quo vadis, baby? (2005)

I went alone, alas, to see the first Italian film in this year's London Film Festival which was also a double first for the director - the first film of his with a female protagonist and the first made by him with HD digital recording rather than on film.   The lead is a private eye working for her father taking pictures of errant husbands and wives who receives a carton of videos from her sister's old boy friend who has had them for the 16 years since her suicide.   Reluctantly, our heroine starts watching them, the early ones of childhood together before the tapes are used as a diary of the sister's life as an aspiring actress in Rome.There is a definite noir (or giallo, rather) feel to what is really a family puzzle with strong performances from both sisters and the supporting male cast.   The use of video to tell the back story is well done as is the use of film extracts relevant to the story (the film's title is a quote from the Italian dubbingof 'Last Tango In Paris').   A worthy successor to the golden age of giallos.

Michaelg