By Tristan Bishop
Director Massimo Dallamano is generally remembered as one of the also-rans of Italian genre cinema; one of the legion of hack directors who flitted from spaghetti westerns to gialli to police thrillers, to whatever else selling well abroad that particular week, but taking a look back over his filmography it’s obvious that he deserves a critical reappraisal. Dallamano started life as a cinematographer on costume dramas he eventually moved into directing in the late sixties, but not before he had photographed a couple of notable films for a young director known as Sergio Leone. These films were A Fistful Of Dollars, and For A Few Dollars More – indeed, the films that made people start to take Italian exploitation cinema seriously (and, not to mention, were mega-hits across the globe). Naturally, off the back of the success of the Dollars films, Dallamano was given his own directing gigs, and starting off with his own stab at the spaghetti western, the solid Bandidos (1967), he went on to bring his sure directorial hand to a variety of different films, from the giallo (A Black Veil For Lisa, 1969) to crime thrillers (Mafia Junction AKA Super Bitch, 1973) and even the erotic drama (Venus In Furs, 1969 – not to be confused with Jess Franco’s fever dream of the same year). However, his most enduring work would appear to be What Have You Done To Solange?, a 1972 production which has now been issued by Arrow in a 2K restoration from the original camera negative.
I won’t go into too much detail about the plot here, because that would ruin much of the enjoyment of the film for those who haven’t seen it, but the plot concerns one Professor Rosseni (action film mainstay Fabio Testi), who is having an illcit affair with Elisabeth (Cristina Galbo), who just happens to be a student at the girls school he teaches at. During a boat-based tryst Elisabeth thinks she witnesses a murder taking place, but the moment is over too quickly and she’s not entirely sure what she actually saw. Rosseni doesn’t really take much notice (other than to be slightly miffed that his wandering hands have been thwarted), but when he hears reports of an actual body having been found on the riverbank he goes back to investigate, but wants to stay as far out of the intrigue as he can, especially as his wife Herta (Karin Baal) also works at the school…
What Have You Done To Solange is a film that has a interesting history in the UK – originally banned on cinema release by the BBFC it was later heavily cut on home video (which is where I first encountered its charms) before later DVD releases restored the edits. This is now the third home viewing incarnation I have seen of the film, and what can I say? A tip of the hat to Arrow for the restoration on this (and a second tip for that gorgeous cover art – although the best art is on the flip of the reversible sleeve) – from the opening scene with Testi and Galbo in the boat, the picture is so sharp that you can pick out the detail on Galbo’s make-up in the close-ups. Occasionally with BD restorations they have the effect of making old films look a lot cheaper than before (witness the classic kung fu films where you can now see the joins in the wigs), but thankfully Dallamano’s film is crisply shot (by none other than future porn auteur and occasional horror bod Joe D’Amato, under his real name of Aristide Massacesi) and, for those of us who love retro location work, there are plenty of shots of 70’s Chelsea to get excited over – although the many countryside-set scenes will make you wonder just how green and leafy London was 40-something years ago (I imagine not very). But does it still deliver as a giallo? Well, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ – although Solange isn’t as creepy as say, Argento’s 70’s work, it does the job as an effective whodunit with moments of shocking violence which equate sex and death in a way that will still make viewers shift uncomfortably in their seats.
Of course the whole ‘schoolgirl giallo’ theme means that there are plenty of scenes of sex and nudity added too – and it’s somewhat amusing to view the story of the teacher having an affair with his pupil (his biggest concern being that his wife doesn’t find out) through a modern day lens – even more so given a final third twist. In fact, if you’re a fan of chuckling at outdated sexual and societal mores you’ll have a field day here. Even the dub work (you can watch the film in Italian with subs, but as with all Italian films from the era, the Italian soundtrack is also dubbed, so it doesn’t really matter) is above average, and there are solid performances from the ever-watchable Testi and German star Joachim Fuchsberger as the main police detective investigating the murders – incidentally this film was sold in Germany as one of the Edgar Wallace ‘Krimi’ series (a series of lurid crime thrillers popular throughout the sixties but very much on the wane by the time this was released), which explains the casting of series mainstay Fuchsberger in what actually amounts to a minor role here. I Spit On Your Grave star Camille Keaton makes her film debut in this too, so keep an eye out for her eventual appearance.
So for fans of the giallo and 70’s cinema in general I can’t really recommend this release highly enough – bolstered by the addition of a fun (and pretty insightful) commentary from Alan Jones & Kim Newman, some archive interviews with Testi and producer Fulvio Lucisano and a brand new one from Karin Baal (who, spoiler, isn’t a fan), What Have You Done To Solange is a must-buy.
What Have You Done To Solange? is out now on dual format DVD & Blu-ray from Arrow Video.