Based on a book written by a Norwegian female crime novelist who probably has Agatha Christie as her idol, "La Ragazza Del Lago" AKA "The Girl By The Lake" is an engrossing murder mystery set mostly in a small Alpine town near Udine, Italy. The naked body of a beautiful young woman is accidentally discovered by a little girl near a lake. She appears to have drowned. A veteran police inspector with problems in his personal life is assigned to the case. Excellently played by Toni Servillo, this inspector is like a more human, more vulnerable Hercule Poirot. The entire cast is good (by the way, Valeria Golino is perhaps even more beautiful at 41 than she was at 21; and the young Alessia Piovan is simply a knockout, face & body), but Servillo always remains the central figure. After a slightly slow start the film grips you, and Andrea Molaioli's direction is very atmospheric - he really transports you to this scenic, peaceful (?) little town. However, I felt that the ending was not fully satisfying: basically I was expecting at least one more twist and I was surprised to see the end credits appearing so soon (SPOILERS here, so don't read the next few lines if you haven't seen it: I also think that Anna having made a "pact" with her killer would have been a more plausible explanation for her not fighting back than the one the movie offers; even if she was prepared to die, she would have wanted it to be on her own terms END SPOILERS). I do recommend this film to fans of Agatha Christie-type mysteries, but Christie herself would probably have added at least one more sting in the tail. (***)
20 Reviews
A Nutshell Review: The Girl By The Lake
DICK STEEL3 June 2009
At first glance the synopsis might have suggested some similarities with the New Zealand film In My Father's Den, and indie film The Dead Girl. After all, the pace started to pick up when the body of a young woman is found by the lake (hence the title) of a small and quiet Italian town, with the story progressing like an investigative drama that made me wanted to scream Twin Peaks!
In essence, this film by Andrea Molaioli, based upon the novel by Karin Fossum, runs very much like how an investigations is set out to be, full of red herrings, half truths, deceit, together with plenty of doubt, and little leads to plough things forward. For that, I thought it captured the dilemma of an investigator really well, with Toni Servillo in excellent form as Commissario Sanzio, a stoic, no-nonsense police investigator who together with his small team, have to solve this strange case. If I may say so, it puts the audience into the thick of the action really well, with the ABCs of an investigation - Assume nothing, Believe nobody, and Check everything, superbly brought out.
And that started right from the beginning too, as things are not quite they seem, and I was quick to pass judgement on the film, thinking that it was an open and shut case too soon, and too obvious. For those who enjoy a good dose of investigative drama, then this film would be right up your alley. There are frustrations of course when you find yourself drawn into the events of the picture, working toward trying to solve the case before Sanzio does, but each time being thwarted, and going back to the drawing board if you had missed a potential lead, or had been blindsided and failed to pick up clues that the actors give out, akin to playing a game of Cluedo.
But those who don't enjoy wrecking your brains too much, fret not too. The story is rich enough not to dwell too much on the police work, deftly splitting its time to dig into a little more of its central characters so that they flesh out in more three-dimensional terms, rather than being flat. The ensemble cast deserves credit for making their characters believable, and hence all the more difficult when you try to weed out the possible suspects with clear motivations. In particular, we see more of Sanzio's personal life in the film, where he has to deal with a wife suffering from advanced dementia, and a growing teenage daughter (Guilia Michelini) with whom he sometimes fail to see eye to eye with. He may be tip top in the professional front, but on the personal end it does seem like he does require some assistance.
There would be those who might complaint that the ending was too convenient, but trust me having been there and done that, there are occasions when folks know their game is up, and resistance is just plain futile. To me, for personal reasons, this was as accurate a movie as can be that had brought out similar feelings during probes into what had happened, and you know what? A little eclectic techno music on the side does no wrong too!
In essence, this film by Andrea Molaioli, based upon the novel by Karin Fossum, runs very much like how an investigations is set out to be, full of red herrings, half truths, deceit, together with plenty of doubt, and little leads to plough things forward. For that, I thought it captured the dilemma of an investigator really well, with Toni Servillo in excellent form as Commissario Sanzio, a stoic, no-nonsense police investigator who together with his small team, have to solve this strange case. If I may say so, it puts the audience into the thick of the action really well, with the ABCs of an investigation - Assume nothing, Believe nobody, and Check everything, superbly brought out.
And that started right from the beginning too, as things are not quite they seem, and I was quick to pass judgement on the film, thinking that it was an open and shut case too soon, and too obvious. For those who enjoy a good dose of investigative drama, then this film would be right up your alley. There are frustrations of course when you find yourself drawn into the events of the picture, working toward trying to solve the case before Sanzio does, but each time being thwarted, and going back to the drawing board if you had missed a potential lead, or had been blindsided and failed to pick up clues that the actors give out, akin to playing a game of Cluedo.
