Mario Bava
Diabolik

Diabolik, as is known, is a rather famous Italian comic book in its homeland. Created and conceived by the Giussani sisters in 1962, it immediately achieved great success.

An elusive criminal who executes the most audacious heists with cunning and ingenuity, using sophisticated technological devices when needed, assisted by his woman, the alluring blonde Eva Kant.

A thief and a murderer without scruples or feelings. A machine, a demon with ice-cold eyes.

Inspector Ginko, his fierce rival, is always on his trail, close enough to touch, yet never catches him.

Only 5 years after the comic's creation, Mario Bava made a very interesting cinematic adaptation. It would become a cult film among industry insiders.

I find it extraordinary how Bava managed to create a work that is damn faithful to the comic yet simultaneously deviates entirely from it, mainly in two aspects: on one hand, where the comic is dark, grim, austere, and dramatic, the film is exceedingly amusing, ironic, and lighthearted. Furthermore, although the comic is very rigorous and serious, the film is infused with pop art, psychedelia, futurism, and this is the real strength of the film, its characterization, its structure.

Yet, despite this, as I have already mentioned, the film manages to fully capture the atmosphere of the comic, the characterization of the characters, their resemblance. Diabolik and Eva (John Philip Law – Jude Law's father – and Marisa Mell) are very, very realistic. The same cannot be said for Ginko (Michel Piccoli), who in the film is almost a secondary figure, often appearing "clumsy" in light of the numerous blows he receives from the criminal genius.

Another aspect I particularly appreciated was the comic book style that Bava infused into the film. The over-the-top dialogues, the characters' behaviors. An emblematic example is the sequence of the criminal Valmont (Adolfo Celi) firing a machine gun. Indeed, his movements, his posture, are practically identical to the frames of various comic panels… (I know it well, I’ve been reading Diabolik since I was a kid).

The film, in its 96 minutes, flows delightfully. The action sequences dominate and are magnificent. Starting from the prologue, when the black Jaguar E-type of Diabolik appears (for some and for myself, the most beautiful car of all time) chasing Ginko's convoy to steal 10 million. Diabolik's entrance is marked by a change in soundtrack (stunning, psychedelic, disorienting, by Maestro Morricone) that outlines and emphasizes the context impeccably.

Shall we talk about the exceptional underwater sequence where Diabolik and Eva, with their vehicle (a sort of yellow submarine that, however, is shaped like a manta ray), hook the cargo full of gold? And Diabolik's hideout? Astonishing, with interiors and futuristic equipment incredible for the era.

In conclusion, Mario Bava's Diabolik is a sensational, original, and very interesting film, a true lesson in skill and versatility by one of the greatest Italian directors of all time, unjustly underrated and belatedly re-evaluated, because, as often happens, “the truth will out”.