La ragazza dal pigiama giallo

A little girl in Australia finds a dead woman wearing yellow pajamas on a beach, whose head has been badly disfigured or burnt. The police have no idea who she is. Scenes alternate between the police investigation storyline, and scenes from the life of a woman who has a number of different men in her life. How the latter scenes fit in doesn't become clear (or didn't for me) until fairly far into the movie. In fact, I think the other user misunderstood who she was.

This is a fair giallo, but something that really hurt it for me was that there were so many characters who weren't really well identified. From scene to scene I often wasn't sure if I was meeting someone new, or someone from a previous scene.

It isn't without some interest. One memorable scene was when the police put the body into a glass case and put it on public display in an attempt to find someone who could identify her!

Perhaps it was just a flaw in my copy, but it seemed like some short scenes or shots were tinted different colors. There are other scenes where there are clearly intentional changes in colored lights, as when there is an advertising sign just outside a window.

A young girl and her older brother find a body of a young woman dressed in yellow pyjamas on a Sydney beach. So a retired inspector comes out of retirement to help out the police with their investigation. But he sees that the modern methods of police work aren't getting results and when they make their mind up there's no swaying it. So Inspector Thompson decides to start his own case on the side using his own methods.

'The Girl in the Yellow Pyjamas' is a reasonably modest Italian/Spanish giallo that does construct itself around some striking fixtures and an involving plot. A quick note; during the opening proceedings it's labelled that the actual story is supposedly based on true facts with the names of those involved changed. I'm not what you call an expert of this sub-genre, as I've only come across oh so few, so you can say I'm fairly new to it all. Thinking that man I've got to see more gialli, I notice that this was playing on telly one night and I thought that it isn't one to pass by. Form what I saw; I definitely had an above average time with this giallo piece. It was a bit confusing at first glance, but as you keep on following the story it all comes together rather neatly, without any real hiccups. I'll admit when watching it I was kind of thinking is this actually going to go anywhere or is it just going lose its way. As I thought some sequences were rather pointless to this whole investigation with the mystery playing second fiddle to the central drama position, but the structure of the story, which I've never come across before works out in the bigger picture. Well I have, but definitely not edited in this way. So don't be fooled like I was that most of the sub-plots were not contributing to the case, but they most definitely are and that's proved so, in the last half-an-hour.

The story structure comes into its own by being truly ambitious, which it could make or break the film, but actually I thought it was quite ingenious and refreshing. The plot does more than enough to throw you off course with some surprising knock offs. Like a reviewer had already mentioned there's so much going on in a matter time that it does become crowded with characters coming and going. Too many characters can spoil the brew, but this time it was easily overcome. Throughout the feature we get very moody and drawn out sequences that has of touch of pretentiousness to it, but still it's hard to take your eyes off it.

Director Flavio Mogherini makes the most out of the impeccable location cinematography. The Sydney backdrop is easy on the eyes, but at times I just couldn't stop getting the sneaking impression that they seem to forget they were shooting a film. I say that because excessively it felt like there was more concern in the sights then developing any rhythm and plot. But in the long run I was wrong. Another factor that stabs away at you is the funky soundtrack that makes one real lasting impression. Which at times was a good thing, but also a bad thing. Moments it would be humming with irresistible ooze that breathed such silky elegance, but that wasn't always the case with some high-strung tunes that were tiresomely wretched. The repetitiveness too didn't help either. Mogherini creates some spots of brilliance amongst some odd and arty images that do make headway, like the tasteless scene involving a dead body and glass case and the moment when we discover the dead body. The pacing is stodgy but somehow your just transfixed to what's happening that it doesn't really matter, especially because it does pick up after the hour mark with an cleverly laid out climax that's more than a exceptional ending. The editing was executed to perfection, but the camera work is a bit unstable and lacking flash of style. The performances were that of high quality and Ray Milland as Inspector Thompson was leading the way. Dalila Di Lazzaro as Glenda Blythe was impressive too. What might be a turn off is that it might lack the violence and brutality, but not a sexually charged vibe. Though you might call it very sleazy. Overall, it a professionally done production.

It might have its fair share of flaws, but this unique Giallo has a whole lot more lurking under the surface than what actually meets the eye. It's definitely worth tracking down if you're an enthusiast of the sub-genre.

Ray Milland had a long career (1929-1985) and many roles, including his Oscar as Best Actor in Billy Wilder's Lost Weekend. He managed a couple of Italian films in the 70s, including this one.

It is not a typical giallo, as the body count is very low. However, it does have a certain charm as a police procedural as they try to discover who killed the girl in the yellow pyjamas.

Seeing Dalila Di Lazzaro certainly makes the film worthwhile, and you do see all of her as she romps with men and women (Vanessa Vitale, who was not bad herself.).

Red herrings and surprises abound in a film that was shot in Sydney, and really looked good there. In fact, it was based upon a true story in Austrailia in the 30s.

Good acting by Lazarro and Michele Placido, as well as a fine performance by Milland.

A quite curious case on display here - no pun intended. Then again, the "display" scene in the movie is based on an actual case! A case the movie is losely based on. As said million times before, Life is stranger than Fiction. This movie still tries to go as strange as possible.

Having said that, the two storylines evolving here are nicely cut and edited together. And while the main police character is quite funny, there are other characters too that hold the film. Our female main character for example, who does enjoy and play with her sexuality. Now some falsely may think or judge her for that. May even wish her bad things, which is never a good thing. A free spirited individual like that, cannot be contained. One should make peace with that, otherwise one may get hurt - which leads to more hurting of course.

A really stellar cast in a I guess strange Giallo as everyone seems to point out (I wouldn't call myself an expert but those who are say so). Still strange is not bad as I hope I made clear already ...

It's weird but always thrilling to come across a completely unknown and hard-to-find giallo, especially when you're an avid fan of this Italian sub genre of horror, like myself. The majority of good gialli have received fancy DVD-releases by now and, considering this gem was still nowhere available, I began to fear that it might be a real stinker. The opposite is true, however, as this is an engaging murder mystery with original plot-twists, an innovating structure and good acting performances. The decomposed body of a murdered young girl is found on the beach, with only her yellow pajamas as a possible lead to find the killer. Retired detective Thompson (Ray Milland from "Premature Burial") teams up with the police and his old-fashioned investigation methods are a lot more fruitful than the routine cop-work. This film differs from other gialli because the body count is really low and the cinematography is is rather monotonous. Nevertheless, the red herrings are more effective than usual and the flashback sequences are extraordinary stylish. If the whole thing seems too confusing at first, just force yourself to carry on watching, as the actual revelation clarifies all you need to know in a very original way. Intriguing stuff, definitely worth a look if you can find it.