The Child - Die Stadt wird zum Alptraum

I am required by law to mention that this film is similar to Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now, made a year later. So that's that out of the way.

Who Saw Her Die begins in the French mountains with a red-haired girl being murdered by what looks like an old woman wearing a black veil. We then kick in with Ennio Morricone's outstanding soundtrack made up of a child's choir and harpsichord – a far cry from twangy guitars and harmonicas! I should note here that this soundtrack woke my daughter up and freaked her out from two rooms away!

In Venice, skinny sculptor George Lazenby is happy that his daughter Roberta has come from London to visit him, although it's clear by her absence that things aren't going too well with his wife Anita Strinberg as she's stayed behind. Worse still, an old woman in a black veil stalking the kid and seems determined to murder her, which happens while George is banging his mistress.

George is distraught and blames himself for his daughter's death, leading him on an obsessive quest to find the killer, which will lead him down sleazy avenues involving the rich and powerful in Venice. This being a giallo, the killer gets wind of this and tries to eliminate some of the witnesses…

Even though it's not a top tier giallo, this film is still worth a watch due to the misty Venice location shooting, Morricone's creepy soundtrack, and the acting talents of Adolfo Celi, who here, like in the film Eye of the Labyrinth, can seemingly change his mood and personality with subtle facial expressions and posture. The mystery isn't that hard to solve if you've watched a few of these films, but that's not going to put anyone off, is it?

Why are Lazenby and Strinberg so thin though?

WHO SAW HER DIE? (1972) *** George Lazenby, Anita Strindberg, Peter Chatel, Adolfo Celi. In this engaging giallo directed by Aldo Lado, George Lazenby plays Franco Serpieri, a well-known Venetian sculptor. After Serpieri's young daughter is murdered, he grows impatient with the efforts of the police and tries to find the killer himself, with some help from his estranged wife (Strindberg). The film sticks to a familiar formula: the likely suspects are killed off one by one, and the last man (or woman) standing is revealed as the murderer. But the process feels clumsier than it ought to here, and since the killer turns out to be one of the film's least developed characters, the ending is less than satisfying. Fortunately, though, painterly cinematography and an intriguing score by the brilliant Ennio Morricone help compensate for the weaknesses of the script. Recommended.

In 1972, writer-director Aldo Lado made two outstanding giallos, THE SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS (a.k.a. PARALYZED) and this film, which predates Nicholas Roeg's similar but far more well-known DON'T LOOK NOW (1973).

Young Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi) arrives in Venice from London to visit her father, celebrated sculptor Franco (George Lazenby). Franco's estranged wife, Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg), stays in England. After a few days, as Franco is making love to a girlfriend, Roberta is kidnapped. Soon after, her corpse is found floating in a canal.

Racked with guilt, Franco investigates the crime on his own. His chief suspects include a prominent but ruthless businessman, Serafian (Adolfo Celi), and an attorney with a history of pedophilia (Peter Chantel). He suspects both men know more about Roberta's death than they let on. Meanwhile, though, the killer is always one step ahead of Franco, knocking off everyone who might be inclined to help him.

Lado and co-scenarists Massimo D'Avak and Francesco Barilli add many subtle touches to the rather crude story line. For example, Venice itself becomes a character and conspirator, and is photographed as a nearly colorless and malevolent place. Early in the movie, Franco shows his disrespect for the city, offhandedly remarking that "Venice is a dead city," and wishing it would simply sink into the water. Later, we see that the businessman and attorney, representing the old money and establishment values that run and keep Venice "afloat," conspire to protect the killer and, indirectly, to "punish" Franco.

Not only is Venice viewed as a deeply evil, it twists -- even in small ways -- the people who live there. In the early minutes of WHO SAW HER DIE?, most of the male characters are shown touching or petting Roberta rather inappropriately. In addition, the local constabulary is extremely lame and inactive. When the bodies start to pile up in the wake of Franco's investigation, a detective tells him to let the police handle the dangerous work. Of course, they continue to do nothing but in the end take full credit for catching the killer. This conspiracy of silence extends even to the father of a child who was killed in a manner consistent with the way Roberta was killed. When Franco tries to enlist his help, the father acts suspiciously and refuses to get involved.

The movie's conspiracy subtext extends to two secondary characters, Phillip and Ginevra, who wish to escape Serafian's grip but cannot. In the Venetian universe created by Lado and Co., Ginevra is willing to both help Franco find the killer and expose Serafian as indirectly responsible for Roberta's death. For her trouble, Ginevra is murdered but nonetheless helps Franco get closer to revealing the killer's identity.

In and around these rich contextual elements, the giallo aspects of WHO SAW HER DIE seem rather perfunctory. To be fair, however, there are a couple of well done thrill-for-thrill's-sake stalking sequences, and one creepy moment when Elizabeth, alone in Franco's apartment, is terrified by bumps in the night that are nothing more than a housekeeper doing some chores. And Ennio Morricone's excellent score features a purely musical insight into the killer's tormented mind, a kind of "murderer's refrain" that is punctuated with calls and cries by a chorus of young female voices.

A child murderer is running loose in Venice. Distraught father Lazenby investigates after his daughter is killed.

A superb giallo from Aldo Lado. From the very first scene Lado builds up a tense atmosphere that holds it's grip on the viewer until the very end. In keeping up with some of the giallo's best trademarks, this film has excellent photography, making good use of Venice's enchanting scenery. Ennio Morricone's haunting musical score is another huge plus.

The film is well written and has a good story, albeit a bit complicated. It took me two viewings to get everything, but maybe I'm just a little dense at times. Maybe it doesn't bear too much scrutiny, but I didn't find any huge plot holes. The revelation of the killer is, as in most giallo's, quite a surprise. I'm guessing you won't guess it.

George Lazenby (in my opinion a very underrated Bond) is a very likable leading man, gives a credible performance as the grieving father and amateur sleuth and Anita Strindberg looks smashing.

I advice you the check this one out if you're a fan of this genre.

_Chi L'ha Vista Morire?_ is, visually, a very beautiful film. From the first shots emphasising the starkness of the alpine landscape which segue into similarly stark black and white photos and drawings from a police file to the closing scenes, the cinematography is beautiful. In particular, one shot in which a flock of pigeons taking flight in a town square provides a metaphor for the rising panic of the father, played by George Lazenby, struck me as particularly beautiful - both aesthetically pleasing in its own right and a very tasteful way to lay the ground for the scene that follows. A unifying visual motif is the veil worn by the killer, which makes for some interesting point-of-view shots, although the impact must have been blunted somewhat by viewing on video.

Unfortunately, there's some flaws that detracted from the experience for me. Lazenby does not speak Italian, so his lines are dubbed. At times, the sound level appears to be much too high, making the dubbing glaring. Similarly, the soundtrack is at times overbearing, particularly during appearances by the killer, whose discordant "theme music" became incredibly annoying, particularly when the rest of the film was marked by such a light touch. Mercifully, this problem is rectified at the climax and the music is cut short.

On the visual side, watch for some very fake looking blood. Many scenes (particularly interior scenes) are very dark, which caused me some problems in determining what was going on, but again this may have been compounding by watching on videotape rather than the big screen.

Overall, a satisfying mystery film, if a little slow-paced.