Una Sull’altra (One On Top of the Other, AKA Perversion Story)
Lucio Fulci, 1969
Dr. George Dumurrier (Jean Sorel), vacationing with his mistress, is shocked to hear that his ailing wife, Susan (Marisa Mell) has died of a medication mis-dose. He’s even more surprised to learn that Susan, who despised him, had recently taken out a million dollar life insurance policy on herself, in his name. He soon finds himself accused of Susan’s murder, and his only hope lies in uncovering the secret behind Monica Weston (also Marissa Mell), a stripper who appears to be Susan’s exact double.An early giallo from a director better known for rather extreme gore-filled productions, Perversion Story is surprisingly restrained. In fact, other than a couple of shootings near the end, there really isn’t any onscreen violence, which sets it well apart from other gialli. To be honest, I would be hesitant to call it a giallo – while it does feature a wrongly accused protagonist and a certain element of psychosexual confusion, it also lacks nearly all of the formal elements of the subgenre.
Of course, it doesn’t really matter what label you put on the movie, because ultimately Perversion Story is what it is, and what it is is a clumsy but affable production that works far better than it has any right to for a little more than an hour, due largely to a compelling central mystery and Fulci’s crude but stylish camerawork. One very tense sequence in particular – a “seduction” at a photo shoot – stands out as one of Fulci’s best, which is surprising in that it is also very atypical. Fulci tended to shy away from sex and nudity in most of his later films, especially his more well-known works.
Sadly, about 2/3 of the way into the film, the villain sits down with Dr. Dumurrier and explains the whole mystery to him. The decision to do so is reasonably justifiable, from a character standpoint, but it’s kind of a bummer for the audience. Things never really recover after that, and the movie (unbelievably) ends with a reporter relating the climax of the story to us after the fact! That sort of thing is usually pretty unforgivable for me, but the first part of the movie really was impressive, so I’ll stick with a mildly positive rating.
6/10
Sedotta e abbandonata (Seduced and Abandoned)
Pietro Germi, 1964
Peppino Califano (Aldo Puglisi) is engaged to Matilde Ascalone, but that doesn’t stop him from seducing and impregnating her fifteen-year-old sister (Stefania Sandrelli). Once he learns of this betrayal, Don Vincenzo Ascalone (Saro Urzi) engages in an increasingly bizarre struggle to preserve and redeem his family’s honor at any cost – especially if that cost is Peppino’s honor.I went into Seduced and Abandoned hoping for something on par with Germi’s earlier Divorce, Italian Style, which may have been a mistake. Seduced and Abandoned is not a bad film in its own right, but it suffers terribly in comparison, reusing several thematic and plot elements, not to mention Stefania Sandrelli as the young woman who incites all of the excitement in both films. Taken on it’s own, this is an enjoyable and funny film held together by Urzi’s wonderful comic performance, but it also overstays its welcome by at least twenty minutes and kind of falls apart plot-wise in the home stretch.
6.5/10
Le Doulos (The Finger Man)
Jean-Pierre Melville, 1962
Maurice Faugel (Serge Reggiani), a petty thief newly released from prison, attempts to pull off a safecracking job which goes awry. Someone ratted him out to the police, and murdered his girlfriend for good measure. The likeliest candidate is his friend Silien (Jean-Paul Belmondo), and Maurice sets out to make him pay. Meanwhile, Silien is inexplicably unfolding a plot to clear Maurice’s name.While it doesn’t reach the heights of Melville’s Le Samourai, Le Doulos is still a very engaging new wave noir. It’s slow-paced almost to the point of frustration, just like Le Samourai, but it never tips over the line despite several lengthy stretches with little or no dialogue, as well as Melville’s preference for very long takes. Perhaps deliberate is a better word than slow-paced. . . either way, it does work. The cast is quite good as well – Reggiani has an appealing hang-dog look about him that suits the character, and Jean-Paul Belmondo elicits a lot of sympathy just by being Belmondo, despite the fact that he is the titular informer (or is he? Even after the movie, there’s enough wiggle-room for debate).
Unfortunately, the ending loses a lot of steam (a common theme for this week), as Belmondo has a lengthy illustrated monologue that grinds the film to a halt. There’s a rather nice concluding sequence that follows, but by that time it feels like the movie has ended and we’re starting up another one.
7.5/10
Progress: 42 (Par +4)
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