Puzzle (1974) Duccio Tessari

Puzzle (1974) aka L'uomo senza memoria
aka Man Without a Memory
Genre: Giallo
Aspect ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1 | Length: 88mn
Dvdrip H264 Mkv - 1005x546 - 25fps - 1.57gb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072349/

Peter Smith (Luc Merenda) is a well-to-do sort of chap. The only problem is that, for the past nine months, he has suffered from amnesia and has no idea who he is. He is not particularly amused, therefore, when a stranger accosts him in his London residence, tells him his real name is Ted Walden, and attempts to kill him. A well-placed bullet from an unseen sniper quickly puts paid to this, and, fearing for his own life, Ted elopes to Italy, where, it transpires, he has a wife, Sara (Senta Berger). Trying to put the strange events of London behind him, Ted makes tentative steps towards rekindling his relationship with Sara, who accepts him back despite his having no memory of her at all. However, as he slowly pieces together the fragmented shards of his mind, he quickly begins to realise that some memories are better off remaining buried...

As gialli go, Puzzle is lies off the beaten track, in more ways than one. Not only is it one of the most obscure films of its type, rarely seen after its 1974 theatrical release, it also challenges the very definition of the genre, having little in common with its stylish cousins from Argento, Fulci and Bava, with their high body counts and psychotropic musical scores. Yet giallo it is, despite the Anglicisation of the term often leading viewers to think that a film can only be considered a giallo if it features a black-gloved killer and strong psychosexual undertones. This slow, understated giallo has a lot in common with Alfred Hitchcock's own study of amnesia, Spellbound.

As with his previous giallo, The Bloodstained Butterfly, Tessari keeps his style subdued, eschewing the brash colours and convoluted camera setups for which the genre has become known in favour of a more down to earth realism. This is no bad thing, because the script, uncharacteristically for a film of its type, is focused on the characters far more than the set-pieces.