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The Fifth Cord (1971) N
A giallo where an alcoholic journalist finds himself in the middle of a murder spree.
There's something about these (not too) old Italian films that I like. In general they look extremely beautiful, have their imagery accompanied by great soundtracks which together create an atmosphere that separates them from all other films. All those elements are present in The Fifth Cord as well but its plot is little disappointing and ultimately keeps it from being much better than average giallo.
Franco Nero is great in the lead and acting as a whole is good for a film like this. The Fifth Cord isn't very violent for a giallo and it shows its murders with quite a bit of restraint. Visually there's some similarities to Argento but it's again far more restrained with its style and more rooted to mundane reality.
The biggest flaw is the murder mystery itself. I was sure who the murderer was from the beginning and nothing in the film seemed to suggest otherwise. Also the stroke of genius by Nero (just having fun with words here - in Finnish nero means genius) in the end felt rather flat and didn't even make much sense when the murderer's motives are later revealed. Despite small plot issues it's still slightly above average giallo.
A giallo where an alcoholic journalist finds himself in the middle of a murder spree.
There's something about these (not too) old Italian films that I like. In general they look extremely beautiful, have their imagery accompanied by great soundtracks which together create an atmosphere that separates them from all other films. All those elements are present in The Fifth Cord as well but its plot is little disappointing and ultimately keeps it from being much better than average giallo.
Franco Nero is great in the lead and acting as a whole is good for a film like this. The Fifth Cord isn't very violent for a giallo and it shows its murders with quite a bit of restraint. Visually there's some similarities to Argento but it's again far more restrained with its style and more rooted to mundane reality.
The biggest flaw is the murder mystery itself. I was sure who the murderer was from the beginning and nothing in the film seemed to suggest otherwise. Also the stroke of genius by Nero (just having fun with words here - in Finnish nero means genius) in the end felt rather flat and didn't even make much sense when the murderer's motives are later revealed. Despite small plot issues it's still slightly above average giallo.