CAT O' NINE TAILS
Italy, 1971, 107 minutes, Colour.
Karl Malden, James Franciscus.
Directed by Dario Argento.
Cat o' Nine Tails was one of the earliest of Dario Argento's thrillers. As the 70s and 80s wore on, he made a transition from violent and psychological thrillers to horror films. He is best known for such films as Tenebrae and Suspiria, still making films into the 21st century with such thrillers as Sleepless starring Max von Sydow.
Karl Malden gives a sense of humanity as a blind journalist using his capacities for hearing to help a newspaper journalist unravel a mystery. The journalist is played by James Franciscus.
The setting is industrial espionage and social security in an Italian firm. The film uses the subjective lens as the eye of the killer, with the focus on blades. The reference in the title is to the many strands of the murder mystery.
The film works quite well as the detecting of the murders, as a human document with Karl Malden and his niece, playfully working together, her being his eyes. For those who enjoy this kind of mystery, it is perhaps no surprise when Catherine Spaak is revealed as the murderer.
1. The work of Dario Argento, slasher thrillers, detective stories, his later transition into full slasher horror?
2. Argento and his working within Italian cinema, the 70s and the 80s, his stylised work being so different from the tradition of neo-realism and the developments of such directors as Fellini? His film origins being rather in the spaghetti westerns and spaghetti horror?
3. The title, the reference to a whip, the different strands making up the whip, the strands for the mystery?
4. The espionage setting, the company, the robberies, the scientific investigations, ambitions of scientists, exploitation of their discoveries? The dangers, especially of contamination?
5. The scientist, the files, his girlfriend, his being murdered on the railway station? The manager of the firm, his daughter, their relationship? The other members of the company, their involvement, the meetings and discussions, searching for the truth?
6. The portrait of Anna, seductive, alluring, Carlo and his interest? Her relationship with her father? The sexual encounters, the seduction, the violence - and the revelation that she was the killer?
7. Karl Malden as Franco, his blindness, his ability to hear, on the street, the cars, the violence? Lori and her relationship with him, friendship, care and love? Her being his eyes? The encounter with Giordani? The discussions, going to the press office? The photographs, the clues, the blow-ups of the photos, the revelation of the murder? The police and their interest, questioning, collaboration? The further detection, the discussions with Giordani? The clues? The dangers for Franco, in the dark, the threats to Lori, Anna revealed as the killer?
8. Giordani, his work as a journalist, coming across the case, encountering Franco, their discussions, his return, at the office, the photos, pursuing the clues? Each of them and the questionings? The danger to Carlo, his meeting Anna, the infatuation, the relationship? The ultimate confrontation?
9. A film of its time, the style of the 70s - but an interesting murder mystery, detection, personal touch, the implications of this kind of industrial espionage and violence?