But those who don't enjoy wrecking your brains too much, fret not too. The story is rich enough not to dwell too much on the police work, deftly splitting its time to dig into a little more of its central characters so that they flesh out in more three-dimensional terms, rather than being flat. The ensemble cast deserves credit for making their characters believable, and hence all the more difficult when you try to weed out the possible suspects with clear motivations. In particular, we see more of Sanzio's personal life in the film, where he has to deal with a wife suffering from advanced dementia, and a growing teenage daughter (Guilia Michelini) with whom he sometimes fail to see eye to eye with. He may be tip top in the professional front, but on the personal end it does seem like he does require some assistance.
There would be those who might complaint that the ending was too convenient, but trust me having been there and done that, there are occasions when folks know their game is up, and resistance is just plain futile. To me, for personal reasons, this was as accurate a movie as can be that had brought out similar feelings during probes into what had happened, and you know what? A little eclectic techno music on the side does no wrong too!
An 'existential' police procedural
Chris Knipp6 June 2008
This film set in a mountain valley, well received at Venice last year and feted in Italy, is a slow burner for sure. It's sometimes a little hard to tell if it still has a pulse. But it does move on well-oiled wheels. It develops its portrait of malaise with steely control. As in any good murder mystery, which is what this is, everybody has secrets to hide. Many are simply repressed. Others are depressed, angry, or impaired. Several are seriously ill. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the story is adopted from a Scandinavian source; the lago (lake) was originally a fjord, and the book was Karin Fossum's bestseller mystery novel Don't Look Back (apologies to Nicolas Roeg), which Sandro Petraglia adapted for the screen in collaboration with directorial debutant Molaioli.
Things start when little six-year-old Marta (Nicole Perrone), who has spent the night with her aunt, is sent off home, but on her way is talked into mounting the van of somebody she knows (in this town, everybody knows everybody else), and her safe trip home is derailed. Later, Marta's mother (Maria Sole Mansutti) frantic with worry, and a search that extends beyond the town is begun. The culprit is Mario (Franco Ravera), who's crazy. Harmless, some say. Till he's not, says another.
Though this may seem more a study of provincial angst than a police procedural, the most angst-ridden and the center of the story is a former homicide cop, Inspector Sanzio (well played by noted director and theater man Toni Servillo). He's newly arrived in these parts (Carnia, in the Friuli), but his instincts were immediately awakened by Marta's disappearance. Than Anna Nadal (Alessia Piovan) is found dead by the side of the lake, arranged in a peaceful position and with a coat over her naked body.
Anna has a father, Davide Nadal (Marco Baliani), who loved her excessively; his videos of her have an almost voyeuristic quality. The father of Mario (Omero Antonutti), hated Anna because she had thin legs, and he saw her often running up in the mountains. She was a gifted hockey player, but has recently quit and only runs. The autopsy reveals surprising things about Anna. She has a boyfriend, Alfredo (Nello Mascia), who goes into a funk and stops reporting to work. He's found trying to erase Anna's CD-Roms and with other incriminating evidence. There's another man who says Anna had a crush on him. Meanwhile we get to know the stony-faced but technically impeccable Inspector Sanzio further. His wife is (Anna Bonaiuto) elsewhere and he is hiding secrets about her from his daughter Francesca (Giulia Michelini), which whom he has an uneasy relationship This may seem revealing too much, but when we know this, we still know little; the essential information is yet to come along with the confession of the murderer. That scene is a little too collegial and flat for anyone with a taste for noir. But this is never noir (black); it's gray, gray and misty. And in this "existential" approach to murderthough this is hardly newit's not so important Whodunit as what's motivating everyone, and how much lies hidden in a seemingly quiet, well-behaved town, the turbulence below the placid surface of the lake.
Andrea Molaioli has worked with directors Nanni Moretti, Carlo Mazzacurati, and Daniele Lucchetti. The Girl by the Lake/La ragazza del lago swept the Italian Oscars with ten Davide di Donatello awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Actor (Servillo) and Best Screenplay. Shown at the Open Roads: New Italian Cinema series at Lincoln Center June 2008.
Things start when little six-year-old Marta (Nicole Perrone), who has spent the night with her aunt, is sent off home, but on her way is talked into mounting the van of somebody she knows (in this town, everybody knows everybody else), and her safe trip home is derailed. Later, Marta's mother (Maria Sole Mansutti) frantic with worry, and a search that extends beyond the town is begun. The culprit is Mario (Franco Ravera), who's crazy. Harmless, some say. Till he's not, says another.
