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7
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8 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date: March
28, 2006
Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
The
body of a mutilated woman is found on a beach in Sydney, Australia...
One
of the few gialli to actually have its basis in a real-life
murder mystery, The Pyjama Girl Case
is one of the more unorthodox examples of its subgenre. Former
art director Flavio Mogherini uses the atypical Australian setting
to his advantage, heightening the film's sense of isolation
and misery, but he fumbles the ball somewhat in other areas.
On the plus side,
the film is ingeniously plotted and has one of the most ingenious
uses of misdirection that can be found in any giallo. Without
wanting to give anything away, suffice it to say that the film
builds to a resolution that is absolutely diabolical in its
cleverness. Mogherini also beats Dario Argento to the punch
in his use of a crotchety retired police inspector lured out
of retirement and infused with fresh energy over the complications
of the case. There can be little question that Argento was thinking
of this film when he made Sleepless,
in which Max Von Sydow's Inspector Moretti bears more than a
passing resemblance to Ray Milland's Inspector Timson in this
picture. Milland, an Academy Award winner for Billy Wilder's
The Lost Weekend and formerly a
bankable, dapper leading man, was in something of a downward
spiral in his career during this time frame. While many of his
appearances in low budget horror and sci-fi films show him to
be in a bad mood, clearly aware of the fact that he was working
in projects beneath his dignity (think no further than the infamous
The Thing With Two
Heads), here he throws himself into his role with wit and
enthusiasm. He plays Timson as a bit of a grouch, sure, but
beyond that he finds a lot of humor in the role and easily dominates
his scenes. Mogherini also gets an unusually strong performance
out of Dalila Di Lazzaro, a stunning blonde who made her (mostly
nude) debut as one of Frankenstein's 'zombies' in Paul Morrissey's
Flesh For Frankenstein. An absolutely
ravishing beauty, she seldom displayed much in the way of acting
chops in her other assignments but here she rises to the challenge
admirably. It helps that her role is an unusually well-developed
one —
gialli aren't exactly noted for their depthy female roles, and
Mogherini (who also scripted) is to be commended for taking
the time to develop her character beyond the usual stereotype.
Mel Ferrer, in one of his many guest starring roles in an Italian
exploitation picture of the period, doesn't exactly stretch
his abilities but he's a likable, solid performer and certainly
doesn't detract from the proceedings. Giallo veteran Renato
Rossini (Five Dolls For
An August Moon), acting under his usual nom de plume Howard
Ross, plays another of his absurdly macho supporting roles,
while Jess Franco veteran Luis Barboo (The
Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein) shows up in a bit part.
As noted above, Mogherini shows a lot of visual flair in his
staging of the action. Unlike many gialli, which seek merely
to offer a plethora of gory murders and improbable plot developments,
Mogherini seems very focused on maintaining a mood of quiet
desperation and suffering. Part of the film's subtext is the
idea of people cut off from each other, either by feeling isolated
due to being an immigrant (Michele Placido's hardworking Italian
comes to mind), or rendered useless in the eyes of society because
of old age (Milland) or because they are hopelessly lost in
their personal relationships (Di Lazzaro), and Mogherini strengthens
this motif visually throughout the film. He often frames his
characters in imposing locations, often eerily underpopulated
and lonely, dwarfing the characters by their surroundings. This
gives the film a curiously mellow effect, something that sets
it aside from the comparatively jaunty gialli of Sergio Martino
and Mario Bava or the more bloodthirsty works by Argento and
Lucio Fulci.
The film isn't a complete
success, however. The pacing is often very sluggish, and at
104 minutes the film is a good 15 minutes too long. The effect
is also undermined by an oddly out of place soundtrack composed
by the normally reliable Riz Ortolani (Cannibal
Holocaust). The use of some syrupy, hopelessly dated songs
at key moments was no doubt meant as ironic commentary by the
filmmakers, but the effect is closer to unintended comedy; dammit
if that "yellow pyjama" song doesn't stay in one's
head, however. Elsewhere, his use of throbbing electronic music
sounds more apropos of a futuristic science fiction thriller.
Mogherini also indulges his taste for off-kilter imagery in
a negative way during an extended sequence in which the mutilated,
naked corpse of the young woman is put on public display for
a leering public. True, this sequence has its origins in something
that the police really did in the real-life murder case, but
Mogherini over-stylizes it, turning it into a virtual fashion
show for necrophiles. The effect is wholly unbelievable, thus
undermining what could have been an effective commentary on
the voyeuristic impulse of the giallo genre.
Ultimately, The
Pyjama Girl Case is neither among the best or the worst
of its genre. It is an uneven work, filled with wonderful details
and some regrettable missteps, but it has more than enough going
for it to warrant a solid recommendation.
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|
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| Blue
Underground's release of The Pyjama Girl
Case marks the film's U.S. home video premiere. The 1.85/16x9
transfer looks very nice. Some grain is evident in the image,
but this is a product of the original photography, and print damage
is limited to some minor scratching and speckling. Colors are
accurately rendered, and the film is completely uncut. The dubbed
English soundtrack is acceptable — as with the BU release of The
Fifth Cord, it is clean but sounds a little weak and soft.
An Italian track would have been appreciated, but at least Milland
and Ferrer dub their own roles. Extras include a English-language
trailer and a 30-minute interview with Richard Clark, author of
a book on the real-life case. (The actual "Pyjama Girl Murder"
occured in 1934.) Clark discusses the still-unsolved mystery in
fascinating detail, and he offers some comments on the film as
well. An Easter egg, accessible in the extras menu, is the Italian
trailer — basically the same thing as the English one, though
it gives one a chance to see how the film would play without so
many dodgy Aussie accents.
3/19/06 |
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