This little known film is available on a DVD brought out by 'Shameless', who add a note to explain that the film was subjected to so many cuts upon its release that we can appreciate it only now that they've restored the missing bits.
These 'missing bits' make a difference; but the question remains is this the original, complete film we now see? There are, for example, a few moments from the deleted scenes (part of the DVD bonus) which 'flesh out' the count's character which I think the film needed.
My guess is that too many 'cooks' (writers, producers, directors, editors) were involved and there never was a satisfactorily resolved 'original version'.
It's interesting how the film veers away from Highsmith's novel and Hitchcock's film. Count Matteo (Pierre Clementi), like his counterparts in Highsmith and Hitchcock, comes from a privileged background, free from the demands of having to earn his living and a place in society. The unhappy husband Stefano was a two cent designer his wife lifted from total social insignificance--now that he's rich (thanks to her) he thinks like a businessman; his wife prefers him as he was and doesn't love him any more, she says.
The counts confides that his brother harasses him to the point of making his life unlivable. We never encounter this 'brother' in the film, nor any one else from the count's family (not even a photo. of any family). He indicates to Stefano how by 'trading murders' they can eliminate each man's obstacle to fulfillment.
The count tells Stefano that Stefano is his real brother now. He tracks Stefano's every move , seems to know him inside out, and plots with the inescapable logic of a mastermind the events that culminate in the two projected murders. (Here again he differs from the Highmith/Hitchcock character.) Another thing Stefano's wife can't bear about her husband now: he's so irresolute everything ends up some mishmash compromise (like his pretending(?) he was going to put a portion of the money he stole from his wife into her account). At one point the count takes Stefano by the scruff of the neck, makes him look at himself in the glass and says: 'What I'm proposing is what you really want to do.' As if the count is the ideal Stefanno the real one hasn't the courage to be. Guess who's the 'brother' Stefano kills? The film misses becoming truly haunting and profound because some of the filmmaking team didn't understand the potential of their material and treated it like a run of the mill Giallo. The acting and dialogue are above average (in Italian!, the English version sounds like a translation). Given a more sensitive restoration, this could be a minor masterpiece with themes of universal resonance (e.g. don't we all know a 'Stefano': the 'wanabe' who only exasperates us with his pathetic half measures?). All the same, this DVD version should interest those of us who like psychological thrillers.
These 'missing bits' make a difference; but the question remains is this the original, complete film we now see? There are, for example, a few moments from the deleted scenes (part of the DVD bonus) which 'flesh out' the count's character which I think the film needed.
My guess is that too many 'cooks' (writers, producers, directors, editors) were involved and there never was a satisfactorily resolved 'original version'.
It's interesting how the film veers away from Highsmith's novel and Hitchcock's film. Count Matteo (Pierre Clementi), like his counterparts in Highsmith and Hitchcock, comes from a privileged background, free from the demands of having to earn his living and a place in society. The unhappy husband Stefano was a two cent designer his wife lifted from total social insignificance--now that he's rich (thanks to her) he thinks like a businessman; his wife prefers him as he was and doesn't love him any more, she says.
The counts confides that his brother harasses him to the point of making his life unlivable. We never encounter this 'brother' in the film, nor any one else from the count's family (not even a photo. of any family). He indicates to Stefano how by 'trading murders' they can eliminate each man's obstacle to fulfillment.
The count tells Stefano that Stefano is his real brother now. He tracks Stefano's every move , seems to know him inside out, and plots with the inescapable logic of a mastermind the events that culminate in the two projected murders. (Here again he differs from the Highmith/Hitchcock character.) Another thing Stefano's wife can't bear about her husband now: he's so irresolute everything ends up some mishmash compromise (like his pretending(?) he was going to put a portion of the money he stole from his wife into her account). At one point the count takes Stefano by the scruff of the neck, makes him look at himself in the glass and says: 'What I'm proposing is what you really want to do.' As if the count is the ideal Stefanno the real one hasn't the courage to be. Guess who's the 'brother' Stefano kills? The film misses becoming truly haunting and profound because some of the filmmaking team didn't understand the potential of their material and treated it like a run of the mill Giallo. The acting and dialogue are above average (in Italian!, the English version sounds like a translation). Given a more sensitive restoration, this could be a minor masterpiece with themes of universal resonance (e.g. don't we all know a 'Stefano': the 'wanabe' who only exasperates us with his pathetic half measures?). All the same, this DVD version should interest those of us who like psychological thrillers.
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