Though this may seem more a study of provincial angst than a police procedural, the most angst-ridden and the center of the story is a former homicide cop, Inspector Sanzio (well played by noted director and theater man Toni Servillo). He's newly arrived in these parts (Carnia, in the Friuli), but his instincts were immediately awakened by Marta's disappearance. Than Anna Nadal (Alessia Piovan) is found dead by the side of the lake, arranged in a peaceful position and with a coat over her naked body.
Anna has a father, Davide Nadal (Marco Baliani), who loved her excessively; his videos of her have an almost voyeuristic quality. The father of Mario (Omero Antonutti), hated Anna because she had thin legs, and he saw her often running up in the mountains. She was a gifted hockey player, but has recently quit and only runs. The autopsy reveals surprising things about Anna. She has a boyfriend, Alfredo (Nello Mascia), who goes into a funk and stops reporting to work. He's found trying to erase Anna's CD-Roms and with other incriminating evidence. There's another man who says Anna had a crush on him. Meanwhile we get to know the stony-faced but technically impeccable Inspector Sanzio further. His wife is (Anna Bonaiuto) elsewhere and he is hiding secrets about her from his daughter Francesca (Giulia Michelini), which whom he has an uneasy relationship This may seem revealing too much, but when we know this, we still know little; the essential information is yet to come along with the confession of the murderer. That scene is a little too collegial and flat for anyone with a taste for noir. But this is never noir (black); it's gray, gray and misty. And in this "existential" approach to murderthough this is hardly newit's not so important Whodunit as what's motivating everyone, and how much lies hidden in a seemingly quiet, well-behaved town, the turbulence below the placid surface of the lake.
Andrea Molaioli has worked with directors Nanni Moretti, Carlo Mazzacurati, and Daniele Lucchetti. The Girl by the Lake/La ragazza del lago swept the Italian Oscars with ten Davide di Donatello awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Actor (Servillo) and Best Screenplay. Shown at the Open Roads: New Italian Cinema series at Lincoln Center June 2008.
Talky But Absorbing
GManfred2 June 2013
'The Girl By The Lake" is a good mystery movie with several suspects and a detective with an insinuating style that gradually arrests your attention. It defies you to pick the murderer and keeps its secret until nearly the last scene, and is gorgeously photographed. The suspects backgrounds and possible motives are uncovered like layers of an onion, so towards the end of the picture you feel you are nowhere closer to a solution than when it started. In this respect it is a masterful screenplay and with an intelligent script. No complaints here, right?
Well, one small one. Why so much talking? Most of us appreciate good screen writing, but this picture had so much of it. Would have been nice to see some action or at least some scenes with some energy, but it's like reading a letter - all the words and sentences are in one tone of voice, with no emotional highs or lows to be found. The movie is saved from a lower rating by the efforts of Toni Servillo as the Police Inspector, a nondescript sort who showed a great deal of charisma and brought his character to life. I do not agree with a contributor who felt the support cast was amateurish as they were competent down to the least character.
This picture is worth a good look and is better than the website contributors give it credit for. The climax was not thrilling, but probably the way many murder cases end in the real world, matter-of-fact and not with guns blazing like in the movies.
Well, one small one. Why so much talking? Most of us appreciate good screen writing, but this picture had so much of it. Would have been nice to see some action or at least some scenes with some energy, but it's like reading a letter - all the words and sentences are in one tone of voice, with no emotional highs or lows to be found. The movie is saved from a lower rating by the efforts of Toni Servillo as the Police Inspector, a nondescript sort who showed a great deal of charisma and brought his character to life. I do not agree with a contributor who felt the support cast was amateurish as they were competent down to the least character.
This picture is worth a good look and is better than the website contributors give it credit for. The climax was not thrilling, but probably the way many murder cases end in the real world, matter-of-fact and not with guns blazing like in the movies.
Charming and quirky mystery
quinnox-114 March 2011
This was a delightful detective story about a murder mystery set in a charming and picturesque European mountain village. I liked the subtlety of various scenes and how it was filmed in a unique and interesting style. The actors are all good in this movie and come across as natural and realistic characters who live in an isolated and tight knit community.
There are many different things going on as a veteran detective investigates the mystery and uncovers secrets of the towns people. The film is slow moving however, and requires patience and close attention for enjoyment of the plot, otherwise I could see how this movie's quirky style might be unappealing to the mainstream. The ending is unfortunately abrupt and disappointing, and the mystery wraps up in a mundane and uninteresting manner. Despite this, the movie for most if its running time is well worth watching for those looking for an offbeat and interesting whodunit.
