La Commare secca ("Grim Reaper")

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring: Carlotta Barrili, Allen Midgette
Year: 1962

Bertolucci's directorial debut at age 21 based on a story by Pasolini. The story follows the investigation of a brutal murder of a prostitute. We then see a series of interrogations of suspects by the police, all of whom are known to have been in a nearby park at the time of the murder. Each suspect recounts his activities during the day and evening, and each narrative serves as a slice of life story. A young man tells the police that he was meeting with priests in order to get a job recommendation, though we see that he and his friends spent the time trying to rob lovers in the park. A gigolo treats both his girlfriends badly. A soldier fails in his attempts at picking up a number of women and falls asleep on a park bench. Two teenage boys share a pleasant afternoon in the company of two teenage girls but end up stealing from a homosexual man in the park. The final flashback depicts the prostitute's murder by a man in clogs who had been interrogated previously and who is finally apprehended at a dance. Each narrative is interrupted by a sudden thunderstorm, which in each case leads to an interlude at the prostitute's apartment as she prepares for her evening.

Comments: The movie grabs you and the time sequences and flashbacks are effective.

Recommended.