This six-hour Italian TV mini-series directed by Golden Age Giallo auteur Sergio Martino stars genre favorites Edwige Fenech, Ray Lovelock, and Alida Valli and has been described as a cross between a giallo and TWIN PEAKS -but that's only wishful thinking based on the past reputations of the talent involved. The basic plot line -a teenager's murder rips the lid off a small town's secrets and lies- is not unlike the death of Laura Palmer but the handling, although competent, is nowhere near as deep, quirky, or atmospheric as David Lynch's masterpiece. The meandering murder mystery is too long by half, isn't very compelling, and the body count is low which makes it a missed opportunity at best but the production values are high and the cast is very attractive, especially Fenech who only got better with age. Lovelock looks a bit like Brad Pitt.
3 Reviews
Fenech and Martino
BandSAboutMovies15 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Businessman Marco Pierboni (Joe Kloenne) is killed in his garden, but his body is found near his factory. Meanwhile, a young woman named Sandra Durani (Vittoria Belvedere) disappears, just as a series of anonymous letters start to hint that there is some kind of a conspiracy. Journalist Nicole Venturi (Edwige Fenech), Sandra's mother, starts to investigate the case with Andrea Baresi (Manuel Bandera) and police inspector Stefano Avanza (Ray Lovelock) and soon finds the body of her daughter near the bank of a river and soon finds a third body, Sandra's friend Paolo Roversi (Lorenzo Flaherty).
Welcome to Private Crimes, a four part/six hour television miniseries co-produced by Fenech, directed by Sergio Martino nearly a quarter decade after they worked together on some of the classics of giallo (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, All the Colors of the Dark) and written by Laura Toscano and Franco Marotta.
I think it's really interesting that the synth score by Natale Massara sounds so much like Twin Peaks and this all feels like an Italian version of that. I don't say that as if it's being ripped off, just that it has the flavor of it.
The main draw for this - being Sergio Martino - is Fenech. Not only does she look as fashionable as you'd hope, she also really gets the chance to show some dramatic acting range, as she's going through increasingly more threatening letters and trying to solve the case while dealing the loss of her daughter. Because the miniseries has more time than your average movie, it gives her time to explore the character. She also has a fabulous white cat that she seems to take everywhere with her.
I kind of like the idea of Martino watching David Lynch and giggling at how much he's enjoying it.
Welcome to Private Crimes, a four part/six hour television miniseries co-produced by Fenech, directed by Sergio Martino nearly a quarter decade after they worked together on some of the classics of giallo (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, All the Colors of the Dark) and written by Laura Toscano and Franco Marotta.
I think it's really interesting that the synth score by Natale Massara sounds so much like Twin Peaks and this all feels like an Italian version of that. I don't say that as if it's being ripped off, just that it has the flavor of it.
The main draw for this - being Sergio Martino - is Fenech. Not only does she look as fashionable as you'd hope, she also really gets the chance to show some dramatic acting range, as she's going through increasingly more threatening letters and trying to solve the case while dealing the loss of her daughter. Because the miniseries has more time than your average movie, it gives her time to explore the character. She also has a fabulous white cat that she seems to take everywhere with her.
I kind of like the idea of Martino watching David Lynch and giggling at how much he's enjoying it.
Competently made but thoroughly uninspired, and several hours too long
gridoon20242 November 2023
It sounds like an interesting concept: giallo veteran Sergio Martino directing a mix of mostly French-Italian genre veterans, along with newcomers, in a mid-1990s attempt to revive the giallo, in mini-series (four 85-minute episodes) form. Unfortunately, it does not work at all. The series is competently made in a workmanlike fashion, but uninspired, flat, styleless, dreary. There is very little plot progression from episode to episode, and very little suspense. In fact, it plays more like a soap opera than a giallo. A maturely attractive Edwige Fenech puts in a strong performance in the lead, but my bet is that few of the people starting this mini-series will have the endurance to finish it. *1/2 out of 4.
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