There are many different things going on as a veteran detective investigates the mystery and uncovers secrets of the towns people. The film is slow moving however, and requires patience and close attention for enjoyment of the plot, otherwise I could see how this movie's quirky style might be unappealing to the mainstream. The ending is unfortunately abrupt and disappointing, and the mystery wraps up in a mundane and uninteresting manner. Despite this, the movie for most if its running time is well worth watching for those looking for an offbeat and interesting whodunit.
An Italian, silver screen adaptation of one of K. Fossum's novels.
DimitrisPassas-TapTheLine1 January 2019
''La Ragazza Del Lago'' is an enjoyable movie with high production values and an engaging story based on the second book in the Konrad Sejer series, written by the Norwegian author Karin Fossum. Since this is an Italian production, Inspector Sejer is renamed as Commissario Sanzio, played by one of the best contemporary European actors, Toni Servillo who portrays the protagonist as having the character traits that Fossum have attributed to him in the novels i.e. a solemn, pessimistic middle-aged man living alone, who nevertheless has a profound insight in the field of psychology, something that proves to be helpful in every murder investigation.The story is not an original or particularly exciting, it involves the murder of a young girl living in a small, quiet village where everybody seems to have their own secrets. Sanzio will have to uncover the truth that looms behind the villagers secrecy and finally arrest the perpetrator. The film is well-shot as it manages to capture the sinister qualities of the countryside's peace and silence which, in Fossum's books, acts as a facade for a variety of human misconduct and depravity. Though conventional, the plotline is interesting enough for the viewer to watch the film and attempt to guess the guilty party, something that I didn't manage to do correctly by the way. ''La Ragazza Del Lago'' will appeal mainly to the crime fiction fans who prefer the slow-burning, character oriented mystery and not to those who expect lots of action and special effects to a crime film (e.g. Hollywood productions). My precise rating would be closer to 3,2-3,3/5.
Lovely to look at
gudpaljoey-677-7153848 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
A beautifully photographed who-done-it that kept me interested with an array of competent players, headed by the chief inspector. I found it a little hard to follow because several of the players looked so much alike. My biggest complaint is that the movie's beginning makes such a strong case for it being about a pedophilia crime that is was a jolt to find out that it's not, a case of taking the viewer down the wrong road and then slamming on the breaks. I also thought that the inspector's wife should have shown more evidence of dementia in their first meeting. This was much better demonstrated when the daughter goes unrecognized during her visit to he institution.
A fine debut film from Andrea Molaioli
johno-2121 January 2008
I recently saw this at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival. This is director Andrea Molaioli debut film and he comes out of the gate as a first time director with a very good film. The screenplay by Molaioli and Sandro Petraglia was adapted from the novel Don't Look Back by Norwegian novelist Karin Fossum and had been made into a mini series on Norwegian television in 2002. In this Italian setting, a young girl named Anna is found dead on the shore of a rural mountain lake, lying nude on her side with her clothes neatly arranged by her. Intitial suspects are the girl's boyfriend and a mentally slow man who lives nearby with his wheelchair bound elderly father and who first discovered the body and put his coat over it. A seasoned criminal investigator from the south, Inspector Giovani Sanzio (Toni Servillo), is called in to help local authorities to help solve the death. Once Sanzio enters the picture he is virtually in every scene and Servillo is excellent in the role. Director Molaioli gets the most from a fine supporting cast and this who-done-it takes several turns that keeps your interest peaked from beginning to end. Great cinematography from veteran photographer Ramiro Civita. I would give this an 8.0 out of 10 and recommend it.
Many good points but a disappointing ending sinks this mystery
davdecrane26 March 2010
A beautiful victim in a beautiful setting starts us off on an interesting who-dun-it, with suspects emerging by the handful for our world-weary detective to evaluate. The characters are all pretty interesting, each with a believable idiosyncrasy and one or two with a plausible motive. Flashbacks to the pretty victim's life and digressions about the detective's own less- than-happy family serve to keep some tension going, too.
But the resolution is a disappointment, both in terms of who-dun-it and the manner in which the suspect is discovered. Endings are never more important than in mysteries – a weak one makes us feel guilty for killing time. This "Girl" does just that.
But the resolution is a disappointment, both in terms of who-dun-it and the manner in which the suspect is discovered. Endings are never more important than in mysteries – a weak one makes us feel guilty for killing time. This "Girl" does just that.
The story of a murder, which is more complex than it might seem
sweenetto2 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I think this movie is really, really good.
I watched it today for the second time, after four years since I first saw it. I didn't remember how the movie ended, making it worthwhile seeing it again.
