Luigi Bazzoni's "Le Orme" aka. "Footprints on the Moon" (1975) is possibly the most atypical film that can be attributed to the Giallo (sub-)genre. Director Bazzoni, who had previously directed a more typical, but less interesting Giallo with "Giornata Nera Per L'Ariete" ("The Fifth Cord", 1975), leaves out almost all the trademark elements of the traditional Giallo here, the most obvious being that (almost) no gory murders are taking place. Instead, "Le Orme", which, in its mystery character may nonetheless be called a Giallo, is a slow-paced, surreal, eerie and extremely convoluted and complex psychological mystery. The level of mystery is even higher than usual for Gialli, to a degree where the viewer often has no clue whatsoever what is going on. "Le Orme" is furthermore doubtlessly the only Giallo to feature an extraterrestrial sub-plot (as the English title suggests, the moon plays a role).
The wonderful Florinda Bolkan stars as Alice Crespi, a protagonist whose persona alone leaves many mysteries. Alice, a Portuguese translator living in Rome, who is tormented by a recurring nightmare, wakes up one day with no recollection of the foregoing three days. When she finds a photograph of a hotel on the Turkish island Garma, she decides to go there and investigate. Strangely, even though she has never been there, several people on the island seem to recognize Alice or confuse her with another woman...
It is almost impossible to give a proper plot description of "Le Orme" since the film relies strongly on atmosphere. Alice gets involved deeper and deeper in a mystery she has no clue how to solve; and neither do the viewers. Stylistically, the film is perfect: Stunningly beautiful Turkish sceneries are captured by a fantastic photography, (cinematographer Vittorio Storano also did the cinematography for "Apolcalypse Now" as well as Dario Argento's brilliant debut "L'Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo" and Bernardo Bertolucci's "Novecento"), and the atmosphere is intensified by a wonderful classical score. The beautiful Florinda Bolkan is a great actress, and she is fantastic in the leading role here. Bolkan always had a talent to play women on the edge of sanity (e.g. in Lucio Fulci's great Gialli "Don't Torture A Duckling" and "Lizzard in a Woman's Skin", and, in a different manner, in Gianfranco Mingozzi's "Flavia the Heretic"), and her performance is particularly involving here (not least because we don't know whether she is is going insane, or the victim of a conspiracy). The rest of the cast includes Italian Horror's greatest child star, the always fantastic Nicoletta Elmi (Argento's "Profondo Rosso", Bava's "Baron Blood" and "Bay of Blood", etc.), and, in the dream-like sequences, none other than the incomparable Klaus Kinski as a sinister scientist.
If you are looking for the typical Giallo in which an insane killer targets ravishing beauty-queens, with gory murders and tons of sleaze, you better look elsewhere. What "Le Orme" provides, is mystery and suspense in a different, but highly involving and unsettling manner. Those who aren't familiar with the Giallo genre are well advised to watch a variety of other genre films (such as "The Red Queen Kills 7 Times", "What Have You Done To Solange", "Don't Torture A Duckling" or any of the Gialli by Sergio Martino and Dario Argento) before this one. However, it is a top recommendation for the more experienced Giallo-fans, especially those who are not deterred by the lack of action and appreciate a bizarre storyline. Definitely one of a kind. 7.5/10
The wonderful Florinda Bolkan stars as Alice Crespi, a protagonist whose persona alone leaves many mysteries. Alice, a Portuguese translator living in Rome, who is tormented by a recurring nightmare, wakes up one day with no recollection of the foregoing three days. When she finds a photograph of a hotel on the Turkish island Garma, she decides to go there and investigate. Strangely, even though she has never been there, several people on the island seem to recognize Alice or confuse her with another woman...
It is almost impossible to give a proper plot description of "Le Orme" since the film relies strongly on atmosphere. Alice gets involved deeper and deeper in a mystery she has no clue how to solve; and neither do the viewers. Stylistically, the film is perfect: Stunningly beautiful Turkish sceneries are captured by a fantastic photography, (cinematographer Vittorio Storano also did the cinematography for "Apolcalypse Now" as well as Dario Argento's brilliant debut "L'Uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo" and Bernardo Bertolucci's "Novecento"), and the atmosphere is intensified by a wonderful classical score. The beautiful Florinda Bolkan is a great actress, and she is fantastic in the leading role here. Bolkan always had a talent to play women on the edge of sanity (e.g. in Lucio Fulci's great Gialli "Don't Torture A Duckling" and "Lizzard in a Woman's Skin", and, in a different manner, in Gianfranco Mingozzi's "Flavia the Heretic"), and her performance is particularly involving here (not least because we don't know whether she is is going insane, or the victim of a conspiracy). The rest of the cast includes Italian Horror's greatest child star, the always fantastic Nicoletta Elmi (Argento's "Profondo Rosso", Bava's "Baron Blood" and "Bay of Blood", etc.), and, in the dream-like sequences, none other than the incomparable Klaus Kinski as a sinister scientist.
If you are looking for the typical Giallo in which an insane killer targets ravishing beauty-queens, with gory murders and tons of sleaze, you better look elsewhere. What "Le Orme" provides, is mystery and suspense in a different, but highly involving and unsettling manner. Those who aren't familiar with the Giallo genre are well advised to watch a variety of other genre films (such as "The Red Queen Kills 7 Times", "What Have You Done To Solange", "Don't Torture A Duckling" or any of the Gialli by Sergio Martino and Dario Argento) before this one. However, it is a top recommendation for the more experienced Giallo-fans, especially those who are not deterred by the lack of action and appreciate a bizarre storyline. Definitely one of a kind. 7.5/10