'The Bloodstained Butterfly'. (1971) - Duccio Tessari.

A highly regarded storyteller, the talented, versatile filmmaker, Duccio Tessari's far from formulaic Giallo forgoes shrill, sensation-seeking gore and meticulously constructs a uniquely compelling dissection of the apparently random murder of an innocent young girl. The densely layered narrative is far less overtly lurid than many other iterations of the sinister, black-gloved, amateur-sleuthing Gialli of the period. Tessari focusses with single-minded intensity upon all the available crime scene evidence and the eyewitness testimony of those individuals in the vicinity at the precise moment of, Françoise Pigaut's (Carole André) grisly murder.

The visually astute filmmaker's dramatically intricate, structurally forensic approach to the shadowy killer's possible identity and malign motivations provides considerable intrigue. Penetrating deeper into the protagonists psychology than most vintage slashers of the period, peering voyeuristically into the febrile minds of a vividly drawn trio of disparate, malevolently entwined male suspects. The glamorously baroque, classically handsome, emotionally complicated pianist, Giorgio Venosta, ostensibly benign family man sports broadcaster 'Sandro' Marchi (Giancarlo Sbragia) and his friend and lawyer, the altogether shady, fact-twisting, Giulio Cordaro (Gunther Stoll) whose seamy interest in young girls may not simply be an aesthetic one.

Any truly captivating thriller is certainly more than the gifted filmmaker's ability to revivify tired thriller tropes into increasingly convoluted and confounding shapes to maintain an audience's jaded interest. While the components are indeed ubiquitous, dead girl, dogged police investigation, courtroom scenes, and the oblique motives of an unknown, shadow-dwelling aggressor, the masterful Tessari has a surer hand than most. Much like the successful completion of a baffling close quarters card trick requires especially dexterous manipulations, since it must effectively shield the act of duplicity itself, what Tessari shows us may be anything but the incontrovertible truth! 

'The Bloodstained Butterfly' is a fascinatingly nuanced, beguilingly luscious-looking, uncommonly immersive Giallo wherein the fine acting, refined writing and sure-footed direction has been greatly enhanced by maestro, Gianni Ferrio's exquisite score. The sumptuous, almost decadent beauty of Bergamo proves to be no less of an intriguing character than, Helmut Burger's quixotic musician, who frequently acts as though his nerves were more tautly strung than his piano!