I read the comments available here, and I realized that the people criticizing the movie do it mostly because of the movie's ending. These people claim that the ending was dull, that the way the assassin confesses his crime is too 'casual', and that the reason behind the murder isn't strong enough.
I do believe that these people didn't fully understand the movie, so I thought it was a good idea to explain my interpretation. The reason leading me to this conclusion is that the clues allowing one to put all the pieces of the puzzle together are quite subtle, and they might be harder to catch for people that aren't fluent in Italian, and that had to read the subtitles to understand them.
First important, and perhaps neglected, fact: Anna (the girl that was killed) witnessed how Angelo (the sick toddler) died. She was walking outside their house, and alerted (most likely) by Angelo's screams, she stormed into the kitchen trying to help the baby that was chocking on something that got stuck in his throat. Anna frantically called an ambulance asking for help, while the parents did nothing to save Angelo. They are guilty of letting it happen, which is both a crime and a painful memory for the two of them. Back then Anna was still unaware of her cancer.
Second: Anna eventually discovered that she was terminally ill, and wrote on her diary that she was feeling worse and worse as the days went by.
Third: Anna didn't fight back when she was assaulted by the lake. This suggests that she let herself die, an interpretation that is also given by the doctor commenting on the autopsy's results. He also hints at the fact that she could have had an agreement with the assassin.
So, with these pieces of information, my interpretation goes as follows.
Anna doesn't want to live anymore, she wants to die before her cancer will make her life unbearable. However, she doesn't want to commit suicide, because she knows that it would cause a terrible pain on her loved ones. She cannot ask her boyfriend either, because he is crazy in love with her, and would never help her to end her life.
She needs someone with a motive to kill her, so she starts behaving in such a way that will lead someone to indeed do it. The only person that could be driven to such an extreme action is Corrado, Angelo's father. She starts threatening him, with a carefully crafted sequence of moves. She calls him more and more often, she demands to see him constantly, reminding him that she will tell the police how things really went the day Angelo died. Eventually Corrado snaps and chokes her to death. This not only allows Anna to end her suffering, but also to take vengeance for Angelo's death, whom she loved dearly.
At first the murderer claims that he killed Anna because they were lovers but she became obsessed by their relationship, driving him insane. Obviously, this is a lie, and it was told to cover up what really happened the day Angelo died.
Maybe Angelo didn't swallow properly his food, and his father failed to save him from chocking because this was finally a way out of that nightmare. Or maybe his father intentionally gave him food that was too big to swallow for Angelo to choke. We'll never know this part of the story, as Chiara (Angelo's mother) states that she'll never say what Corrado was screaming that morning. And we'll never know for sure what really happened by the lake, whether Corrado killed Anna because she asked him to, making him understand that this was the only way for him not to be accused of his son's death, or because he snapped and assaulted her violently.
I do think that this movie is way more subtle than one might realize. And, apart from the sophisticated murder's plot, there are many other reasons that make it a gem: the amazing performances by both Servillo and Golino, the inspector's complex relationship with his daughter, which is constantly put under scrutiny with the comparisons drawn from Anna's experience, his wife's struggle with Alzheimer, the somewhat chaotic process of trial and error that the inspector has to face, with many false leads that constantly throw him in the wrong direction, and finally the very honest description of ordinary people, that seem good people with normal lives on the surface, but that deep down have many things to hide and undisclosed problems to face.
I watched it today for the second time, after four years since I first saw it. I didn't remember how the movie ended, making it worthwhile seeing it again.
I read the comments available here, and I realized that the people criticizing the movie do it mostly because of the movie's ending. These people claim that the ending was dull, that the way the assassin confesses his crime is too 'casual', and that the reason behind the murder isn't strong enough.
I do believe that these people didn't fully understand the movie, so I thought it was a good idea to explain my interpretation. The reason leading me to this conclusion is that the clues allowing one to put all the pieces of the puzzle together are quite subtle, and they might be harder to catch for people that aren't fluent in Italian, and that had to read the subtitles to understand them.
First important, and perhaps neglected, fact: Anna (the girl that was killed) witnessed how Angelo (the sick toddler) died. She was walking outside their house, and alerted (most likely) by Angelo's screams, she stormed into the kitchen trying to help the baby that was chocking on something that got stuck in his throat. Anna frantically called an ambulance asking for help, while the parents did nothing to save Angelo. They are guilty of letting it happen, which is both a crime and a painful memory for the two of them. Back then Anna was still unaware of her cancer.
Second: Anna eventually discovered that she was terminally ill, and wrote on her diary that she was feeling worse and worse as the days went by.
Third: Anna didn't fight back when she was assaulted by the lake. This suggests that she let herself die, an interpretation that is also given by the doctor commenting on the autopsy's results. He also hints at the fact that she could have had an agreement with the assassin.
