Puzzle

This fine Giallo tells an unusual story in an unusual way, and even though not much happens in the first half of the film, director Tessari manages to grip the viewer's attention from the beginning through stylish directing and really thrilling and creepy moments. In the second half, as the plot thickens and the parts of the puzzle begin to fit into a whole (i.e. as the main character starts to remember more and more of his past), there are also some fairly violent scenes, e.g. as a villain falls over a cliff or beautiful female lead Senta Berger swings a chainsaw. But, most importantly, even though the plot is a quite complicated net of strings that has to be lead together to the climax, the story remains plausible until the end, which isn't always the case in films of this genre.

Apart from the convincing performance by Berger, Luc Merenda is also well casted in the title role, as is Umberto Orsini in the main supporting role. Look out for Giallo regular Anita Strindberg in a small but crucial role. The lush sound track is also very cool and adds to the viewing pleasure. The only shame is that, as with too many other Italian films of the 1970s, this memorable Giallo is quite rare and hard to get. Rating: 8 out of 10.

Luc Merenda has amnesia. He woke up from an auto accident about a year ago and has been unable to remember anything about his life. He had identification on him, but nothing can be found about his past. His psychiatrist introduces him to someone who claims to know him, but he immediately attacks Merenda demanding to know where the stuff is. Someone shoots and kills him through Merenda's window.

Merenda learned a bit from the guy. He learned that his name is actually "Ted Walden" and that he has a wife waiting for him in Italy. When someone sends him info about his wife and a train ticket, he goes to see her.

His wife is Senta Berger. She's assumed for the last year that Merenda ran out on her. She learns of his imminent arrival, but someone breaks into her house ... but doesn't take anything. When Merenda arrives, he's confronted by Bruno Corazzari who claims they are friends and partners in a shady deal that was to net them $1 million. The problem is that Merenda has the goods, and if he doesn't start remembering, the big boss will come after all of them.

After this fairly compelling setup, this film settles into a long rut before livening up for a delightfully absurd climax involving Chekhov's chainsaw and a villain undone when the rug is literally pulled out from under him. I think anyone watching this will know who the main villain is long before the film bothers to tell you, but it's a mildly entertaining diversion. It's pretty tame for a giallo, especially one this late in the cycle, but Duccio Tessari delivers this one just fine.

Anita Strindberg has a tiny, but fairly significant role.

In London, an amnesiac is abducted and beaten by a stranger who calls him a "dirty son of a double-crosser." When a sniper's bullet kills his attacker, the amnesiac flees the country with airline tickets provided by a wife he never knew he had. Arriving in Portofino, the amnesiac is called a "dirty rotten bastard" by his wife, and threatened by another stranger to return a million dollars in uncut heroin - or die. Duccio Tessari's stylish L'UOMO SENZA MEMORIA/MAN WITHOUT A MEMORY, aka PUZZLE (1974), tears a page or two from Terence Young's WAIT UNTIL DARK, substituting for sightlessness a memory loss that seems self-willed. The more the amnesiac (Luc Merenda) learns of his past, the more he wants to forget (Hal Hartley's indie AMATEUR mined similar territory twenty years later). Tessari (A PISTOL FOR RINGO, DEATH OCCURRED LAST NIGHT, THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY) and scenarist Ernesto Gastaldi (WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY, TORSO) make the principal characters surprisingly likeable for giallo pawns and the derivativeness of the narrative is offset by a series of nicely staged setpieces (a razor slashing predates Angie Dickinson's postcoital comeuppance in Brian DePalma's DRESSED TO KILL by more than half a decade). Senta Berger proves an above average heroine, and even gets to brandish a chainsaw in the film's tense conclusion. This film won't convert any new fans to the giallo genre, but should provide an invigorating diversion to those familiar with the rules of the game.

