La Dolce Morte: Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo Film
...an interesting study of Giallo...a very detailed analysis of the main themes of the genre... (Killing In Style)La Dolce Morteis an informed and engaging examination of neglected and marginalized films that purposely provokes readers to re-examine biases against the giallo. (Rue Morgue)La Dolce Mortepresents sound and interesting textual analysis of an impressive number ofgialli. (Senses Of Cinema)...this is a serious contribution to film studies. It opens a side of Italian cinema that is rarely studied. Recommended. (Choice)...a carefully constructed presentation and discussion of one of the most important phenomena in modern cinema. (Film Studies)"Giallo," Italian for "yellow," is applied to a vernacular film genre (e.g., Sergio Martino's Torso, 1973) based on mystery novels with bright yellow covers that an Italian publisher has been producing since the 1920s. In the context of psychodynamics and Italian audiences, Koven (film and television studies, U. of Wales, Aberystwyth) explores themes including the outsider, sexually-driven murder, the amateur detective's role, and a view of these films from Pasolini's theory of a "cinema of poetry." He concludes that gialli, like other horror cinema, reflect modernity's ambivalence toward both traditional folk beliefs and science. (Reference And Research Book News)Koven's study is highly detailed and wide ranging. Koven clearly adores his chosen subject and explores it with an eye to accessibility--he often writes wittily but always lucidly--and these are reasons why the book is so engaging. (Gothic Studies)Koven's well-organized catalog of the subgenre's characteristics makes his book a valuable reference tool as well as an incisive critical study. (The American Society Of Cinematography)