Lou Castel [Ulv Quarzéll] (Renato), Monica
the requisite guest star, as the haughty devil As-
Guerritore (Monica), Laura Belli (Susanna
modeus, who pops up every now and then in
Schumann), Carlo Bagno (Monica’s Father), An-
the film under various disguises (a cop, a waiter,
tonio Guidi (Schumann, Susanna’s Father), Elis-
an orchestra director) in a manner akin to Ed-
abetta Odino (Monica, the Child), Mita Medici
mund Purdom in Paolo Lombardo’s trashy sex-
[Patrizia Vistarini] (Patrizia), Auretta Gay (Elena),
horror flick L’amante del demonio (972)—not
Ugo Bologna (Professor at Hospital), Roberto
that anyone noticed, anyway—and finally gets
Tiraboschi (Hippie), Lorenzo Logli (Monica’s
his comeuppance via a guillotine after being
Stepfather), Riccardo Gavagna, Elena Borgo, Luca
tricked by Finnicella. Before he is decapitated
Torraca (Doctor); uncredited: Edy Angelillo (Girl
(offscreen) he comments: “Women know always
in Disco). PROD: CTP Cineteleproduzioni
better than the devil.”
(Milan); PM: Pierluigi Ottina; PS: Gaetano Carot-
40 1980: Ombre tini; PSe: Riccardo Pintus; ADM: Maria Cannoni.
wrote the script for the movie adaptation di-
Country: Italy. Filmed on location in Milan and
rected by Bruno Corbucci, Isabella duchessa dei
at Icet- De Paolis Studios (Milan). Running time:
diavoli (a.k.a. Ms. Stiletto, 969). With their com-
96 minutes (m. 260). Visa n. 7223 (.30.980);
pany Erregi, later Ediperiodici, Barbieri and
Rating: all audiences. Release date: 6.26.980
Cavedon created many successful erotic pocket
(Italy); Distribution: Eurocopfilms. Domestic
comics, such as Jacula, Lucrezia, Messalina, Lu-
gross: ,69,000 lire.
cifera, Jungla, Hessa, De Sade, before parting
Notes: Paintings by Carlo Jacono; the song
ways in 972, when Barbieri created Edifumetto,
“Black Out” is sung by Heather Parisi.
which became Ediperiodici’s biggest competitor
Milan. Renato, a painter, wanders gloomily
in the adults- only comics market throughout
around the city and recalls his doomed love story
the decade.
with Monica. The girl had moved from the coun-
Despite his successful activity with Ediperi-
try to the city, and rented an attic previously oc-
odici, Cavedon did not give up his passion, and
cupied by an old painter who had been found
by the late Seventies he returned behind the
dead there. Renato, estranged from his pregnant
camera on what would represent his only feature
and rich wife Susanna, had fallen for her, but
film as director. Shooting took place entirely in
Monica was very sick. Before she died, she gave
Milan; it started on July 9, 979, with the work-
Renato a painting, a portrait of the old painter,
ing titles Autoritratto (Self-Portrait)2 and
who was actually Monica’s grandfather. An evil
Ritratto di un fantasma (Portrait of a Ghost),3
soul obsessed with occultism and tarots, he had
and lasted through the months of July and Au-
used the girl as a medium to paint his own
gust; by the time filming was near completion,
portrait from the beyond. After Monica’s death,
however, the title had already been changed into
Renato had moved to the decrepit attic, and be-
the definitive one, Ombre (Shadows).4 As the di-
came obsessed with the painting. Susanna con-
rector specified, it referred to the shadows “of
vinced him to sell it for a large sum, but Renato
the world of a young artist in the district of
found himself unable to paint any longer. Renato
Brera, a world populated with hopes and disil-
desperately tries to turn himself into a medium
lusions; the ones in which a girl doomed to die
for Monica from the afterlife. He locks himself in
struggles; and the ones which upset the human
the attic, until one day Susanna’s father comes to
mind in the illusory search for a truth that no
tell him that his daughter has given birth to a
longer exists.”
baby…
Cavedon was understandably vague about
Giorgio Cavedon (930–200) was an eclec-
the true nature of his film, which newspapers
tic personality who crossed the various threads
described as a melodrama in the vein of Love
of Italian popular culture for several decades,
Story (970).6 In fact, it is an eerie ghost story
dabbling in literature, music, comics, and cin-
which unrolls in flashbacks, blending present
ema. His name is commonly linked to the
and past events. It reprises elements in vogue in
adults- only comics he wrote with Renzo Barbi-
the 970s, such as the interest in parapsychology,
eri, starting with Isabella, which in 966 repre-
and its bleak plot recalls one of the many adult
sented Italy’s first openly erotic fumetto. An ac-
comics Cavedon scripted—devoid of nudity and
complished jazz musician and a member of the
gore, that is. Ombre is surprisingly understated,
Milan College Jazz Society, Cavedon had also
at a time where extreme violence and sex were
ambitions to be a filmmaker. In 93 he shot his
the norm: Cavedon was attempting to make an
first 6mm documentary, and the following year
old- style horror story, leaving aside shocks and
he screened the experimental short film Arturo
scares and aiming for subtlety, and focusing on
at the Cannes Film Festival. Over the years
such themes as the need for artistic creation and
Cavedon resurfaced sporadically in the movie
the ultimate inescapability of fate.
