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Deadly Sweet
AKA Col Cuore in Gola
Directed by Tinto Brass
Released: 1967
Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Ewa Aulin, Roberto Bisacco, Charles Kohler
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Studio:
Cult Epics
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At a trendy London nightclub,
Bernard (played by Jean-Louis Trintignant) sees a gorgeous young lady
named Jane Burroughs (Ewa Aulin) whom he later discovers hiding in a room
next to the recently murdered corpse of an old man. Jane swears that she
is innocent and believes that this murder has been committed by the same
men who arranged her father’s “accidental” death. Bernard grabs Jane and
they go on the run. Now framed for the murder, Bernard and his new
girlfriend to try and solve the mystery with the police and some very
nasty thugs on their trail.
This convoluted plot, loaded with twists and red herrings takes a backseat
to the comic book style in which
Deadly Sweet
is delivered. Directly referencing Michelangelo Antonioni's
Blow Up
and psychically taking queues from Seijin Suzuki's
Tokyo Drifter,
Tinto Brass, a director better known for his catalog of erotic and
exploitation features (Salon
Kitty and
Caligula),
is firing on all cylinders here. His direction is fast and loose in this
labor of love and there are too many film and pop culture references to
list.
The camerawork is sharp, colorful, and makes the film look years ahead of
its time. The film even switches to splendid black and white in strange,
seemingly random intervals. Complimenting all this is the lightning fast
editing with split screens and quick cuts that help to make the film into
a decadent assault on the senses. The soundtrack by composer Armando
Trovajoli is slinky and badass but the song “Love Girl” that plays on and
off throughout the film is a chunk of super psychedelic awfulness.
Jean-Louis Trintignant (Without
Apparent Motive) is ridiculously
cool as Bernard, a clever son of a bitch and Ewa Aulin (of
Death Smiled at Murder) is 17 different varieties of super
hotness as Jane, the young damsel in distress. These two have a very
bizarre and playful relationship. What better way to spice up your
whirlwind romance than by trying to catch a murderer together? Now that’s
dating outside the box. In fact, most of this film deals with their
burgeoning love affair.
Deadly Sweet
is a pop art murder mystery/love story produced shortly before the giallo
genre would explode into an unstoppable juggernaut in the early 70s. This
swingin’ flick is a funny, sexy, and wildly eclectic masterpiece less
concerned with plot than it is with reveling its youthful 60s vibe. There
is very little bloodshed in
Deadly Sweet
but the quick pace and comic book action sequences make for a very
entertaining and unique feature.
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DVD Stuff
Deadly Sweet
arrives via Cult Epics in an excellent anamorphic widescreen presentation.
The picture is very clear with vibrant colors and deep blacks. There are
only minor scratches (which only become more pronounced where they are
intentional) in this nearly pristine print. The audio is a very clear
Italian mono track with easy to read English subtitles.
Extras include an audio
commentary by director Tinto Brass, the film’s trailer, and a lobby card
gallery. The audio commentary is kind of a tough nut to crack. Brass
speaks English (not his native tongue) and is kind of hard to understand.
But be sure to give it a listen, there is some great info about the film's
production to be found here.
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Quotes
“This woman was so beautiful that she was scaring me.”
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