The Pyjama Girl Case DVD Review
The Pyjama Girl Case DVD Review
She wore yellow (giallo) PJs, of course!
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Before filmmaker Quentin Tarantino made the non-linear format (Pulp Fiction, 1994) hip, and before he made donning yellow (Kill Bill, 2003) hot, Italian director Flavio Mogherini did both things in 1977 with his non-giallo giallo oddity, The Pyjama Girl Case.
While so many of the subgenre's clichés abound — murder, mystery, midgets, flaming gay stereotypes, beautiful women, driving too fast, ringing telephones, leering voyeurism, angry cats — there is no black-gloved killer, and only one real "POV" shot.
Unlike most gialli, which are complete concoction, this one is (albeit loosely) based on the true-life murder Linda Agostini in 1934, whose most tantalizing identifiable clue left behind were her burnt silk pajamas. Horribly disfigured, the then-unidentified cadaver was tarted up and put on display for all the public to see. In the movie, the stylized nude corpse is put in a glass box and viewed as an art piece, ala The Body Worlds traveling museum and science exhibit. Mogherini's command of this scene is truly stunning and wholly impactful. Also unlike most gialli, The Pyjama Girl Case has more than just style, set pieces and blood: it's deeply character-driven.
The film opens with a griping and haunting scene set on a lonely beach — punctuated with a dated and yet oddly timeless vocal song by androgynous disco superstar Amanda Lear — showing a little girl discovering the charred body of an unknown young woman discarded like so much rubbish. Cut to the police investigation, augmented by Thompson (a riveting Ray Milland) a dogged, cranky retired detective who just can't let this mysterious victim fade into the abyss of the forgotten. Meanwhile in a parallel story, a restless young waitress, played by the startlingly beautiful Dalila Di Lazzaro (Flesh for Frankenstein), is juggling a loveless marriage and a string of empty affairs.
As is de rigeur with most movies in this genre, the score (Riz Ortolani, A Perversion Story), cinematography (Carlo Carlini, Autopsy) and production design (Franco Velchi, The Perfume of the Lady in Black) are superlative. And while you may not see the level of gratuitous sex and violence you're used to in such films, the moments which do contain them are striking and sometimes quite sad.
One of the most unusual and compelling vintage DVDs I've caught lately, I recommend The Pyjama Girl Case to the more adventurous aficionados of swinging70s era's murder mysteries.
Bonus features on the DVD are slim, but they do include a 30 minute long interview with Richard Evans the author of a book on the real "Pyjama Girl" murder, mostly in talking head format, but augmented with several graphic black and white photos of the disgraced corpse (think: Jack the Ripper victims, or The Black Dahlia), plus news reel footage and other visuals.
Overall it's a very solid disc presentation from Blue Underground and well worth buying (the beautiful widescreen uncut transfer is much appreciated).
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson