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Typically, giallo films centre around a crazed killer
dispatching beautiful women, or anyone who blocks their path for vengeance, but
there are occasions where the genre strays further afield, and the lines of
definition begin to blur. Step forth Luciano Ercoli's elaborately-named The
Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, a mysterious psycho-sexual tale
of bourgeois blackmail.
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“Dominique is right, I dress too much like a
housewife, maybe I should loosen this a little, the way you like it.”
Minou (Dagmar Lassander, House by the Cemetery) is an exquisite
lady of affluent leisure, and the wife of scuba-diving business owner Peter (Pier
Paolo Capponi, Cat O' Nine Tails). Lounging around her luxurious
home, adorned with modern art, Minou is consumed by her own thoughts – she
daydreams about leaving her workaholic husband, to unleash her sexuality like
best friend Dominique (Susan Scott, All The Colours of the Dark)
– but instead her promises to quit drinking, smoking, and popping
tranquillisers all add up to nought.
“I want you to beg me, I want you to plead for my kisses.”
However, beyond the safety of her home – a lavish sixties dream as we enter the
hangover of the 1970s – Minou quickly becomes the object of a dangerous
stranger's fancy. Cornered in a moon-lit harbour, the man (Simon Andreu, Beyond
Re-Animator) – only credited as “The Blackmailer” - sexually menaces
her before accusing her husband of murder. Unsettled by the encounter, Peter is
of little real comfort, rejecting the event as a prank by a loon, and yet
Minou's attraction to him is rejuvenated - “Why on earth should I love you
less because of a sex fiend?” - but can she quell the lingering doubts in
her mind?
“I would have adored being violated.” With the
news that an investor, with a loan shark's bite, has died under suspicious
circumstances, Minou begins to believe The Blackmailer's initially tall-seeming
tale: the motive is most certainly there. For Minou, who disregards involving
the police for they “just make you fill in forms”, a web of trouble lies
ahead, but might there be a way forward? Perusing pornography bought in
Copenhagen (Italy was quite up-tight about porn at the time) with best
friend Dominique – a voracious consumer of all things erotic – Minou spots her
attacker in one of the photographs. Having found his address, and with a tape
seemingly confirming Peter's involvement, surely she can pay him off and
protect her husband?
“You must surrender your mind and your body.”
Unfortunately for Minou, her blackmailer has no desire for money – only flesh
given to him under duress – and further down the rabbit hole she tumbles when
the sadistic man continues his campaign of sexual threat, revealing that he
photographed their tryst – but what does he ultimately want? Can he even be
stopped?
“I believe in plenty of variety.” Every inch
of Ercoli's film is bathed in unsparing attention; Alejandro Ulloa's
cinematography is arguably some of the finest in not just the genre, but in
general film history. The Blackmailer's apartment is bathed in seductive reds
and blues which weave between the foreboding shadows; the composition of each
shot is precise, making the most of the wonderful set dressing and design. The
film takes place in a world of luxury, and it's easy to become ensnared in the
visual seduction.
“You're my slave and you'll obey my orders.” At
the time, and especially in the giallo genre, writers often dealt with the
producer, rather than the director, with whom they might only meet twice to
discuss the script, which would often-times be reworked regardless of plot
sense. However, as co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi (The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh) states in an interview on the DVD, Ercoli paid unusual attention
to his script. Gastaldi's work tended to be prickly, prodding various sectors
of 1970s Italian society with a knife tip, all-the-while lacing the plot with
deliciously savage dialogue that was as bitingly satirical as it was
entertaining. However, for all the dizzying doubts laid upon Minou's stressed
mind, the central mystery doesn't always captivate, and indeed the finale lacks
the punch you might have expected, the reveal coming with Old Testament greed
but a somewhat disappointing lack of shock. It's a thin-ice climax to a
pleasingly slow-burn and subtly erotic psychological mystery, which is
dominated by Lassander's enthralling turn as the naïve wife-of-means, whose
flirtations with the dark side almost destroy her sanity.
“Everyone has their price, even a maniac.”
Those who enjoy black-gloved killers stalking the streets of Italy with a
gleaming blade might be disappointed with The Forbidden Photos of a Lady
Above Suspicion, which opts for subtle psychosis and sexual extortion over
any showy splashes of crimson, but those with a love for resplendent Italian
mysteries will enjoy wrapping themselves up in this alluring display. Blue
Underground's 2006 DVD features a gorgeous-looking widescreen transfer and a
clear mono soundtrack, as well as a brief-but-informative nine-minute interview
with Ernesto Gastaldi (who co-wrote the screenplay with May Velasco).
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