I am not quite sure if I even need to write a review about this one. . . I’ll just tell you the title: The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion. One of those vividly descriptive yet cryptic giallo titles, Luciano Ercoli (Death Walks on High Heels) took his first stab at directing (pardon the pun) with this 1970 Spanish/Italian co-production written by Ernesto Gastaldi (The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail).
The lady in mention is Minou (Dagmar Lassander), a bored housewife living a blasé life with her staid husband, Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi) – a man with a new invention that will hopefully save his struggling business (meaning that he is at work an awful lot). Getting no attention from Peter, she gets more than she bargained for when an unknown assailant (Simón Andreu) attacks her (with purpose) late one night while she is strolling near the ocean.
Not just some random act, he has a message. . . that Peter is, in fact, a murderer. Stalking and blackmail soon follow as Minou falls into the mysterious man’s master plan. Yet, inexplicably, there is never a trace of this supposed blackmailer – even after Peter calls a detective acquaintance who starts investigating.
Everyone in her life, including her free-spirited best friend, Dominique (Nieves Navarro aka Susan Scott), doubts the now seemingly illusory story, mostly because she has, over time, become an untrustworthy pill-popper and alcoholic (ah, you really can’t beat the unreliable protagonist/narrator). Can a lady, including this flawed personality, truly be above suspicion? Have drugs and alcohol addled her brain? And what are these forbidden photos hinted at in the film’s title? Do they play a part in this apparent blackmailing?
Even in his first directorial effort, Ercoli’s talent is immediately recognizable. . . the camera curiously caressing the characters as well as lingering on the stylishly charming seventies comforts in their two properties. . . teasing that this world of perfection is perhaps crumbling around them as growing debt looms (watch the opening credits to get a sense of his playful direction). And, this being an earlier giallo (circa 1970) coming around the same time as Dario Argento’s trendsetting film of the same year, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (meaning that it hadn’t set its talons into it), makes it a less edgy (think violence – though there are still some unnerving scenes), plot-driven narrative that ebbs and flows between the protagonist’s paranoia and her tense, stressful meetings with the nervy blackmailer.
Also worth noting, the set design and cinematography (by Alejandro Ulloa) creates a true mood, the shadows of a house that has had its power cut, or an evening walk approaching the ocean, perhaps the best example is the blackmailer’s supposed apartment – a moodily red-lit room that looks as if it had been designed by a fusion of the minds of Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso (trap doors, layers, mannequin arms and heads, and hidden cameras only begin to describe the insufferable, uncanny setting).
Pulling it all together is legend Ennio Morricone’s bossa nova-inspired composition, a hypnotic, romantic, and haunting combination of singing and music (a touch jazzy, at other times pop, even sometimes with a slightly off-putting medieval flair) – a powerful rhythmic drive.
A side note, the next year (1971) Ercoli and Gastaldi would work together again on Death Walks on High Heels (reviewed here on Filmizon.com back in 2017), and would follow it up in 1972 with Death Walks at Midnight.
A stylish if imperfect giallo, The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is a fascinating first effort from filmmaker Luciano Ercoli. Featuring a solid cast, excellent camera work, striking cinematography, beautiful architecture, and so much more, this is another Italian thriller to add to your list. So, fear not, it is safe to consort with these sordid individuals, though watching this one will leave a snapshot etched in your mind.
Can be watched in either Italian with English subtitles or in dubbed English