business: he was Renato Dall’Ara’s assistant on
The director’s own script plays with
the interesting Scano Boa (960), and in 96 he
Gothic’s traditional imagery: the doomed artist,
directed an episode of the comedy anthology I
the evil portrait, a menace from the past, the
soldi, starring Enrico Maria Salerno and Cather-
thin boundaries between this world and the af-
ine Spaak.
terlife, a circular conception of life where past
Published from April 966 to October 976,
events are doomed to repeat themselves over
for a total of 263 issues, Isabella convinced Cave-
and over. Despite the many literary references,
don to stick to the comics business, although he
from M.R. James to Poe (a cat seems to be a
1980: Ombre 4
medium between the dead artist and the one
walls, as if on opposite sides of an aquarium)
who will take his place), what sets apart Ombre
and ample use of comic book- style shots, such
from many Gothic tales with similar plots is pre-
as freeze frames and details of faces, ha
nds and
cisely the contemporary Milanese setting, which
objects. Cavedon even pays homage to L’Année
gives the supernatural angle a realistic backdrop.
dernière à Marienbad in the scene at the Sem-
As Giulio Questi did in Arcana (972), Cavedon
pione park, where the camera tracks laterally and
manages to convey the feel of obscure forces
discovers the two lovers standing motionless
working subtly in an everyday reality, just be-
while kissing by a tree, and here and there he
neath the surface: even children’s chalk drawings
comes up with suitably eerie images, such as the
on the asphalt take on a sinister meaning.
little girl playing hopscotch in the courtyard. He
In the opening sequences we see Monica
is immensely aided by Erico Menczer’s top-
take a tramway to the outskirts of the city, to the
notch cinematography, characterized by the
Navigli district and its canals, and move to one
ample use of flou and striking transitions from
of those big condos that housed hundreds of
light to darkness, and by Maurizio Sangineto’s
families, mostly immigrants, depicted in such
score, which mixes “eerie synthesizer droolings
films as Rocco e i suoi fratelli (960, Luchino Vis-
and splintering guitar chords.”8
conti). The squalid, claustrophobic attic where
For all its qualities, though, Ombre is badly
she and then Renato move to is a prosaic but no
flawed. The insistent use of voice- over soon be-
less perturbing variation of the dilapidated
comes tiresome and heavy- handed (“I have re-
Gothic castles which feed on their inhabitants’
mained alone on this useless life’s stage,” Renato
primal fears and retain the malevolent presence
mutters, while wandering on … an empty stage),
of their previous occupants. Perhaps the director
the story feels stretched despite the intriguing
had in mind the building where the doomed
flashback structure, and the characters are so
Trelkovsky goes to live in Roman Polanski’s
sketchy and perfunctory that it is hard to care
stunning adaptation of Roland Topor’s novel, Le
about them. In addition to that, despite a pair
locataire, a.k.a. The Tenant (976). On top of
of capable leads such as Lou Castel and Monica
that, Cavedon has his lonely protagonist wander
Guerritore, the performances are hardly con-
around the city, juxtaposing his discouraged
vincing. Monica’s melodramatic death scene
meditations with sinister architectural glimpses
seems lifted from some worthless tearjerker, and
of Milan, from the imposing caryatids at the
Castel—by then in a career- low stretch, with ti-
Central railway station (built during the Fascist
tles such as L’osceno desiderio (978) and Suor
regime) to Giorgio De Chirico’s surreal 973
omicidi (979)—looks uninterested. His per-
open- air fountain sculpture “I bagni misteriosi”
formance becomes downright embarrassing in
(“The Mysterious Baths”),7 giving the impression
the scene at a disco where Renato gets drunk
of the big city as a vampire which deprives its in-
after selling the portrait Monica had entrusted
habitants of the will to live.
to him, and dances frantically to the sound of a
In a way, Ombre could also be read as a
Heather Parisi song.
metaphorical meditation on the loss of the 968
Nevertheless, Ombre remains a rather in-
ideals. In a flashback we first meet Renato intent
teresting oddity, not least because of the partic-
on working on a huge mural painting, together
ipation of personalities from the artistic world,
with a group of hippie artists; in the scenes set
such as Carlo Jacono (one of Italy’s most famous
in the present, the mural looks dilapidated and
illustrators, and the official cover artist of the Gi-
ruined beyond repair. Likewise, Renato betrays
alli Mondadori from 90 to 986), who provided
his ideals of artistic purity and finds (ephemeral)
the eerie portrait at the center of the story, and
notoriety by selling someone else’s work and
Roberto Tiraboschi (who subsequently became
pretending it is his own. Cavedon carries the
a renowned writer and scriptwriter), who plays
story coherently to its grim yet logical denoue-
a small role. Some sources credit Mario Caiano
ment, with a punchline that plays like a variation
as co- director, but the information is groundless:
on the ending of Luigi Comencini’s black com-
Caiano himself never mentioned his participa-
edy Lo scopone scientifico (972), where rat poi-
tion to the film, and Castel has been adamant
son also played a key role.
