Director: Luigi
Bazzoni
Notable Cast: Franco
Nero, Silvia Monti, Pamela Tiffin, Wolfgang Preiss, Ira von Furstenberg, Edmund
Purdom, Maurizio Bunuglia, Rossella Falk, Renato Romano
Arrow Video has become a destination home for classic giallo
films to find a new life for collectors. This intention was a statement that
the company made very early on when they started distributing titles. Whether
it’s the wildly known classics, the schlocky exploitative films, or the artsy
fringe films, when Arrow announces the release of a new giallo title, it’s
reason enough to get excited. Most recently Arrow grabbed a handful of giallo
fan favorites and their latest is the Luigi Bazzoni directed film, The Fifth Cord. Now, this is a film that
I found to be, at least in the cinephile circles that I interact with, a very
well-regarded film. Not one that is often brought up in conversation like some
of the other classics, but one that certainly had earned the respect of the
fans. The way that The Fifth Cord is
regarded by fans might be the best way to describe the film too. Although the
film has some fantastic elements to it, executed in a means that pulls the mundane
murder mystery script well up into the upper echelons of the genre, it’s also a
film that doesn’t necessarily make a huge splash in style that would garner the
bigger audience of people referencing it. Still, even as the film plays things
more grounded, it does it in such a fantastic manner that it’s a wonder it’s
not referenced more as a cornerstone of the genre.
For The Fifth Cord,
the most impressive aspect of the film is how director Bazzoni completely saves
it from being a mediocre giallo experience. Based on a novel, the film plays
its murder mystery about as straight forward as it can get when it comes to narrative
and often doubles down on the tropes of the genre to get there. Our lead
character, played with a steely eyed intensity that Franco Nero brings to damn
near every role he does, is an alcoholic reporter on the outs with his employer
and struggling to find a way to balance life, love, and work. A role that, in
all fairness, is about as cliché as they get. He ends up stumbling into a murder
mystery case where an unknown killer is knocking off people and leaving gloves
at the scene, each with a missing finger as the body count grows. If you’ve
seen a handful of murder thrillers or a couple of giallo films, then you can
guess where it goes from there.
The film has a weird knack for trying to add depth to the
proceedings by having each of the characters, of which there are quite a few
with most being obvious red herrings or slaughter fodder, already related to
one another prior to the narrative’s events. As the film proceeds through the
investigation, there are a lot of soap opera style moments of “well, he’s my brother”
or “they used to be together” character and plot reveals that ultimately seem
forced or eye-rolling as they come. On paper, The Fifth Cord plays out more like a blue print to the usual mystery
thriller with an ensemble cast of potential killers/victims. There isn’t a lot
of natural progression to it and it lays out everything upfront. From a script
standpoint, at least.
As the film continues on though, it works in some impressive
and rather shocking ways. There are some phenomenal performances to be had here
with Franco Nero leading the charge using his screen presence as an anchor for
the film. The rest of the cast are as game as he is in selling the characters
and story. In particular, both Silvia Monti and Ira von Furstenberg give fantastic
performances that often steal the scenes they are in. They add so much depth to
their characters when their roles could have been throw-away secondary performances.
However, as mentioned above, it’s Bazzoni and his crew that truly lift the film
well above its foundation. The film has phenomenal cinematography, useing its
urban setting to its maximum benefit with tons of fantastic visual cues to the
characters and where the plot’s emotional core is set. The way its edited, even
when using tropes of the genre like a first person shot to kick off the film, keeps
the pacing brisk and moving, only stopping to develop the tension needed for reveals
and kill sequences. By the third act, The
Fifth Cord hits such a wild and frantic tone, doubled down by the pressures
from the police and his mental state on Nero’s character, that its final chase
sequence had me completely on the edge of my seat and holding my breath to see
if our anti-heroic reporter was going to be able to unmask the killer and bring
them to justice. Even when the script bogs the film down, Bazzoni and the cast
bring so much energy and effort to the screen that it uplifts the entire
experience into A-grade giallo levels.
To add to that experience, once again Arrow Video is
bringing their own A-grade material to this latest release. As always with
their releases, I have added the entire list of features down below, but there
are a few notable ones. Firstly, the new 2K restoration is gorgeous. It truly
highlights the cinematography of the film and that is one of the best parts of
watching it. Secondly, while the new release features a ton of new analysis
material from critics and interviews with various people involved with the film,
the interview with Michael Mackenzie might be a great one for those first
starting to dig into the features as he gives a very honest critique and
historical context to the film that adds a lot of insight to the hows, whys,
and whats of the film that either work or don’t work.
After having seen The
Fifth Cord, it’s no wonder that Arrow wanted to release it. It’s truly a
gem of the genre. Even when its problematic script is floundering to find the
balance of its melodrama and realism, the execution of it is impressive enough that
it’s easy to disregard many of its obvious flaws. Whether it’s the fantastic cast,
the stunning cinematography, or the great use of visuals to maintain a sense of
purpose and emotional depth, The Fifth
Cord is a fantastic fine. It’s not as splashy as many of the major films of
the genre might be with their colors, sounds, and lavish gimmicks, but The Fifth Cord represents some of the
solid artistic elements that the genre should be praised for as it garners more
and more clout with time. This release is an easy recommendation for both genre
and more traditionalist cinephile fans.
ARROW VIDEO FEATURES:
Written By Matt Reifschneider
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