Death Occurred Last Night

"Death Occurred Last Night" is a film that requires patience, an open mindset, and then even more patience. But, eventually, you will be rewarded, as this is one of the most integer and slow-brooding Italian drama/thriller films of the early 70s. And, once it has sunk in entirely, I guarantee you'll appreciate it even more! Duccio Tessari's film, with a phenomenal cast, is often misperceived by people because it has a title that makes it seem like a giallo, and a premise that makes it sound like a poliziotesschi, but it's actually neither. Well, it is a poliziotesschi, but not like the ones with Maurizio Merli and tons of car chases and violent executions. This film merely thrives on a solid script, a tense atmosphere, sense of realism and real human emotions.

Raf Vallone gives a stellar performance as a desperate father who literally begs the local Milanese police commissioner Lamberti (an equally stellar Frank Wolff) to search for his daughter Donatella, who's missing since a month. The case is extra disturbing because Donatella is mentally disabled. She has the mind of a 3-year-old, but with her curvaceous 25-year-old body and her willingness to go along with every random stranger, she's the ideal victim for all the rancid prostitution networks in the city. The first half of the film covers the extended search for the girl, during which commissioner Lamberti and his partner, with the help of a former pimp, turn all the prostitution houses in the city inside out. Then, the inevitable happens, Donatella is found brutally murdered, and the search turns into a relentless hunt for the killer (or killers). Not just the police are searching, but the devastated father is out for justice as well.

"Death Occurred Last Night" is admittedly rather slow-paced, and low in the action department, but the script is indescribably compelling, and also very fascinating, since it gives a lot of insights in police modus operandi. The last 10-15 minutes, when the truth about Donatella's disappearance slowly unravels, are truly haunting and they are likely to cause that you'll never be able to trust anyone in your close surroundings ever again.

Widower (Vallone) searches for his missing daughter with the aid of committed inspector (Wolff) leading to a complex web of exploitation and deceit.

Probably more a polizioteschi than strictly giallo fare, the pacing sometimes suffers and the plot twists more than it needs to, but despite some issues with momentum, the overall result is still satisfying.

Aside from the two leads who are both excellent, German leading lady Eva Renzi lends support as Wolff's highly invested wife, Beryl Cunningham has a sizeable supporting role as a reluctant informer of sorts, whilst Gabriele Tinti shows his disdain for criminals as Wolff's highly-strung detective partner.

It's a rather bleak tale which Director Tessari handles with care and compassion, another interesting contrast to the usual giallo in which victims are typically discarded with a casual contempt. Better than average, but don't expect razor blades, black gloves and blood-splatter - this is a complex mystery which takes its time to strike.

A mentally backward 25 year old woman mysteriously vanishes and consequently turns up dead. The investigation then tries to find out who was responsible for the brutal murder. This poliziotteschi/giallo hybrid delves into the dark underbelly of Milan, where it turns out many shady individuals reside. Tonally, this is more on the poliziotteschi side of the fence than the giallo, consequently its a bit darker and nihilistic, with a more cynical view of life overall. Its still an involving mystery/thriller whatever its categorisation though and keeps you guessing. It also benefits from the great Frank Wolff on hand as the police inspector on the case.

Part giallo and part drama, this movie's been overlooked by both the "mainstream" critics and the Italian-horror fans alike, and that's a shame, because it's one of Italy's more serious genre efforts of the 70's. The distraught father's race to find his kidnapped daughter before the police do, is both tense and poignant. It's free of the exploitative elements most genre films have, and along with Tessari's other thriller (Bloodstained Butterfly), one of the most mature Italian thillers of the decade. The ending is painful without being gratuitous, and well above something Hollywood could handle: compare the father's obsession to find the girl in this to Cage's in 8MM and be amazed at how crassly the latter is constructed. See this one!

Frank Wolff puts in a great performance here as a world weary cop in Milan assigned to a missing person's case where a middle aged man keeps referring to his little girl, who turns out to be a six foot tall nymphomaniac with the mind of a three year old! That's pretty sick seeing as all evidence points to her being sent to work as a prostitute.

Wolff is one of these cops that isn't afraid to plant stuff on people, blackmail men who frequent hookers, or have his men slap pimps around. He's also very likable as for every bust he makes, he feels the weight of every crime that goes unpunished, so he winds down at night while playing the guitar, treating his sinusitis, and banging his wife.

During the day he and his subordinates start visiting whore houses in order to track down the missing girl which leads him to befriending hooker with a heart Herrero, who might be the key to the whole case. For a change its Herrero and Wolff's missus are the one who become sort-of friends, leading to all sorts of philosophising and what not.

Another plot thread concerns that of the missing girl's father. A man who just wanted to look after his daughter, what becomes of a man who's only reason for living is missing, and what is he going to do to those responsible, as he highly suspects that one of his neighbours is the kidnapper.

The 'identity of the kidnapper' plot I guess has this film being marked as a giallo, whereas other say it's a euro-crime film. Who gives a crap? It's a good film. Not much by way of gore, or nudity, but the ending was certainly violent enough and the film also has characters that actually display feelings for a change. Duccio Tessari also directed Tony Arzenta and the two films share that highly-stylised look, and in this film Tessari includes a lot of hand held footage, and a lot of scenes where the dialogue is drowned out by external noise.

You know what this film reminded me of? A Touch of Frost. I mean that as a good thing – Wolff does that thing Frost does where he constantly berates his subordinates ("Get a haircut").