| Slippery Jack | 26th September 2011 04:23 PM |
Sleepless
Went in with my expectations appropriately lowered, but even then I didn’t think much of it. Thought Max von Sydow sleepwalked through his performance, seemed very apparent to me that he didn’t have much faith in the material! A very sub standard and clumsily paced plot, with a boring protagonist to boot. It’s a shame, as the opening sequence on the train I thought was very strong. Unfortunately, the film failed to live up to it, and felt very Giallo-by-numbers.
The Fifth Cord
Great film! I really enjoyed this, and probably the best looking Giallo I’ve seen so far - Vittorio Storaro’s cinematography is pretty incredible! Some beautifully composed shots, with strong, angular lines slicing through the frame, achieving an impressive modern look that has dated really well. The style is perfectly complimented by Bazzoni’s unfussy direction, staging some very effective set pieces. As always, it wasn’t the strongest of plots, and to be honest I kept losing track from marvelling at the visuals! I had trouble keeping up with the array of suspect/victims and how they related to one another – I imagine this would improve on a second viewing. The strong central performance by Franco Nero held my interest where the plot was lacking, I’ll be definitely checking out more of his work. Same goes for Bazzoni, though from the imdb it doesn’t look like he was the most prolific of directors. Sure to be among my favourite Gialli once I’ve got through enough of them to make a list! | 