Radiance Films have put themselves forth in the boutique
label releasing world of films on blu-ray as the classiest world cinema company
since Arrow Video’s retired Arrow Academy line.
Releasing largely overlooked underrated classics both old and modern long
overdue for western media consumption, their latest venture have turned the
spotlights on Italian character-actor/screenwriter/director Pietro Germi and
his 1959 Neorealist ensemble crime drama The Facts of Murder.
A quasi-neo noir with early forecasts of giallo consisting of
many twists and turns, the film prominently stars Germi opposite Claudia
Cardinale and Franco Fabrizi. A taut
little detective story chamber piece taking place within an apartment building
involving multiple crimes, the film being offered in Radiance Films’ World
Noir Vol. 1 as well as a standalone disc release represents the eventual Divorce
Italian Style and The Birds, the Bees and the Italians commedia all’italiana
director’s first real foray into crime drama.
Also for 1959, as with Mario Bava’s Caltiki: The Immortal Monster,
it is proof positive Italy was ahead of the curve in terms of depicting blood
and gore onscreen.
Soon neighbor Liliana (Eleonora Rossi Drago) hires
a servant named Assuntina (Claudia Cardinale) who gets embroiled in an affair
with the woman’s fiancé Diomede (Nino Castelnuovo) and it doesn’t take long for
a murder case to develop in the same time and place. Pointing to a much bigger labyrinthine crime
mystery than they bargained for, Ingravallo and law enforcement chip away clue
by clue at the case leading to an unexpected amount of double crossings and
illicit dealings.
Led by an embittered old fogie type of
detective with Pietro Germi giving a nuanced, restrained performance of a police
figure navigating a contemporary Rome rarely seen on film. As much of a travelogue as a police
procedural including a very young Claudia Cardinale as a sultry seductress and
budding overtones of the giallo thriller predating the work of Sergio Martino
or Massimo Dallamano, it’s a film that keeps you guessing on your toes while
also casually regarding the rich and impoverished environments of then-modern
Rome.
Going on to win the Mar de Plata Film Festival award for
Best Director as well as the Silver Ribbon for Best Script and Best Supporting
Actor, The Facts of Murder showcased the actor-director Pietro Germi
fusing his neorealist background with a more formal narrative piece steeped in
shadowy noir, heavy rains and archaic Italian architecture.
Something of a Roman whodunit featuring (for
their time) grisly gore effects and fine performances from its ensemble cast, Radiance
Films’ 4K restored world-premiere of The Facts of Murder on blu-ray disc
is an important chapter in Italian crime cinema as well as an early footnote in
what would or wouldn’t become the Italian giallo thriller subgenre. While not as popular as his later works, Pietro
Germi’s acting-directing effort remains as fresh as ever if not prescient.
--Andrew Kotwicki