This Giallo is practically unknown, and that's a real shame as Puzzle is an outstanding example of the genre. Director Duccio Tessari made the excellent Giallo 'The Bloodstained Butterfly' three years before this film, and the two share the same keenness to buck as many plotting trends as possible; as while this film firmly fits into the Giallo in terms of style, the plot takes the focus away from common Giallo elements such as sex and murder and puts it more on the characters and an intriguing plot involving amnesia. The film is also known as 'Man Without Memory', and that is down the fact that the central character, Peter, has lost his memory. He's being treated in a hospital, and it's not long before a mysterious stranger turns up and accuses Peter of double-crossing him. We later learn that peter is really Edward, and he's married to the beautiful Sara. He finds out about his wife and travels to Italy in order to meet up with her; although she has chiselled out a new life for herself which involves a male friend named Reinhardt, and a young kid with a crush on her...

Director Duccio Tessari uses the first half of the film to get the plot basics in place, and as a consequence it's not always exciting. However, the director manages to hold the audience's attention long enough for the film to begin revealing itself in the second act. Puzzle was scripted by Giallo luminary Ernesto Gastaldi, and the film represents one of his best works, which says a lot considering the other films he penned. While the plot does take a while to get going, once it does the film becomes a real thrill ride, and this both offsets the sombre tone of the first half and is hugely entertaining. The main influence would appear to be the American classic 'Wait Until Dark', although the film doesn't take too much from the Audrey Hepburn film. The acting is above average, with Senta Berger, Luc Merenda and Umberto Orsini delivering fine performances in the central roles. The ending is superb and ensures that the film ends on a high, as a chainsaw revs into action and the film makes up for its lack of bloodshed. Overall, I really hope that Puzzle gets a wide release soon as this is a film that really deserves to be more seen!

Luc Merenda plays Pete, a guy in London who has no memory following a car crash eight months previous. In fact, although his driving license says Peter, he might actually be called Ted. At least that's what the guy who tries to kill him calls him, before he himself is killed by a mystery assassin. It's around this time that Pete/Ted receives a telegram telling him to get ass over to Italy, where his wife is waiting for him. Problem being is that Ted didn't even know he was married.

Still, he heads over there anyway, and luckily enough a mysterious guy with a runny nose points out his wife at the train station. Now Sara's got problems of her own, seeing as she'd written off Ted's disappearance and now gotten a job as a swimming instructor at a local school, hooking up with new guy Reinhart (Orisini). Sara actually finds this new Ted a lot more pleasing than the old one, and starts falling in love with him all over, much to the dismay of Reinhart.

Runny nose guy turns out to be George, a very aggressive man who claims that Ted owes him something, and that he needs it before 'they' kill him, and if doesn't get it, he's going to kill Ted, but Sara first. Ted around this time also starts getting flashes of the past, and that turns out not to be good news, as his first recalled memory is seeing a man getting his throat cut by a mystery figure. To make things worse, George also starts on Sara, but when someone slashes her dog's throat, he's adamant that it wasn't him.

The first thing you'll notice is the complete absence of the black gloved killer in this giallo, but all the mysterious plot elements are there for the viewer to figure out. Is Ted suffering from amnesia or is he pretending? If he's not pretending, how can he trust anything that's going on, or anyone he meets? And what exactly is it that George is after?

This film, while not action packed, has a lot going for it. Starting with the great cinematography and use of colour (as usual for a giallo), the predominant colour here is blue, which appears in many shades and forms. Better still is Bruno Corazzari having a much larger role than usual. He always plays sinister types, but here he's given the space to branch out and his presence hangs over much of the film. His best scene is when he corners Sara, who is recovering with a broken leg, and just stands throwing lit match over lit match at her. Not life threatening, but a tense scene indeed. Umberto Orisini also has a bigger role than usual and has a very natural acting style I notice, that serves him well throughout the film. Luc Merenda of course is all eyebrows and glowering, and still comes across like a really thin Arnie.

There's a lack of blood and gore in this one that pays off in a later scene involving a chainsaw. One thing I did notice was that when one character falls to their death, the dummy's head falls off. Strange gaff from Tessari, whose composition and execution are usually flawless.