Pupi Avati
Il signor diavolo

In early 1950s Italy, still confused and bound by the many controversies of the black twenty years and the Second World War, a young ministerial employee is sent to the Polesine to investigate a dark murder case involving the Church and a wealthy local family, amidst issues closely tied to Christian Democratic political powers.

Enigmatic plots unravel as the employee on a mission reads the trial records and all the paperwork - legal memos, interrogations, etc. - while a picture of sinister conspiracies unfolds against the backdrop of a social fabric steeped in superstitions, collusions, and diversions.

The poor young man will pay the price when he comes face to face with the truth, and the viewer will be left with the shock of the finale along with some shadows of the story not completely dispelled.

Returning for the second time to gothic and horror cinematic storytelling, Avati, more than in "L'arcano incantatore," aims to recreate the mysterious atmospheres and anxieties of "La casa dalle finestre che ridono," setting in the rural northeastern province a storyline that might not be as fanciful as it seems.

Certainly, the operation succeeds only partially because the expectations of the audience devoted to the early Avati remain high, and the evolution of contemporary horror cinema has set new parameters, especially for the younger audience. Moreover, despite a direction and cinematography that skillfully elaborate the subject and screenplay, making it engaging to the right degree, the acting of much of the cast is, to say the least, cloying.

Whispered dialogues on the tip of the lips, often incomprehensible phrases, completely unnatural approach: a characteristic that has long plagued Italian cinema, which is often - alas - derivative of television fiction. It's incomprehensible that a director of Avati's caliber wanted or allowed at least half of the cast to perform in this way.

Renowned names appear in "Il signor diavolo": from the revived Chiara Caselli to Alessandro Haber, from Andrea Roncato to Gianni Cavina. Accompanied by other almost unknown faces or those making their debut, potentially making the staging realistic in its temporal and geographical setting. It's a pity, indeed, that the acting technique strongly dampens this potential.

Overall, however, the film is better than the average ratings you read online might suggest. A film that deserves a passing grade and is not easily forgotten. Certainly not up to the first - now cult - titles of the Bolognese director, but based on good ideas and also on non-trivial ideological and sociological implications.