The Girl by the Lake

At first glance the synopsis might have suggested some similarities with the New Zealand film In My Father's Den, and indie film The Dead Girl. After all, the pace started to pick up when the body of a young woman is found by the lake (hence the title) of a small and quiet Italian town, with the story progressing like an investigative drama that made me wanted to scream Twin Peaks!

In essence, this film by Andrea Molaioli, based upon the novel by Karin Fossum, runs very much like how an investigations is set out to be, full of red herrings, half truths, deceit, together with plenty of doubt, and little leads to plough things forward. For that, I thought it captured the dilemma of an investigator really well, with Toni Servillo in excellent form as Commissario Sanzio, a stoic, no-nonsense police investigator who together with his small team, have to solve this strange case. If I may say so, it puts the audience into the thick of the action really well, with the ABCs of an investigation - Assume nothing, Believe nobody, and Check everything, superbly brought out.

And that started right from the beginning too, as things are not quite they seem, and I was quick to pass judgement on the film, thinking that it was an open and shut case too soon, and too obvious. For those who enjoy a good dose of investigative drama, then this film would be right up your alley. There are frustrations of course when you find yourself drawn into the events of the picture, working toward trying to solve the case before Sanzio does, but each time being thwarted, and going back to the drawing board if you had missed a potential lead, or had been blindsided and failed to pick up clues that the actors give out, akin to playing a game of Cluedo.

But those who don't enjoy wrecking your brains too much, fret not too. The story is rich enough not to dwell too much on the police work, deftly splitting its time to dig into a little more of its central characters so that they flesh out in more three-dimensional terms, rather than being flat. The ensemble cast deserves credit for making their characters believable, and hence all the more difficult when you try to weed out the possible suspects with clear motivations. In particular, we see more of Sanzio's personal life in the film, where he has to deal with a wife suffering from advanced dementia, and a growing teenage daughter (Guilia Michelini) with whom he sometimes fail to see eye to eye with. He may be tip top in the professional front, but on the personal end it does seem like he does require some assistance.

There would be those who might complaint that the ending was too convenient, but trust me having been there and done that, there are occasions when folks know their game is up, and resistance is just plain futile. To me, for personal reasons, this was as accurate a movie as can be that had brought out similar feelings during probes into what had happened, and you know what? A little eclectic techno music on the side does no wrong too!

An atmosphere which recalls Georges Simenon but the plot itself is closer to Agatha Christie's whodunit.Although a little MTV quality,the movie is often filmed on location and the mountain landscapes are wonderful.

What puzzles the viewer is that almost all the characters are suffering ,including the cop,who 's got a wife in a mental hospital (probably Alzheimer's disease).Directing is effective if a little remote;but ,this is crucial in this kind of investigation,all the characters are interesting and the cast rise to the occasion.

A girl was killed on the banks of a lake and many people from the village are suspects.If you like detective stories ,this movie was made for you.

A beautiful victim in a beautiful setting starts us off on an interesting who-dun-it, with suspects emerging by the handful for our world-weary detective to evaluate. The characters are all pretty interesting, each with a believable idiosyncrasy and one or two with a plausible motive. Flashbacks to the pretty victim's life and digressions about the detective's own less- than-happy family serve to keep some tension going, too.

But the resolution is a disappointment, both in terms of who-dun-it and the manner in which the suspect is discovered. Endings are never more important than in mysteries – a weak one makes us feel guilty for killing time. This "Girl" does just that.

This was a delightful detective story about a murder mystery set in a charming and picturesque European mountain village. I liked the subtlety of various scenes and how it was filmed in a unique and interesting style. The actors are all good in this movie and come across as natural and realistic characters who live in an isolated and tight knit community.

There are many different things going on as a veteran detective investigates the mystery and uncovers secrets of the towns people. The film is slow moving however, and requires patience and close attention for enjoyment of the plot, otherwise I could see how this movie's quirky style might be unappealing to the mainstream. The ending is unfortunately abrupt and disappointing, and the mystery wraps up in a mundane and uninteresting manner. Despite this, the movie for most if its running time is well worth watching for those looking for an offbeat and interesting whodunit.

''La Ragazza Del Lago'' is an enjoyable movie with high production values and an engaging story based on the second book in the Konrad Sejer series, written by the Norwegian author Karin Fossum. Since this is an Italian production, Inspector Sejer is renamed as Commissario Sanzio, played by one of the best contemporary European actors, Toni Servillo who portrays the protagonist as having the character traits that Fossum have attributed to him in the novels i.e. a solemn, pessimistic middle-aged man living alone, who nevertheless has a profound insight in the field of psychology, something that proves to be helpful in every murder investigation.The story is not an original or particularly exciting, it involves the murder of a young girl living in a small, quiet village where everybody seems to have their own secrets. Sanzio will have to uncover the truth that looms behind the villagers secrecy and finally arrest the perpetrator. The film is well-shot as it manages to capture the sinister qualities of the countryside's peace and silence which, in Fossum's books, acts as a facade for a variety of human misconduct and depravity. Though conventional, the plotline is interesting enough for the viewer to watch the film and attempt to guess the guilty party, something that I didn't manage to do correctly by the way. ''La Ragazza Del Lago'' will appeal mainly to the crime fiction fans who prefer the slow-burning, character oriented mystery and not to those who expect lots of action and special effects to a crime film (e.g. Hollywood productions). My precise rating would be closer to 3,2-3,3/5.