lonchaney20 Review of The Fifth Cord

The Fifth Cord (1971)

Beautiful lensed giallo with a generic script...

[7/10 · 15 May 2010]

This is one of the most visually stunning films of all time. Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, The Conformist) and Luigi Bazzoni (Footprints on the Moon) had a great understanding between them, and it shows on the screen. The contrasts between light and dark, the way characters are rendered black silhouettes reminds me of my favorite shot from Ingmar Bergman's The Passion of Anna (lensed by the great Sven Nykvist). Regrettably the script isn't quite up to that level, being about as generic as a giallo comes. Bazzoni also lacks the ability of a director like Argento or Bava to build suspense and stage a murder. Thankfully the astounding visuals and Franco Nero's appealing performance (dubbed by himself, thankfully!) make this stand out from most films of its ilk. It's just too bad that the ending is so bland - you almost feel like the filmmakers just didn't give a crap. This could have been a minor classic with a better script. Shortly before this I watched Bazzoni's other "giallo" (most consider it one, but I don't) Footprints on the Moon, and while it was far more interesting it didn't seem nearly as well done despite the presence of Vittorio Storaro. Maybe if they had tried one more time they might have gotten the balance right.