Nov 25, 2024
Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, 1971)
"You dream of having an affair with this woman who lives next door. To you, that woman represents sin, moral degradation. The house next door is a symbol of vice. From what you've told me, Mrs. Durer is not exactly respectable."
"No... she certainly is not."
#una lucertola con la pelle di donna#a lizard in a woman's skin#lucio fulci#italian cinema#1971#roberto gianviti#josé luis martínez mollá#florinda bolkan#stanley baker#jean sorel#silvia monti#alberto de mendoza#penny brown#mike kennedy#ely galleani#george rigaud#leo genn#anita strindberg#basil dignam#ennio morricone#mesmerising. ymmv of course‚ and this does seem to be fairly divisive; I've read reviews by people who hated this or (even stranger to me)#found it to be poorly made. well not so‚ say i. Fulci in unusually restrained form‚ still stylish as all hell‚ but not allowing the visual#flourishes and artful winks at the audience to drown out the narrative. the plot itself is a twisty turny thing and almost in danger of#getting too involved in itself‚ but it all pulls together by the close. hard to see in the uk for many years because of a scene of animal#cruelty which ironically‚ for once in an Italian film‚ wasn't real but fx work; albeit fx work so convincing that it actually led to a cour#case and fx maestro Carlo Rambaldi having to demonstrate the effect in front of a jury to prevent Fulci potentially receiving a prison#sentence (or so the story goes). a longer waffling review is on my letterboxd but suffice to say that‚ for me personally‚ this was a hugely#satisfying watch after many years of anticipation. Bolkan is fascinating‚ mercurial; Strindberg (strangely uncredited) is understood only#from the pov of other characters; Baker is a wonderfully cold‚ dispassionate investigator of terrible crimes. and it all looks beautiful#plus it's one of a very few gialli set in the uk to actually bother going there to film! which means unexpected brit character actors!
