Mario Bava
La ragazza che sapeva troppo

What a shame! What a shame! Mario Bava, Italian director, an absolute genius, considered a genius all over the world...except in Italy, his own country. Today, someone has finally opened their eyes and ears and understood who Mario Bava was, but when the master was alive, he was considered a second-rate director...a second-rate director, really! De Sica would visit him on set just to mock him, and critics spoke of him as a pathetic "collaborator" who dared to direct films. What a shame!

Mario Bava, let me tell you who Mario Bava was— a genius, an artist, the director who in every film he made would spark something that would become tremendously important in the years to come. Do you know that without Bava, horror icons like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, and company probably wouldn’t have existed? Do you know that the film I’m reviewing here, "The Girl Who Knew Too Much," is now universally recognized as the progenitor of Italian Giallo? Do you know that directors like Burton, Landis, Fellini, Argento, Zombie, Miike, Craven, Dante, Gordon, Raimi, Romero considered Mario Bava their absolute master?

In any case, let's start the review of "The Girl Who Knew Too Much"...what a wonderful film! Bava was already coming off a masterpiece; by the way, Bava is one of the few directors to debut with a masterpiece, his debut was "Black Sunday," an unforgettable film featuring the great Barbara Steele—a gothic horror, a masterpiece and cornerstone of the genre. And after such a triumph, Bava moved on to thrillers, or rather Giallo, crafting a splendid film set in a sinister and beautiful Rome. A beautiful girl, passionate about crime novels, finds herself investigating mysterious murders occurring in the streets of Rome; the killer always kills in the same way, following alphabetical order. Terror spreads through the dark Roman streets, those endless staircases, sinister corridors, through sinister recorded voices, through a lift that leads who knows where, through a reinforced door that most likely hides the key to the enigma.

Bava directs it all masterfully, with a fantastic, confident, perfect direction, without the slightest imperfection. Cinematography worthy of a Bergman film, indeed the film has a superlative black and white, not to mention the play of light and shadow in which Bava particularly indulges in this film, offering us fantastic shots that are technically of rare beauty and absolute perfection. This film is extremely important in the world of thrillers and Italian Giallo; I am not exaggerating when I say that all thriller or Giallo films, Italian or not, will inevitably draw something from this film, as it contains all the ingredients that will later be revisited by anyone directing a thriller. I am convinced that "Deep Red" would never have come to light if Argento had not seen this film; indeed, in my opinion, "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" anticipates Argento’s great success, as highlighted by the settings, even though Bava’s film is set in Rome, the way the city is captured is similar. Argento clearly took inspiration from Bava’s film. The protagonist who gets involved in the affair by chance—Argento also has a protagonist (a composer) in "Deep Red" who finds himself by chance involved in a grim story, the killer (whom I won’t reveal here), but even in that case, Bava opened the door to many directors.

You see, there are many films (I used Deep Red as an example) that are definitely more famous than "The Girl Who Knew Too Much," and being more famous leads people to think they are the better films, not knowing that long before those films, there were others that were key to everything. And Bava’s film is a glaring example, and I’m not the one saying this, this is something acknowledged by critics worldwide. So, now, doing the math, such an important work, realized so masterfully, perfect in every aspect, revolutionary, and that will be a watershed for future generations of directors...how can I not call it a masterpiece? How can I not get angry when I think about how undervalued Mario Bava was while he was alive?

In light of all this, I am sure and, above all, proud to loudly say that "The Girl Who Knew Too Much," besides being a fundamental film for Italian Giallo, is also an absolute masterpiece, a cult not to be missed for any reason in the world. A film that captivates, that involves, a real lesson in cinema done greatly with humble means...and this is because behind the camera was not just a director but a true genius, and a genius does not need extravagant means to create a masterpiece. Bava is the stark example that with few means but much ingenuity, you can create something monumental. There's his genius!

Suspense, terror, fear, madness, shadows, lights, and a final touch of irony that certainly doesn't hurt. "The Girl Who Knew Too Much" is a title to watch, own, possess. A work of extreme importance, a masterpiece signed by a genius named Mario Bava.

VinnySparrow