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
