*** This review may contain spoilers ***
*Plot and ending analyzed*
This is a very good film directed by the man who also did "Zeder: Voices of the Dead". Although similar in tone, this film explores a man's quest to solve an illogical mystery and it is more provincial, thus regulating us to the ominous and desolate village landscape, such as the canal, the empty houses and the isolated stretches of land.
The man in question is an art restorer who is called to the small village of Palerma Southern Italy to restore a fresco painted by a degenerate artist. As he is led by the hunchback dwarf mayor, the man begins to assume that there is a mysterious air about him, namely that people are hiding something in the village. His suspicion is further activated when he finds that the artist who painted the scene in the old church, was a maniac and pervert.
More and more he slowly uncovers strange rumors and ghastly pieces of evidence, including a dicto-graph voice tape and a journal from the 1930's.
His visit to the old house where the artist lived uncovers peculiar mouths painted on the windows. There are also two eerie sisters who contributed to the artist's suicide and they were followers of a reclusive cult that was situated in South America.
Most of the film has a sense of unnerving atmosphere, and it is very unusual and pleasant to learn that one does not know what premise will be laid out next.
The ending was a surprise because one can only assume what occurred. A very engaging and effective film.
*Plot and ending analyzed*
This is a very good film directed by the man who also did "Zeder: Voices of the Dead". Although similar in tone, this film explores a man's quest to solve an illogical mystery and it is more provincial, thus regulating us to the ominous and desolate village landscape, such as the canal, the empty houses and the isolated stretches of land.
The man in question is an art restorer who is called to the small village of Palerma Southern Italy to restore a fresco painted by a degenerate artist. As he is led by the hunchback dwarf mayor, the man begins to assume that there is a mysterious air about him, namely that people are hiding something in the village. His suspicion is further activated when he finds that the artist who painted the scene in the old church, was a maniac and pervert.
More and more he slowly uncovers strange rumors and ghastly pieces of evidence, including a dicto-graph voice tape and a journal from the 1930's.
His visit to the old house where the artist lived uncovers peculiar mouths painted on the windows. There are also two eerie sisters who contributed to the artist's suicide and they were followers of a reclusive cult that was situated in South America.
Most of the film has a sense of unnerving atmosphere, and it is very unusual and pleasant to learn that one does not know what premise will be laid out next.
The ending was a surprise because one can only assume what occurred. A very engaging and effective film.