Enrico Rossini (Fabio Testi), a teacher at the exclusive St Hilda's Catholic Girls School in London, is having a secret relationship with one of his pupils, Elizabeth (Christine Galbo).
They are out boating on the Thames when Elizabeth thinks she sees something in the undergrowth. Enrico, however, is sceptical and thinks she is just playing hard to get.
That night Enrico hears on the radio that a body was discovered on the riverbank. Worse, it transpires that the victim, Hilda Ericson, was another pupil at St Hilda's.
Unable to explain to the police, school governors or his wife as to what he was doing on the night in question, Enrico finds himself the prime suspect after a photo of him visiting the murder scene is published. Embarking upon his own investigation, he uncovers a sordid story of sex, drugs and backstreet abortion gone wrong…
What Have You Done To Solange is a prime 70s giallo.
The complicated plot, with numerous twists and turns as Enrico begins his investigation, is characteristic of the genre. But, unlike many entries, Solange actually makes reasonable sense, providing substance as well as style.
And while unquestionably sleazy – one wonders, in particular whether a protagonist like Rossini would be possible today – there is also the impression that – clearly exploitative nude shower scenes aside – the film-makers also sought to treat their subject matter more seriously than the typical giallo. Indeed, director and co-writer Massiimo Dallamano would later reprise the story, this time in an Italian setting, with What Have You Done to Your Daughters .
With good cinematography courtesy of Artistide Massaccesi (AKA Joe D'Amato), quality performances from the leads, and a fine Ennio Morricone score, which mixes jazz and experimental stylings with a haunting main theme featuring the incomparable Edda Del'Orso on vocals, it's hard to find anything significantly wrong with Solange .
The only obvious weakness is really some poor dubbing of the supporting characters. They speak in one of the worst variegated arrays of British regional accents outside of Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue .
EC Entertainment's Region 2 DVD of What Have You Done to Solange presents the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Digital audio.
Neither sound nor picture are great, merely adequate. The sound has, however, proved choppy on some systems I've played the disc on, which I suspect is a NTSC/PAL format conversion issue.
Extras include a useful stills and artwork gallery, a biography and filmography of director Dallamano, and trailers for Lucio Fulci's The Black Cat and Michele Soavi's Stagefright .
While the DVD and extras are not exactly awe-inspiring, the truth is that Solange is a good enough film in its own right to merit the giallo fan's attention.
Copyright © K H Brown 2002-2005
Rating:
2.5 / 5
(2 votes)
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