Il tradimento

As usual with the Italian 'noir' films, it's the story that is of the greatest interest, here in a web of human destinies intertwisted and brought together again by the force of circumstances. Amedeo Nazzari for once is in great trouble here and even serves almost 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, and the one weak spot of the story is perhaps that he is sentenced while the police never finds the dead body, and so there is never any actual evidence of any crime. The 'victim' simply got away, scheming his own faked death in disappointment and revenge on the family whose wife he didn't succeed in seducing, and she is the one who pays the price here. The villain is a young and outrageous Vittorio Gassman, and in all his villainy he is simply outrageously impressing - the best performance of the film. A doll plays an important part in this heart-breaking story, Nazzari spending most of his years in prison by making dolls, and his daughter clinging to the one doll he gave her on her fifth birthday, just before Vittorio Gassman ruined their lives. The cinematography is also at moments impressing, and above all the music is wonderful throughout. This is one of many Italian films in the shadow of the great neo-realistic wave that deserves atention and discovery.