Thursday, February 21, 2013

An atmospheric giallo













This is one of those movies which divide people's opinions, you either hate it or love it and there seems to be no middle ground. Well I must say I love it as it's an atmospheric giallo which builds tension slowly but surely. In a way this reminds me of The Wicker Man (1973) even though there's no folklore in this one and not really any dark comedy either, but it's the tension building and the similarities in the settings that make me quite sure Pupi Avati has taken quite a few ideas from it. Anyway it's a story about a restorer called Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) who is called to a small village to restore a painting in a local church made by an insane painter. As he gets intrigued by the story of the painter he stumbles onto a mystery and it seems someone wants him to stop poking around the past. The less you know the better as the story unravels itself in a nice way. The camerawork is quite stylish and one of the nicest shots in the movie was actually a real earthquake caught on camera. A lucky moment yes, but the way it fits the scene is just brilliant. The acting is surprisingly solid for a movie like this so no complaints on that one either. The music didn't really strike me in any way and thinking about it now after just watching it I can't even remember what kind of music it was. Anyway this is a great slow paced thriller which builds tension better than most of the newer movies.
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