Almost Blue

I actually had really high hopes going into this thriller as the fact that it was made in Italy made me expect a Giallo, and because I'd heard good things about it; I was expected a quality modern example of one. This film is not a Giallo; there's police and a hunt for a killer, but it's clear that director Alex Infascelli wanted the focus more on the 'psychological' elements of the story; but instead of coming off like 'Seven', the film is more like the Seven rip-off 'Taking Lives' - just not as good. I guess the killer's name - 'The Iguana' should have made me guess that this film was going to be crap as the last Italian film I saw that mentions an iguana was Riccardo Freda's awful 'The Iguana With the Tongue of Fire' - but actually, said film is better than this one! The plot is entirely mundane and simply follows a string of brutal killings. The cops can't seem to find the killer, because unbeknownst to them he constantly changes his identity. Blah blah blah, the only lead is some blind kid who likes a song called 'Almost Blue'.

The film actually gets off to a decent start as we see the killer typing on a keyboard smeared with blood while his unfortunate victim sits chocking in the same room. it's all downhill from there, however, as the mundane and routine plot is almost completely devoid of interest; the part that sees the main character work out why The Iguana is so difficult to catch is the only real moment of intrigue, and director Alex Infascelli seems keen on spoiling the atmosphere at every turn by using lots of dreary rock music. A psychological thriller really needs a good atmosphere for the story to flourish...it's a shame that Infascelli didn't realise this. The only thing I liked about this film was the lead actress. Lorenza Indovina is always nice to look at, and if it wasn't for her, I'm not sure I'd have been able to make it all the way through the short, but boring, running time. It's always obvious where the film is going, and indeed the ending contains no surprises, which is yet another shame. Overall, I'm not sure why this film has gotten positive write-ups, but it certainly doesn't deserve them and Almost Blue is not worth tracking down.

There's a serial killer loose in the Italian city of Bologna, and from the get go, we're introduced to the aftermath of a very brutal killing in the hands of a psycho, with a preference for extremely loud music played through his headphones. I thought the killer here is very much like the one in the 2004 film Taking Lives starring Ethan Hawke and Angelina Jolie, where the murderer lingers and adopts the persona of the person he kills, before moving onto the next victim.

In essence this is your classic cat and mouse thriller that explores the links between the three leads in rookie policewoman Grazia (Lorenza Indovina), the psycho killer played by Rolando Ravello to Aamir-Khan-Ghajini's crazed perfection, and the blind man Simone (Claudio Santamaria), who gets caught up in the entire episode because he wilds his time away at his computer listening in to chatrooms, police scanners and what have yous, like an online busybody oracle. In doing so, he puts himself unwittingly in the line of fire as the killer decides to make him the next target. And so the premise is set, and I felt there's a truck load of potential here to at least live up to average thriller expectations.

There was what I thought a perfect moment set up in allowing the audience's imagination to run wild with one killing - you can hear audible sighs of sorrow when the killer picks his mark, because while the character was nothing more than a supporting one, appearing only to nag, everyone understood instantly the impact it is going to have in the story moving on. The aftermath of that was nothing short of poignant, and that hammered home the notion of how evil is as evil can be.

If there's a major letdown in the exciting build-up, it's how everything gets wrapped up in the end too conveniently and in major anti-climatic fashion. Big clue being the need to adopt the persona, and having everyone turn up at the right place at the right time, with room for some sexy time thrown in as well for good measure, just because it's Gialli. It turned what could have been room for a tight, climatic finale into a joke of convenience probably stemming from a lack of ideas. Great build-up, but terrible finale.

Almost Blue is a very dark thriller, based upon the homonym book. I usually don't like movies based upon the book but this is great. Very well directed by Infascelli, in my opinion Almost Blue challenges the masterpieces of its kind like "The silence of the lambs". The script it's very smart and in a way very unusual, as a matter of fact the movie is full of original scenes. It's surprising how a quite young director can do things like that. Even the music theme of the movie, a famous version of the song "almost blue" by Elvis Costello, is amazing and fitting with the mood of the movie. Give it a chance because it absolutely worths the price.

As a fan of giallo, and after reading one reviewer liken this to Manhunter (1986), I decided to give it a go. I was curious: was early millennium Italian crime genre as cutting edge and provocative as it was in the 60s, 70s and even early 80s? The answer from this film for me is unfortunately mostly no. There are a few problems. First, this not a murder mystery, but more of a police procedural and light character study. We get glimpses of the killer, and the police ID him quickly. That removes any element of suspense of classic giallo and Italian crime movies which keeps the viewer guessing. Second, there is not much horror. There are one or two jumps, and there is some blood (including the memorable image of hands typing on a computer keyboard covered in blood), but again there is no building of dread and deep sense of the horrific. Lastly, the characters are lightly studied but only the surface is touched. Apparently this was based on a well regarded book, so it's unfortunate the film wasn't as successful. The acting is fine, though not spectacular. The direction is definitely above average, with modern lighting, thoughtful angles and shots. The story is also good - there is so much potential with the elements of a female lead detective, a blind witness, a killer obsessed with internet chat rooms and techno music - but the parts don't connect fully and never add up to much. Keep your expectations very low and see it just to cross off your list, but definitely not essential and I wouldn't waste money on owning a copy.

The film tells the story of a hunt for a serial killer in Bologna, Italy. "Almost blue" is closer of "Manhunter", by Michael Mann, than many other "serial killer movie". The story focuses more on the psychology of the three main characters, the police officer who leads the search, the disturbed killer, and the blind guy that somehow helps the police, than on action and intrigue. There's a lot of violence and disturbing images, but, it seems to me, they were functional to the feeling of anguish and anxiety of the movie and they were not at all put in the movie just to shock the audience. An unusual feature for an Italian movie, the film has a very high cure for its visual and sound style and for keeping a coherent narrative tone from the beginning to the end.