So, with these pieces of information, my interpretation goes as follows.
Anna doesn't want to live anymore, she wants to die before her cancer will make her life unbearable. However, she doesn't want to commit suicide, because she knows that it would cause a terrible pain on her loved ones. She cannot ask her boyfriend either, because he is crazy in love with her, and would never help her to end her life.
She needs someone with a motive to kill her, so she starts behaving in such a way that will lead someone to indeed do it. The only person that could be driven to such an extreme action is Corrado, Angelo's father. She starts threatening him, with a carefully crafted sequence of moves. She calls him more and more often, she demands to see him constantly, reminding him that she will tell the police how things really went the day Angelo died. Eventually Corrado snaps and chokes her to death. This not only allows Anna to end her suffering, but also to take vengeance for Angelo's death, whom she loved dearly.
At first the murderer claims that he killed Anna because they were lovers but she became obsessed by their relationship, driving him insane. Obviously, this is a lie, and it was told to cover up what really happened the day Angelo died.
Maybe Angelo didn't swallow properly his food, and his father failed to save him from chocking because this was finally a way out of that nightmare. Or maybe his father intentionally gave him food that was too big to swallow for Angelo to choke. We'll never know this part of the story, as Chiara (Angelo's mother) states that she'll never say what Corrado was screaming that morning. And we'll never know for sure what really happened by the lake, whether Corrado killed Anna because she asked him to, making him understand that this was the only way for him not to be accused of his son's death, or because he snapped and assaulted her violently.
I do think that this movie is way more subtle than one might realize. And, apart from the sophisticated murder's plot, there are many other reasons that make it a gem: the amazing performances by both Servillo and Golino, the inspector's complex relationship with his daughter, which is constantly put under scrutiny with the comparisons drawn from Anna's experience, his wife's struggle with Alzheimer, the somewhat chaotic process of trial and error that the inspector has to face, with many false leads that constantly throw him in the wrong direction, and finally the very honest description of ordinary people, that seem good people with normal lives on the surface, but that deep down have many things to hide and undisclosed problems to face.
Has potential, but no result
dusan-2217 August 2009
Good colors, the colors of real mystery ... murder and Agata Christie detective character after its tail ... solid acting as well, however, everything else is very bad. The story is full of holes. It doesn't give strong motives to anyone to be a murderer, and in specific situation, everyone could have the motive: people who hated and loved the victim, even you become suspect yourself. We have no tension at all during the whole movie as we have no leads or misleads so the movie becomes interesting as newspaper article on committed murder. Then, no connection at all between the suspects themselves, as between the suspects and the other characters - no plot development. Also, the movie gives impression as the camera is tagged to the back of the detective since he is somehow in almost every scene of the movie. The worst is very pale and amateur finish of the film, pretty disappointing. Should be done much more with all that director had at his disposal. 2 out of 10.
Friuli is nice
danb8017 March 2008
I'm glad a movie was filmed in the region where I live! Even though we have always been almost forget by the rest of Italy, our place offers a breathtaking variety of landscapes perfect for filming. More and more directors are realizing that, and other movies are being filmed here at the present time. I found this movie kind of slow though,and I didn't like too much the fact that the main character spoke with a southern accent as well others in the movie speaking with accents other than the Fraulein (spoken in the province of Udine). You could tell it was a production from Rome. Next time make it more "local"! Anyway I liked the plot.
A sensitive movie about life and death
kesslerdoris28 November 2010
I saw the film yesterday at the local Filmpodium that is sponsored by the Town of Zurich and I was touched by its quietness and restrained atmosphere and the complex story line. It shows a seemingly intact little village in a seemingly untouched mountain area. It portrays a small world filled with angst and hidden feelings. The actors are excellent and the beautiful women and the Italian language contrast with the reduced setting. The music is artful and very decent though most of the time dialog and stillness dominate the film. It is the perfect film for an audience that prefers Alain Tanner, Francis Reusser, Claude Goretta to commercial film makers.
An Italian version of a bad Law and Order episode
matt75-124 April 2008
Everything in this movie from the production value to the acting - is underwhelming .
The result is something that resembles a bad television episode of a crime series, definitely not movie. The story is simple and narrated in a very straight forward way. An average episode of Law and Order SVU has many more smart twists and turns than this production.
The camera work and the cinematography are just alright. The casting and the direction of the actors are very poor. The result, as in too many Italian movies lately, is that actors are left alone to do what they can, showing enormous differences in their performances. You have Tony Servillo and Valeria Golino doing their job, but most of the rest of the cast is borderline amateur.
