El ojo del huracán

After a lovely animated credits sequence, we are plunged into the unhappy married life of Ruth and Miguel. I thought at first that they were unhappy because their mansion on the coast with a private beach, butler and cook wasn't big and expensive enough, or maybe their open top sports car weren't up to date, but I was wrong. Ruth just doesn't love Miguel no more, and she tells him so, also saying "Oh, by the way, my new lover is moving in, he's played by Jean Sorel as well." So Jean moves in and we get a fairly long sequence of these two in love – rolling about the beach, water skiing, painting ceramic dishes, snogging while Jean hangs upside down from a tree. Jean even buys Ruth a pet swan which makes for some ridiculous visuals. It should be noted here that this film is lush looking even by the usual high standards of this genre – Jean takes Ruth to this nightclub and we get dazzled by the garish colour schemes, and an early shot of a disco ball! Around this point Jean's friend Roland also shows up and starts making eyes at Ruth, some lady (whom I initially thought was Miguel in drag, which means I've been watching too many of these films), moves in next door and keeps spying on everyone, and someone starts trying to kill Ruth! First her brakes don't work on her car, then someone drains all the fuel out of her SCUBA diving gear.

She's naturally inclined to think that Miguel is responsible for this, and it doesn't help when he turns up shortly after this, but when she accidentally overhears a couple of characters discussing the rest of the plot in great detail, your left wondering what direction the plot is going to take, seeing this happens only forty minutes into the film.

Did you get any onya? This film is very much in the style of those late sixties gialli starring Jean Sorel and/or Carroll Baker, but with a total overdose of visual style and weird camera angles. Plus, when have you ever seen Jean Sorel chase a swan around while wearing a daft mask. Please not however there is scarcely a drop of blood in this one but if you're a sleaze fan you might want to hang about to the last fifteen minutes.

Didn't need to see a guy harpoon an octopus though.

The polyvalent Spanish director José Maria Forqué tries to show in this Italian coproduction that he could also make for his part a giallo. He uses the codes of the style, notably taking inspiration from Lenzi's works, and convenes great giallo actors alongside famous Argentinian actresses. The film itself opens on credits including smart drawings combining Art Nouveau and pop style, upon a mixed theme of Leda and Swan Lake.

The swan girl in question is Ruth (Analia Gadé, Murder Mansion / Quando Marta urlo dalla tomba), a very wealthy woman who wants to divorce from her husband Michel (Tony Kendall, La Jena di Londra), because she is in love with the handsome playboy Paul (Jean Sorel, Paranoia). They thus leave together for a splendid area on the sea coast to live their perfect love. Here they meet Roland (Maurizio Bonuglia, Giornata nera per l'Ariete), a Paul's friend and former comrade-in-arms, who acts to serve their idyll, and Danielle (Rosanna Yanni, Cross Current / Un Omicidio perfetto a termine di legge), a strange girl who seems to watch them. In a spleen moment Ruth reminds herself that she has always been frightened "to have to grow old alone", but Paul comforts her saying: "you won't get old". And accidents are not long to start happening.

For giallo followers, the trick is rather simple, and logically the director chooses to reveal it for the middle of his film. But the main issue thus remaining is: how our swan girl will try to react to the plot? How will she handle the inquiry of the local commissioner (Julio Peña, Tre Notti Violente)? Will she manage to be sufficiently clever to get through the knots woven all around her? Or should a "third lion" be even smarter to snatch the bet? This giallo made in the classic way won't quite shake up the standards of the style. (Viewed in Italian 1h40 version.)

April 2021

Unusally for me, i hadnt seen this giallo until a couple of years ago, i have already seen my favourite giallos 30 or 40 times, but i was just watching this for the 3rd time the other day.

1st time, i wasn't really sure i thought much of it, then with the 2nd viewing it was definitely a keeper and the 3rd viewing suddenly this is a really good giallo.

I think the only disappointment is the lead actress is not really an established gaillo actress, such as Edwige Fenech or Barbara Bouchet or Anita Strindberg, so i could just care about her a little bit more.

Still its a very good giallo

9 out of 10.

This is not a giallo. I want to get this out of the way immediately b/c it has effected some reviewers opinions of the film. There are no slashings and no body count here. There is no shadowy killer dressed in black stalking victims. There is no chase sequence. None of that.

Now for what this movie is. This is the movie Umberto Lenzi always wanted to make but never quite achieved. It's the wealthy woman in a dangerous world where a lover manipulates her, and you're not sure who to trust, but you're pretty sure everyone is motivated by money. The acting is great all around. But what makes this one stand out is a script that blessedly actually makes sense and a wonderful soundtrack by Piero Piccioni!

Go into it knowing this one is a slow burn psychological thriller, and you'll have a much better time :)

I was surprised but delighted to discover that although I had a copy of a copy of this somewhere, I have never actually ever seen it before. Doubly delighted to discover that this Blu-ray print is so wonderful and with a rather catchy song too, this is rather a fun film to watch. Nothing terribly violent or bloody and even the infamous skin shots are rather carefully shot but this certainly has a certain something and is a joy to watch. Jean Sorel is fine, much as he always is but the two girls are very effective and such is the storyline that we are genuinely surprised on more than one occasion. Very entertaining, made me gasp and smile.