ETC MAGAZINE RETURNS...sort of!

When I started this blog, my ultimate goal was not to just update ETC #6, the Giallo issue, but to slowly revitialize the magazine in a digital format. Well, with Dennis Capicik's contribution below, the process has begun. This is an open invitation to both former (like Dennis) and new contributors to ETC to begin to showcasing their thoughts and ruminations on what I refer to as the much despised term, EUROTRASH. Send all contributions to cljcl@aol.com and let's make this place like the good old days, the late 80s-early 90s, you know, before the internet.

L’ARMA, L’ORA, IL MOVENTE

The Weapon, The Hour, The Motive

Italy 1972

D: Francesco Mazzei

P: Francesco Mazzei for Julia Film (Rome) // St & Sc: Francesco Mazzei, Marcello Aliprandi, Mario Bianchi, Bruno Di Geronimo, Vinicio Marinucci // DP: Giovanni Ciarlo // E: Alberto Galitti // M: Francesco De Masi

Cast: Renzo Montagnani, Bedy Moratti, Eva Czemerys, Salvatore Puntillo, Claudia Gravi, Alcira Harris, Arturo Trina, Adolfo Belletti, Arnaldo Bellofiore, Francesco D’Adda, Filippo Marcelli, Gina Mascetti, Lorenzo Piani & Maurizio Bonuglia.

As the title clearly demonstrates, that’s the puzzle that haunts commissario Franco Boito (terrifically portrayed by Renzo Montagnani) in this surprisingly effective and rarely seen giallo. 

When Father Giorgio (Maurizio Bonuglia) is found murdered at a convent chapel outside of Florence, detective Boito (Renzo Montagnani) is soon on the case, and, through his investigation, he unravels deceptions, betrayals and adulterous behavior among a small group of affluent people living in the vicinity.  To complicate matters, he begins a relationship with Orchidea Durantini (Bedy Moratti), one of the many red herrings, who, along with her husband, also take care of Ferruccio (Arturo Trina), a sickly orphan the convent nuns have adopted.

Like many of the contemporary gialli, which flooded cinema screens in the early-to-mid ’70s, L’ARMA, L’ORA, IL MOVENTE also has its fair share of stylistic flourishes, but one-time director Francesco Mazzei seems more interested in exploring the rather claustrophobic and repressive atmosphere in both the convent setting and small provincial town where everyone is harboring some sort of secret.  As played by Bonuglia – the lover of BOTH Rosalba Neri and Edwige Fenech in Ottavio Alessi’s TOP SENSATION (1969) and one of the stars of Francesco Barilli’s equally gloomy The PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK (1974) – Father Giorgio is “adopted” by the locals, but its Orchidea and her friend Giulia (Eva Czemerys) who vie for his attention.  During a typical midday lunch in lush garden surroundings, Father Giorgio is treated with the traditional respect a priest would normally receive, but it almost borders on Christ-like adoration, even when discussing mundane trivialities such as astrological signs.  It’s certainly an interesting sequence, but, it isn’t until Father Giorgio is found murdered at the steps of the church altar, found splayed in a pool of his own blood, that this aspect is further developed when he is essentially ‘punished’ for his own indiscretions, but also for the transgressions of everyone around him. Then, in an interesting turn of events, when detective Boito is well into his investigation, he begins an illicit affair with Orchidea and essentially takes the place of Father Giorgio and is treated with the same reverence, albeit with more apprehension from his newfound acquaintances because Boito uses every opportunity to scrutinize his suspects.

Further religious iconography populates the narrative, with nuns roaming the convent grounds – their sort of ‘garden of Eden’, which is surrounded by the “sins” of the outside world.  “We all sin, so we must suffer for this,” exclaims Sister Tarquinia (the rather alluring Spanish actress Claudia Gravy, who also appeared as a novice in Domenico Paolella’s The NUNS OF SAINT ARCHANGEL [1973] the following year), as she too conceals her own feelings for the deceased Father Giorgio.  In a highly exploitable moment, which looks like it ventured in from some “nasty nun” film, Sister Tarquinia flagellates herself – which provides yet another red herring – but, as the camera slowly pans across the room, it reveals the rest of the nuns all performing the very same ritual as Francesco De Masi’s choral music swells on the soundtrack.

Even though Boito is first presented as the outsider “from the city”, who at first is seen roaring into town on his motorcycle like some justice crusader right of out of a polizieschi film, he places himself above the old-world outlook of the church.  He immediately reprimands the nuns for “moving the body”, but, as the narrative unfolds, he too is soon engrossed in this reclusive world, and, when he becomes romantically entangled with Orchidea, his wits as a detective also become clouded.  He becomes just as conflicted as some of the very suspects he is interrogating.  Well-acted and compelling, L’ARMA, L’ORA, IL MOVENTE’s greatest strength comes from Renzo Montagnani as Boito – generally regarded for his many comedic roles alongside such Italian starlets as Edwige Fenech – in one of his rare ‘serious’ film roles, that turns out to be the real surprise.  It’s a terrific role, full of frustration, conflict, and, ultimately, sadness, which Montagnani pulls off with great conviction.   

  

But special mention should also be given to Arturo Trina as Ferruccio “il bambino”, who, in this world of hidden secrets and illicit behavior, casts his eyes on all the deceptions; and as it turns out, it’s Ferruccio who witnesses Father Giorgio’s murder through a rooftop peephole in the old church.  In a nice aesthetic touch, one of his marbles falls through the peephole immediately after the murder, and as it hits the stone floor, the sound resonates throughout the entire church, thus alerting the murderer.  Then his inquisitive nature gets the better of him, and in one of the film’s more overtly horror-tinged moments, Ferruccio ventures from his room and wanders into the dark corridors of the church.  Much of the scene plays out like one in any Gothic horror flick, which is abruptly and rather effectively concluded with the crotchety caretaker Anselmo (Adolfo Beletti) scaring the bejesus out of him.  In an earlier scene, because he “really likes mysteries”, Ferruccio makes a remark about gialli, Italy’s little yellow mystery paperbacks from which the genre derived its name; leading to some nice, unexpected turns in the final act.

Handsomely shot by Giovanni Ciarlo, with plenty of arresting images, including a rather vicious murder sequence halfway through the film, L’ARMA, L’ORA, IL MOVENTE never outstays its welcome with some sharply-written characters and decent plot twists along the way.  It’s too bad this turned out to be Francesco Mazzei’s only directorial effort, as it’s an engrossing little film that deserves to be seen by a wider audience. 

REVIEW BY DENNIS CAPICIK