The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970)

Review by Rod Barnett Edited by J.A.C.

Italy - Spain | 1970 - Directed by Luciano Ercoli - Starring Dagmar Lassander, Pier Paolo Capponi, Susan Scott

Minou (Dagmar Lassander) is a happily married woman with few problems other than her self-described vices of drinking, smoking and popping tranquilizers. Her husband is a busy businessman often away for long periods of time. On one such night Minou is walking along the beach when she's chased and attacked by a knife-wielding man who seems to know her husband Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi). He threatens her with rape and informs her that her husband is a murderer. Calling Peter immediately afterwards, he rushes to her and accompanies her home but Minou doesn't want to go to the police. She has no proof of what happened and the man didn't actually harm her. She doesn't tell Peter about the fellow's murder accusation.

The next day she learns that one of Peter's business financiers died in an apparent drowning suicide. Shaken, she confesses the whole story to her friend (and former flame of Peter) Dominique (Susan Scott). Dominique is intrigued but brushes aside any thoughts of murder as silly. To take the housewife's mind off her fears the sexually voracious Dominique shows Minou her collection of pornographic photographs but shockingly, the surprised lady spots her attacker's face in one of them.

Borrowing the picture she shows it to Peter and they belatedly go to the police.
Making the police aware of the situation seems to comfort her but when she is shown the deep pressure chamber that her husband works with she again starts to wonder about the supposed drowning. The newspaper's accounts of the suicide make it possible he was killed in the chamber and then dumped in the river afterwards. She is trying to put such thoughts out of her head when the mysterious man calls her at home and plays a recording of Peter and an associate actually killing the financier! The fellow forces Minou to meet him at an apartment and, after some discussion, trades her the incriminating tape for a night of sex. The humiliated woman submits and then destroys the tape thinking that the whole incident is over and can be forgotten. But the next day the blackmailer shows up at her home with photos of their sexual encounter demanding a continuation of their relationship.

Finally taking Dominique completely into her confidence they first try to buy the man off.
When this fails they finally tell Peter the whole tale and go to the police. Minou leads the cops to the blackmailer's apartment but all they find is an empty set of rooms that haven't been rented in over a year. Confused, Minou begins to fear for her sanity. And when, later that night, only she sees her tormentor trying to break into her house she knows something is terribly wrong.

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is not quite a giallo, but it's close enough to make its being lumped in with the genre understandable. It is a twisty mystery with plenty of kinkiness courtesy of the beautiful Susan Scott (real name Nieves Navarro), gorgeous photography and a story that manages to keep you guessing right up until the end. Masterfully filmed by first-time director Luciano Ercoli, it is consistently interesting, jumping from one possible explanation to another with a deftness that makes what passes for thrillers today seem clumsy in comparison. We are led down the path along with Minou, wondering if her husband is guilty, how the blackmailer got that recording, whether Dominique is involved and finally, we share her fears for the state of her mind. The script is smart and Ercoli wrings quite a bit of anxiety out of the scenario.

In a film with much to offer the sets stand out as both beautiful elements of the film's design and brilliant representations of the people who live there.

Dominique's home is a split level apartment with several cozy little nests in which to curl up with her latest lover. When we are introduced to her home she is projecting some nude slides of herself on the wall. With the lights out she and Minou seem to be snuggled together sharing confidences. Peter and Minou's place is a spacious house decorated in a very 'art modern' style that sometimes looks more like a museum than a home. The house is starkly bright and clean with only Minou's half empty liquor glasses and pill bottles cluttering up the slick surfaces. By the end of the story the look of the house is clearly meant to have shown a bit of the character's inner selves. Ercoli went on to make two more movies that fall more easily into the giallo tradition and after seeing this I can hardly wait to see them. If his attention to detail remained as strong as it is here they will require repeated viewings.

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Blue Underground has issued The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion simultaneously with three other Italian thrillers, part of what would have been a giallo box set. The movie is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and looks fantastic. Other than a few vertical lines in the first few minutes the print is extremely clean with beautiful colors and good detail. The only soundtrack option is the English Dolby Digital Mono, which is clear and sharp. The excellent Morricone score comes through very well (as usual with the maestro).

The theatrical trailer is provided as an extra but the real plus is entitled Forbidden Screenplays. This is a 9-minute interview with legendary scriptwriter Ernesto Gastaldi in which he relates the almost accidental way the script was chosen to film. Obviously amused by the fact that the success of the film saved the films producers from bankruptcy he talks pretty openly about them. He has no idea what happened to Ercoli and claims he left the film biz after inheriting a fortune!

From: http://www.eccentric-cinema.com/cult_movies2006/forbidden_photos.htm