Those familiar with Antonio Bido anyway, the director of WHO SAW HER DIE? & THE BLOOD STAINED SHADOW, understand that his giallo thrillers are always leisurely paced(..to say the least)with LOTS of plot. And, there's always a sense of real sadness behind the plot, real tragedy often motivates the story with characters uncovering horrible truths. And, WATCH ME WHEN I KILL is no different, it is insanely convoluted yielding such a melancholy conclusion when our detective hero finally figures out the painful reasons behind a series of murders in(..and outside of) Rome. Three characters share a secret involving the Nazis and a family they betray and this fuels the killer who hunts each down, waiting for the right time, when they are most vulnerable, slaying them from behind. The first is a pharmacist stabbed in the back, the killer slicing his throat. The second, a female character named Esmeralda(Bianca Toccafaondi), who is friends with Giovanni Bozzi(Fernando Cerulli), a businessman with corrupt lending practices, she has a history with. Bozzi seeks aid from neighbor, Lukas(Corrado Pani) regarding disturbing phone calls featuring a collage of loud, random sounds which mean little to him, yet are enough to cause concern. Lukas is also assigned to protect his actress girlfriend, Mara(Paola Tedesco)who came across a crime in progress(..the pharmacy as the killer escaped quickly)and has been targeted for possibly seeing too much. Lukas begins his own investigation into the murders, and soon realizes that his girlfriend's pursuer and the killer behind the others are related. Soon, a judge(Giuseppe Addobbati), a wrongfully accused escaped con(Franco Citti), and a screenplay writer(Paolo Malco)all have their own part within the convoluted story.
I will admit that I labored through WATCH ME WHEN I KILL, even though I respect director Bido for the ambitious story and it's chilling finale when we get all the facts after a lot exposition. I thought the score, supplied to us by Trans Europa Express was fabulous, good mixture of styles which often provide the film with a texture complimenting the shifts in tone(..while also making the long haul a little more bearable). I wasn't as critical of the acting and think the important characters were handled reasonably well. I agree with others that the dubbing and dialogue effects the impact of the film because characters are often saddled with cringe-worthy words that were perhaps more articulate in the Italian language. I for one liked Pani as the lead detective..he had the look down, and the cigar was a nice touch, and he never, to me anyway, ever committed a dopey characterization which would make him unsympathetic or unworthy of interest.
The trademark giallo POV shot for the killer is often relied upon, and there's really nothing particularly stylish or fresh..that could be looked at as perhaps a positive for Bido, his conscious decision to bare more emphasis on the story, not dependent upon certain camera angles or imaginative methods at keeping our attention. The murders themselves are vicious affairs(..especially the final strangulation using a shower head's extension cord)which correspond with what their past mistake resulted in..the savagery with which the killer conducts his work(..such as the grisly sequence where Esmeralda's face is buried in a beef stew she was preparing on a skillet)correlates with how certain family members fell to the Nazis. Also important is a family photo with faces cut representing lost lives.
I will admit that I labored through WATCH ME WHEN I KILL, even though I respect director Bido for the ambitious story and it's chilling finale when we get all the facts after a lot exposition. I thought the score, supplied to us by Trans Europa Express was fabulous, good mixture of styles which often provide the film with a texture complimenting the shifts in tone(..while also making the long haul a little more bearable). I wasn't as critical of the acting and think the important characters were handled reasonably well. I agree with others that the dubbing and dialogue effects the impact of the film because characters are often saddled with cringe-worthy words that were perhaps more articulate in the Italian language. I for one liked Pani as the lead detective..he had the look down, and the cigar was a nice touch, and he never, to me anyway, ever committed a dopey characterization which would make him unsympathetic or unworthy of interest.
The trademark giallo POV shot for the killer is often relied upon, and there's really nothing particularly stylish or fresh..that could be looked at as perhaps a positive for Bido, his conscious decision to bare more emphasis on the story, not dependent upon certain camera angles or imaginative methods at keeping our attention. The murders themselves are vicious affairs(..especially the final strangulation using a shower head's extension cord)which correspond with what their past mistake resulted in..the savagery with which the killer conducts his work(..such as the grisly sequence where Esmeralda's face is buried in a beef stew she was preparing on a skillet)correlates with how certain family members fell to the Nazis. Also important is a family photo with faces cut representing lost lives.