This movie greatly embodies the little ambitions that too often have been lately seen in Italian Cinema.
The result is something that resembles a bad television episode of a crime series, definitely not movie. The story is simple and narrated in a very straight forward way. An average episode of Law and Order SVU has many more smart twists and turns than this production.
The camera work and the cinematography are just alright. The casting and the direction of the actors are very poor. The result, as in too many Italian movies lately, is that actors are left alone to do what they can, showing enormous differences in their performances. You have Tony Servillo and Valeria Golino doing their job, but most of the rest of the cast is borderline amateur.
This movie greatly embodies the little ambitions that too often have been lately seen in Italian Cinema.
outdoor takes
arzewski2 June 2011
Nice movie, with many takes outdoors shot on location in the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region. To add even more authenticity, some of the scenes that are indoors are inside a meeting room with large posters on the wall of what seems to be photographs of the great earthquake in Friuli of 1976, suggesting that the municipal building in where the characters meet is a building built or restored after that earthquake.
There are nice scenes of mountain stark scenery, with clean tree branches.
Yes, the main investigator speaks with an accent of southern Italy, but then, many in law enforcement are from the south of Italy, so to me, that added to the authenticity.
There are nice scenes of mountain stark scenery, with clean tree branches.
Yes, the main investigator speaks with an accent of southern Italy, but then, many in law enforcement are from the south of Italy, so to me, that added to the authenticity.
A suspenseful thriller (without the suspense and the thrills) SPOILER ALERT
mpurvismattp16 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I saw this movie today, it started off well enough so I proceeded on...and boy did I regret that decision. In all honesty this movie did have some charm and heart at times and although I don't speak Italian (shocker I know) the acting seemed good, but the story just flopped in the end. I don't know if the book it was based on ends so abruptly and unceremoniously but it all seemed like such a waste of time. The killer just comes clean to the detective like a bad Perry Mason episode, the movie gives the viewer very little to go on as far as trying to solve the mystery (which to me can be important or at least entertaining in a crime drama) and there just seemed to be a lot of loose ends and not enough suspense. The ending is the last thing we see in a movie (other then the credits naturally) and this end was pretty dull and lifeless, just like the girl by the lake.
The lady from the lake
dbdumonteil23 August 2010
An atmosphere which recalls Georges Simenon but the plot itself is closer to Agatha Christie's whodunit.Although a little MTV quality,the movie is often filmed on location and the mountain landscapes are wonderful.
What puzzles the viewer is that almost all the characters are suffering ,including the cop,who 's got a wife in a mental hospital (probably Alzheimer's disease).Directing is effective if a little remote;but ,this is crucial in this kind of investigation,all the characters are interesting and the cast rise to the occasion.
A girl was killed on the banks of a lake and many people from the village are suspects.If you like detective stories ,this movie was made for you.
What puzzles the viewer is that almost all the characters are suffering ,including the cop,who 's got a wife in a mental hospital (probably Alzheimer's disease).Directing is effective if a little remote;but ,this is crucial in this kind of investigation,all the characters are interesting and the cast rise to the occasion.
A girl was killed on the banks of a lake and many people from the village are suspects.If you like detective stories ,this movie was made for you.
So and so
j_crist5 September 2009
Despite the acting of a few most of the movie looks like a fiction. The story was interesting enough but the flow is very very slow and some of the dialogs are pretty much irritating (I'm Italian, people do not speak like that). The photography and the camera work is all right but nothing more than a television film, pity because the location and the setting deserved more. Toni Servillo is always a good actor and lead the film easily but often he has to deal with average if not amateur actors. He did a great job with his character making it believable as well as most of the lead roles, all the others were bad, pretty much. 30 minutes shorter and it could have been a good TV film. On the other hand the story failed. Up to a certain point it was still smart, then it just felt into some obvious and predictable conclusion, which seemed to be just the end they could finally make but I think they could have resolute the movie differently, giving to it a better twist. This film should give inspiration to young Italian filmmakers because despite all other countries it seems like in Italy it's quite easy to make movie, don't need much for the producers, camera and photography can be as simple as possible, no fancy shooting and the movie can be shot in two weeks maybe. It's done with little money and it shows.
The world's greatest strolling detective
MBunge26 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This foreign language film feels more like an extra long episode of a TV detective show, like the Italian version of Columbo or Poirot. It's fairly well done, but I don't have the slightest idea of why it was made. There's nothing noteworthy about the mystery, the performances, the dialog or the direction. I don't know what it's like in Italy, but you can see this kind of storytelling all over the place in America, from public television to basic cable. That's not much of knock as long as you go into The Girl by the Lake knowing you're not going to see anything all that new or different.