that Cavedon was the film’s only director.9
The direction attempts to be stylish, with
Despite a reasonable amount of publicity,
some impressive images (Renato and Monica
Ombre—advertised as “a young film for young
meeting on opposite sides of a palace with glass
people”—failed to attract any audience: report-
42 1980: Paura edly, it ended up with only 6 tickets sold
Paura nella città dei morti viventi (City
and closed after just a week. Critics were tepid,
of the Living Dead, a.k.a. Gates of Hell)
too: “Cavedon’s direction … moves among the
D: Lucio Fulci. S and SC: Lucio Fulci, Dar-
story’s twists and certain inconsistencies in the
dano Sacchetti; DOP: Sergio Salvati (LV-Lu-
script with mixed results. If on one hand he
ciano Vittori); M: Fabio Frizzi, conducted by
goes for effect with naïve and elementary
the author (Ed. Flipper); E: Vincenzo Tomassi;
tricks … on the other he takes advantage,
PD, CO: Antonello Geleng; MU: Franco Rufini;
thanks also to Erico Menczer’s photography,
AMU: Rosario Prestopino; Hair: Luciano Vito;
of some rather unseen glimpses of old Milan,”0
AD: Roberto Giandalia [2ndAD: Michele Soavi,
wrote the Corriere della Sera, blaming also the
uncredited]; SD: Giacomo Calò Corducci; ASD:
story’s excessively slow pacing. After such a
Ovidio Taito; ACO: Luciana Morosetti; SO:
commercial debacle, Cavedon never directed
Ugo Celani, Marco Streccioni; B: Eros Giustini;
another picture.
Mix: Bruno Moreal; SE: Gino De Rossi; C:
Roberto Forges Davanzati; AC: Maurizio Luc-
NOteS
chini; AE: Armando Pace, Pietro Tomassi;
1. “Primo ciak del film Autoritratto a Milano,” L’Unità,
ChEl: Roberto Belli; KG: Giancarlo Serravalli;
July 0, 979. The start date is confirmed by Rome’s Public
SP: Giorgio Garibaldi Schwarze; STC: Naz-
Cinematographic Register as well.
zareno Cardinali; Stunts: Don Ruffin;
SS: Rita
2. “Opera prima con ‘star’ a Brera,” La Stampa, August
Agostini, Donatella Botti. Cast: Christopher
8, 979.
George (Peter Bell), Katherine [Catriona] Mac-
3. Sandro Liberali, “Io tanti flirt? Prego, solo amori,”
Corriere dell’informazione, July 8, 979 (interview with
Coll (Mary Woodhouse), Carlo De Mejo
Mita Medici); Franca Morotti, “La mia vita? Tanta rabbia
(Gerry), Antonella Interlenghi (Emily Rob-
e voglia di pattinare,” Corriere dell’informazione, July 30,
bins), Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Bob),
979.
Daniela Doria [Daniela Cormio] (Rosie
4. See Anonymous, “Un’altra troupe ‘gira’ in autobus
Kelvin), Fabrizio Jovine (Father William
con fantasmi e gatto parapsicologo,” Corriere della Sera,
August 8, 979.
Thomas), Luca Paisner [Luca Venantini]
5. Rossella Dallò, “Comincia con la fine di un amore
(John-John Robbins), Michele Soavi (Tommy
la carriera di un giovane regista,” L’Unità, August 3, 979.
Fisher), Venantino Venantini (Mr. Ross), Enzo
6. Ibid.
D’Ausilio (Sheriff Russell’s Deputy), Adelaide
7. Placed in the Sempione park in 973 as part of the
“Art-City Contact” project for Milan’s XV Triennale, “I
Aste (Theresa), Luciano Rossi (Policeman in
bagni misteriosi” is considered by many to be Giorgio De
apartment), Robert Sampson (Sheriff Russell),
Chirico’s greatest sculpture. Made from Vicenza stone, the
Janet Agren (Sandra); uncredited: Omero Ca-
installation is composed of eight elements placed in a large
panna (Burning zombie), Lucio Fulci (Dr. John
sinuous pool: two torsos, a dark- haired man and a blond
Thompson), Michael Gaunt (Gravedigger),
one; a Swan whose outline recalls a floating boat at the
amusement park; a multicolored fish and a colored beach
Perry Pirkanen (Blond Gravedigger), James
ball; a trampoline; a real cabin for swimmers with wind
Sampson (James McLuhan, Séance member),
flags; and a fountainhead. Part of the floor of the pool, in
Martin Sorrentino (Sgt. Clay), Robert E.
yellow ochre, is decorated with a parquet motif that recalls
Werner (Policeman outside apartment build-
the movement of waves. As the artist explained, “the idea
for the “Mysterious baths” fountain came to me while I
ing). PROD: Dania Film, Medusa Distribuzione,
was in a house whose floor had been polished with wax. I
National Cinematografica (Rome); GM: Gio-
Italian Gothic Horror Films (1980-1989) Page 12