Let's be honest, the very title and premise are so wildly curious as to almost demand viewership; it's billed as a thriller, but expectations just go right out the window. The opening minutes don't do much to help form a concrete notion: between Bruno Maderna's excellent, vibrant score, unnerving in its emphatic discordance, and the wealth of imagery to greet us in short order, it's hard to know just what it is we've committed to watching - yet also hard not to be invested in the bizarrerie. As the narrative starts to take shape a more clear notion forms of what 'Death laid an egg' is about. Though in the broad strokes it may fit squarely into a classic Italian genre, and there are distinct difficulties with the feature as it presents, it's still suitably intriguing and engaging to be worth exploring on its own merits.
About those problems, though. As much as the movie works to catch our attention at the very start, it feels a little bit as though it's compensating for plot development that's meager and unbothered as the story first picks up. And that continues to hold true - a persistent swing of the pendulum between arresting imagery and audio, and mundane and gradual advancement of the story. Ultimately I think the back and forth between one end of the spectrum and another means we get roughly equal amounts of both - but that doesn't mean the picture is perfectly balanced. Because by the same token, Franco Arcalli's sharp, brisk editing helps to reinforce the near phantasmagoric audiovisual overload, maintain the overall pace, and build tension and suspense. Yet much of the sequencing comes across as disordered, furthering the sense of imbalance, and even incoherence, as a variety of story ideas are introduced that seem peculiarly disparate. For that matter, I believe the narrative is complete, but it struggles to even feel cohesive: some small included scenes only heighten the confusion, and maybe I just blinked at the exact wrong time, but there's also a lack of clarity in some regards.
What it comes down to is that 'Death laid an egg' tries very hard to give us a veritable cacophony of light and sound, and it succeeds in that aim. The trouble is that this choice serves to chop the plot into a deeply fragmented construction - yet without that fundamental flair, at its roots the plot is actually quite ordinary and unremarkable. Some aspects of it frankly feel altogether contrived. What we have is an issue of overwhelming style taking precedence over merely serviceable substance, and there's no great victory possible in the midst of that dichotomy. It's not that this is outright bad - not at all! I do admire the endeavor, and the gumption to fashion a story in this way. There are a few noteworthy names in the cast, and I think everyone turns in fine, nuanced displays of acting. The production design, art direction, and all manner of contributions from behind the scenes all look great generally, even when some elements fail to wholly comport. Giulio Questi demonstrates capable skills as director, and there are some splendid bits and pieces of ideas in the screenplay he wrote with Franco Arcalli.
Somehow, though, when all is said and done, much of the value gets subsumed by the kaleidoscopic film-making and storytelling. Unorthodox craft works well for many titles, yet the method must not overshadow the content as it does here. I do like 'Death laid an egg' more than I don't, but I wish I liked it more - and just as it was curiosity that drew me in at the start, having watched, curiosity may remain the best reason to check it out. It's duly recommendable for a number of reasons - fans of giallo, or the cast; appreciation of atypical movie-making or narratives, or of brilliant, memorable music. By whatever means one discovers 'Death laid an egg,' however, potential viewers should just keep in mind that one way or another it's not quite the viewing experience it inherently submits itself to be.