Commissario Sanzio (Toni Servillo) is summoned to a small Italian town when a young girl goes missing, only to see her turn up almost immediately. What keeps Sanzio in town is the body of a teenager (Alessia Piovan) found dead by the local lake. With the aid of two sidekicks (Nello Mascia and Fausto Maria Sciarappa) and a bystanding prosecutor (Sara D'Amario), Sanzio has to figure out if the murderer is the girl's overly attentive father (Marco Baliani), her boyfriend (Denis Fasolo) or someone else. He also has to determine if her death was connected to a secret the girl was keeping from everyone, all the while dealing with his own teenager daughter (Giulia Michelini) and mentally ill wife (Anna Bonaiuto).
The reason why I say this feels like a TV episode is that only one of Sanzio's sidekicks actually does anything at all, while the other one and the prosecutor are nothing more than window dressing. Yet, the movie establishes the relationships between those two and Sanzio far more than is deserved by their parts in the story. It's as if they're recurring characters who've been important in previous episodes but don't have much to do in this one. And the film plops us down into the middle of Sanzio's family problems, again like it's a storyline being picked up from earlier in the season.
Emphasizing this small screen sensibility is that there's nothing exceptional, or even potentially exceptional, about The Girl by the Lake. I've got no real complaints with any aspect of it and did like it, but there's nothing complex or fantastic about the mystery, nothing striking about the acting and nothing compelling about either the filmmaking or the storytelling. I can't think of anything that would distinguish this from those British mysteries shown on Masterpiece Theater. If you like that sort of thing, you'll probably enjoy this movie. You just won't enjoy it much more than what you can see on TV.
This was adapted from a novel, so perhaps something didn't translate to the screen. Or maybe there's something in the tale and its telling that is relevant to Italian society and goes right over my head. Regardless, The Girl by the Lake is a fine bit of work. I just wish I knew why someone thought it was worth being made into a movie.
Commissario Sanzio (Toni Servillo) is summoned to a small Italian town when a young girl goes missing, only to see her turn up almost immediately. What keeps Sanzio in town is the body of a teenager (Alessia Piovan) found dead by the local lake. With the aid of two sidekicks (Nello Mascia and Fausto Maria Sciarappa) and a bystanding prosecutor (Sara D'Amario), Sanzio has to figure out if the murderer is the girl's overly attentive father (Marco Baliani), her boyfriend (Denis Fasolo) or someone else. He also has to determine if her death was connected to a secret the girl was keeping from everyone, all the while dealing with his own teenager daughter (Giulia Michelini) and mentally ill wife (Anna Bonaiuto).
The reason why I say this feels like a TV episode is that only one of Sanzio's sidekicks actually does anything at all, while the other one and the prosecutor are nothing more than window dressing. Yet, the movie establishes the relationships between those two and Sanzio far more than is deserved by their parts in the story. It's as if they're recurring characters who've been important in previous episodes but don't have much to do in this one. And the film plops us down into the middle of Sanzio's family problems, again like it's a storyline being picked up from earlier in the season.
Emphasizing this small screen sensibility is that there's nothing exceptional, or even potentially exceptional, about The Girl by the Lake. I've got no real complaints with any aspect of it and did like it, but there's nothing complex or fantastic about the mystery, nothing striking about the acting and nothing compelling about either the filmmaking or the storytelling. I can't think of anything that would distinguish this from those British mysteries shown on Masterpiece Theater. If you like that sort of thing, you'll probably enjoy this movie. You just won't enjoy it much more than what you can see on TV.
This was adapted from a novel, so perhaps something didn't translate to the screen. Or maybe there's something in the tale and its telling that is relevant to Italian society and goes right over my head. Regardless, The Girl by the Lake is a fine bit of work. I just wish I knew why someone thought it was worth being made into a movie.
more loose ends than a butt-shaking contest
mattomarc10 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Quite bluntly, good film up to the ending. The 'killer' confesses as the female victim had dirt on him & wouldn't leave him alone. Yet all through the film they were saying how it was a gentle death, that it appeared she almost submitted,which made sense when they found she had a terminal illness. Surely she would have violently resisted this guy, especially when she was the only one who knew that he had allowed someone she had loved to die. And it was revealed the 'killer' knew nothing of her terminal illness!!!?!??!?!!!! Yet the police had their confession, so that's all that matters; someone to confess to the crime of course. Stupid, nonsensical ending which made what could have been a good film appear quite pretentious. I really feel like I wasted 2 hours. If you're going to make a murder-mystery don't underestimate the intelligence of your audience. I could have watched a stupid CSI episode instead. Nice Northern Italian scenery though.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
