Director: Brunello Rondi
Year: 1968
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Più tardi Claire, più tardi...; Later, Claire, Later
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
Following his wife’s death, a judge disappears from his family for nearly a year and soon returns home with a new wife exactly identical to his former wife, but when she becomes aware that she was killed, she tries to come to terms with the knowledge while keeping herself safe.
Review:
This was a better-than-expected psychological giallo entry. Among the better elements within this one comes from the startlingly strong and effective setup that provides the film the opportunity to unleash a series of dark thrills along the way. With the main setup providing a chance to look at the inner workings of the family and their affluent means rather early on, with how they treat his first wife by cruelly mocking her for her wild ways and free-spirited lifestyle that goes against their high-society lifestyle, it gives us a chance to know that kind of family rather well. The relentless mocking and political conversations about saving face and waiting for a better chance to move up in society make their reaction to her eventual death feel all the more callous, given how the whole thing transpired, and how we learn about the series of events there.
Once we flash-forward and get the new wife joining in with the claim that they’re going to be married, this one becomes a bit more unsettling with the way everything is brought together, including the various suspects that emerge as culprits in the incident. When it becomes apparent that the household is more concerned with trying to get the woman turned away so that their own plans for taking over the household or looking to find a way of keeping their involvement in the original crime hidden away, the intrigue picks up considerably as a result of the various interactions we’ve seen so far and it makes for an intriguing time heading into the finale where it all comes together in several fun reveals where no one is sure what happened or who’s involved, all of which come together to help make this one rather intriguing.
That said, there are some problems here. The main issue with the film is the fact that the resolution is so underwhelming and barely worthwhile that it never makes any kind of impression overall. The whole truth is given out and manages to reveal the culprit at large, with the guilty party being implicated for what happened, only to then turn around into a wholly lackluster finish that has almost no impact or bearing on anything. It just ends with the family letting her leave and head home without anything happening, so it feels like this ends on a whimper, much like the other issue here involving the lack of pacing. The emphasis on extensive dialogue-driven sequences and barely getting any kind of action, with the result being nothing all that interesting happening for long periods, can drag endlessly as a result. These all manage to bring this one down.
Overview: ***.5/5
A generally fine if overall lifeless psychological giallo, there’s a lot to like here, which manages to keep this one enjoyable enough even with the big flaws on display. Those with an appreciation for this style of the genre or who are curious about it will have a lot to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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