's worth.

The Audio: Good

I utilize a three-channel soundbar, simply to spare my TV's speakers, and I found the audio balance to be perfectly adequate with no glaring weak spots. Keep in mind, the film is presented in French, so I was reading the dialogue via the English subs more than listening to it. The music and sound effects were mixed and balanced quite well also.

Special Features: Average

There's nothing mind-blowing included here, but I was not disappointed. The commentary with Simon Abrams does a deep dive into the careers of Virna Lisi and star Alain Delon, including interview excerpts and an anecdote from a Delon appearance on The Dick Cavett Show. The theatrical trailer for The Black Tulip is specifically noted as being "(Low-Res)" and buddy, they ain't kidding. It's almost a work of pointillism, but I appreciate its inclusion here all the same. The other trailers, it should be noted, are perfectly fine. Not gloriously upscaled, but fine nonetheless.

Audio Commentary by film critic and author Simon Abrams
Trailers

The Black Tulip theatrical trailer (Low-Res)
Joy House (Les félins) (1964)
Girl on a Motorcycle (1968)
Un Flic (A Cop) (1972)
Farewell, Friend (1968)
The Widow Couderc (1971)
Armageddon (Armaguedon) (1977)
Cartouche (1962)

In Summary: Grab it on sale

The Black Tulip may not be an especially noteworthy offering, aside from its star's legacy as an international leading man, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more sure-footed example of this kind of film. These historically-dubious adventures were the blockbusters of their day, and for good reason: they have it all. Exotic locations, derring-do, beautiful people, exciting stunts and choreography, and romance, often found wrapped in a story of one person's fight against the corrupt powers that be.

If classical adventure movies or the works of Alain Delon are your thing, or if you know someone for whom they are, I absolutely recommend picking up a copy of The Black Tulip. If, however, you're hesitant on either front, wait until you can find it on sale and then kick yourself for not picking it up sooner.

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