Sette note in nero

Sette note in nero
American film poster for Sette note in nero
Directed by	Lucio Fulci
Produced by	Fulvio Frizzi[1]
Written by	Roberto Gianviti Dardano Sacchetti[2]
Starring	Jennifer O'Neill Gianni Garko Gabriele Ferzetti Marc Porel Evelyn Stewart Jenny Tamburi
Music by	Franco Bixio Fabio Frizzi Vince Tempera[2]
Cinematography	Sergio Salvati[2]
Production company	Rizzoli Film[2]
Release dates	August 10, 1977 (1977-08-10) (Italy)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian English

Sette note in nero is a 1977 giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci and written by Roberto Gianviti and Dardano Sacchetti. Sette note in nero stars Jennifer O'Neill, Gianni Garko and Marc Porel. The film has received mixed reviews from critics.

When a woman begins experiencing psychic visions that lead her to discover a murder, her husband is charged with the killing. The psychic must embark on an investigation with a paranormal researcher to clear her husband's name of the crime.

Plot

In 1959, a woman commits suicide by leaping from a cliff. At the same time, her daughter Virginia sees her mother's death in a vision. Years later, an adult Virginia (Jennifer O'Neill) has married rich businessman Francesco Ducci (Gianni Garko). Ducci leaves on a business trip, and Virginia experiences more visions—she sees an old woman murdered, a wall being torn down and a letter hidden beneath a statue.

Virginia plans to renovate an abandoned mansion her husband has bought, but notices that the building resembles one she has seen in her visions. She tears down a wall in one room, finding a skeleton behind the plaster. Assuming the skeleton is that of the woman in her vision, Virginia contacts the police; however, they do not believe her story and charge Ducci with the killing.

Examination of the body reveals it not to be an old woman, but one in her twenties; killed about five years earlier. The skeleton is finally identified as Ducci's ex-girlfriend, who vanished several years ago. Virginia is determined to exculpate her husband, and contacts her friend Luca Fattori (Marc Porel). Fattori is a researcher of psychic phenomena, and his investigation eventually leads to the wealthy Emilio Rospini (Gabriele Ferzetti), who may be the true culprit.

Cast

• Jennifer O'Neill as Virginia Ducci
• Gianni Garko as Francesco Ducci
• Marc Porel as Luca Fattori
• Gabriele Ferzetti as Emilio Rospini
• Ida Galli as Gloria Ducci (credited as Evelyn Stewart)
• Jenny Tamburi as Bruna
• Fabrizio Jovine as Commissioner D'Elia
• Riccardo Parisio Perrotti as Melli
• Loredana Savelli as Giovanna Rospini
• Fausta Avelli as Virginia (as little girl)
• Elizabeth Turner as Virginia's Mother

Production

Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti and director Lucio Fulci have collaborated on a number of other films together, including 1979's Zombi 2, 1980's Paura nella città dei morti viventi, 1981's ...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà and Quella villa accanto al cimitero, and 1982's Lo squartatore di New York and Manhattan Baby.^[3] Fulci and Roberto Gianviti also collaborated on a number of films together, including Operazione San Pietro, Una lucertola con la pelle di donna, Zanna Bianca, Il ritorno di Zanna Bianca and Una sull'altra.^[4] Sette note in nero is the fourth giallo film to have been helmed by Fulci, who had previously taken the reins on Una sull'altra, Una lucertola con la pelle di donna and Non si sevizia un paperino. Fulci's gialli have been cited as being "a far cry from his later excessive gross-out horrors", showing that the director was able to "put his finger on the free sexuality that permeated the culture at the time and the repercussions that came along with it".^[5] The film, along with the rest of Fulci's oeuvre, has been described as "progress[ing] as if the characters are trapped in some awful, illogical dream, from which there is no escape".^[6] The film's title has been noted as one of many giallo titles using either numbers or animal references, having been directly compared to Sette scialli di seta gialla.^[7]

Composer Fabio Frizzi also contributed to Paura nella città dei morti viventi, ...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà, Manhattan Baby, and Fulci's 1990 film Un gatto nel cervello.^[8] The film's score was performed on a carillon, accompanied by stringed instruments, synthesisers and piano notes. The score has been described as "simple, elegant and gravely beautiful", and has been noted for "steer[ing] clear of rampant atonality and shrieking strings", unlike typical giallo film scores. Some of the film's music was later used in the 2003 American film Kill Bill Volume 1, directed by Quentin Tarantino.^[9]

Release

Sette note in nero was released in Italy on August 10, 1977.^[1] The film has also been distributed under the titles Murder to the Tune of Seven Black Notes and Psychic.^[10] It was released on DVD in English under the title The Psychic on December 18, 2007.^[11]

Reception

DVD Talk's Stuart Galbraith gave Sette note in nero three-and-a-half stars out of five, calling it "a very effective little thriller, smartly directed and engrossing". Galbraith felt that the film "offers few surprises" but moves with"palpable suspense", and added that the final scenes are "genuinely harrowing".^[12] Writing for Allrovi, Sandra Brennan rated the film one star out of five.^[1]

Bloody Disgusting's Chris Eggertsen included the film as number seven in a countdown of the "Top Ten Underrated Horror Gems", citing its "excellent cinematography [and] deft use of color", though criticising its "poor use of dubbing".^[13] Sette note in nero has been compared to American film Eyes of Laura Mars, released the following year.^[14] Italian film critic Riccardo Strada has described Sette note in nero as "effectively sinister and disturbing", finding it full of "healthy unease".^{[nb 1][15]}

Notes

1. ↑ Original text—"Di grande interesse anche alcune titoli di Fulci come Sette note in nero del 1977, efficacemente sinistro e disturbante, un prodotto artigianale, ma ancora oggi denso di sana inquietudine".

Footnotes

References

• Dixon, Wheeler W. (2000). The Second Century of Cinema: The Past and Future of the Moving Image. State University of New York Press. ISBN 079144516X. 
• Giovannini, Fabio (1986). Dario Argento: il brivido, il sangue, il thrilling. Edizione Dedalo. ISBN 8822045165. 
• Hutchings, Peter (2009). The A to Z of Horror Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810868873. 
• Meehan, Paul (2009). Cinema of the Psychic Realm: A Critical Survey. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786439661. 
• Shipka, Danny (2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960–1980 (illustrated ed.). McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786448881. 
• Spencer, Kristopher (2008). Film And Television Scores 1950-1979: A Critical Survey by Genre. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0786436824. 
• Strada, Riccardo (2005). Il buio oltre lo schermo: gli archetipi del cinema di paura. Zephyro Edizioni. ISBN 8883890221. 

External links

• Sette note in nero at the Internet Movie Database
• Sette note in nero at Rotten Tomatoes