Gripping thriller

It’s impossible not to love a good thriller, especially one with more twists and turns than the Bahrain International Circuit.

This movie conjures up a fantastic blend of Silence of the Lambs and Seven … both equally suspenseful and disturbing.

There are elements of this film that won’t sit well with the faint-hearted, although there was nothing so graphic that I was put off my movie snack.

I think it’s the little things that a make a movie great, the subtle nuances that are often overlooked at the time are often the cleverest.

Besides being the title of this movie, Giallo, is the name given to an Italian genre of fiction that blends mystery and horror. It also means ‘yellow’ in Italian … that might not sound too clever right now but once you see the movie, it will.

The film begins with a young Japanese woman enjoying a cultural night at the opera. After the show she hails a taxi, but when she gets inside, the peculiar looking driver locks the doors and speeds off into the night.

Elsewhere, a group of models are getting ready for a fashion show where, between outfit changes, the gorgeous Celine is talking to her sister Linda on the phone.

They arrange to meet at her flat after the show but when Linda arrives, her sister is nowhere to be seen … did she get a taxi after the show? 

The next morning Linda goes to the police station to report her sister’s disappearance but the cops are reluctant to help. They send her off to the basement to see the unpopular detective Enzo, a petulant guy who has his wall adorned with pictures of mutilated women.

Linda explains the situation and shows him a picture of her missing sister. Enzo immediately believes that Celine has been abducted by the same man responsible for the murders of the women on his walls.

He takes the case and the pair set about trying to find Celine before it’s too late and she ends up as another picture on his wall.

They stumble on an important clue when they find the missing Japanese woman – who has been tortured and is near death – who screams that the man responsible is ‘yellow’ (clever, right?).

Enzo deduces that the killer’s dramatic skin tone is caused by a liver disease called jaundice and sets about trying to find anyone matching the description.

Yellow picks his victims because they are beautiful and he himself is ugly. It sounds a tad contrived but it is later revealed that he was raised in an orphanage where he was rejected for not being beautiful enough ... rather than getting on with life and making the best of it, he turns to torturing and killing beautiful people.

He mentally and physically abuses his victims until he gets bored and then kills them in a ritualistic fashion and he only goes after tourists because he knows that the police have more pressing matters to attend to than missing holidaymakers.

Brody is great in these types of roles and is adept at creating a character that you empathise with. He shows his range by taking you on a journey into the heart of his character, highlighting all his flaws and strengths.

He’s had a wide range of experience with action roles (Predators 2010) and horror roles (The Village 2004), he’s even managed to play an awkward geek with a heart of gold (King Kong 2005).

What I especially love about Brody is that he isn’t your typical leading man. His looks aren’t perfectly chiseled and he doesn’t ooze macho bravado, but it works for him.

Seigner also plays her part with grace and style and is totally believable as a woman who will stop at nothing to find her sister. She delivers her dialogue in a convincing and emotional manner in a commanding performance.

It’s always a given to hate the bad guy in movies of this nature. That is the mark of whether or not the actor in that role has played their part well.

 Byron Deidra (Yellow) is astounding as a villain … audiences will no doubt leave the cinema cursing him. However, that is a shame because he died shortly after the film’s worldwide release in 2009. Ironically, he did actually suffer from jaundice, which (besides his admirable acting talent) is why he was chosen for the role.

This is a dramatic and entertaining thriller that will rattle around in your head long after you leave the cinema.

Showing in Cineco, Seef II and Saar Cineplex.