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Originally Posted by Rob4  La donna del lago (1965) aka 'The Possessed'
An arty Giallo about a writer who returns to a hotel in an out of season lakeside Italian resort. At an earlier visit to the resort he had obsessed about the hotel's maid, Tilde and has returned determined to make his attraction known to the girl on this occasion, only to find she has committed suicide... or was it murder?
I do have a soft spot for films set at out of season hotels (Daughters of Darkness, anyone?). They seem to have an atmosphere all of their own.
This one has grainy noirish visuals, punctuated by dreamy washed-out flashbacks, with some French new wave style editing thrown in as well, all of which, along with the twisty plot serves to keep you off balance, and at times making you doubt the perceptions of the lead character.
I'm not sure why this film is not more well-known as it has the sort of execution that I would have expected would have had festival award panels purring like satisfied kittie-cats. I can only assume that it had poor distribution.
The only downside is that I guessed the murderer too early. There was one meaningful look too many, although it might be because I've seen so many Gialli now I've become attuned to the plot-beats.
I'd recommend that you watch this film with the Italian track. Although the English track matches the lip movements better it has a tinny other-worldly feel to it that takes you out of the movie. I only got ten minutes in before I had to stop it and restart in Italian. |
When i watched this i wasn't even sure it was a Giallo. Doesn't really display any of the usual techniques and if i recall it's only a 12 or PG cert so not exactly violent or exploitative either.