The House with Laughing Windows
The House With Laughing Windows | |
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Directed by | Pupi Avati |
Screenplay by |
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Story by |
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Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Pasquale Rachini[1] |
Edited by | Giusuppe Baghdighian[1] |
Music by | Amedeo Tommassi[1] |
Production company | A.M.A. Film |
Distributed by | Euro International Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 110 minutes[1] |
Country | Italy[1] |
Box office | ₤722.135 million |
The House with Laughing Windows (Italian: La casa dalle finestre che ridono) is a 1976 Italian giallo film co-written and directed by Pupi Avati. The film was shot in Lido degli Scacchi in the Ferrara province of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy.
Plot
Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) arrives in a village of the Valli di Comacchio area where he has been employed to restore a fresco depicting what appears to be the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, which has been painted on a rotting wall of the local church by a mysterious, long-dead artist named Legnani. While temporarily taking up residence in the house that had been previously owned by the two sisters of the deceased painter, Stefano begins a romance with a new, beautiful schoolteacher, Francesca (Francesca Marciano), meanwhile learning from various townspeople that the painter had been a madman who had derived his art from real life. Specifically, Stefano learns that the artist — assisted by his two equally-insane sisters — had been a killer who brutally tortured people to death as inspiration for his horrific paintings — a practice that had likely been used for the very painting he is in process of restoring. As Stefano is discouraged for his task throughout the town, some of the villagers are brutally killed — including his employer — and he comes to suspect that their murderer is trying to deter him from discovering the full truth behind the artist and his ominous legacy within the sleepy community.
Cast
- Lino Capolicchio as Stefano
- Francesca Marciano as Francesca
- Gianni Cavina as Coppola
- Giulio Pizzirani as Antonio Mazza
- Vanna Busoni as Teacher
- Andrea Matteuzzi as Poppi
- Bob Tonelli as Solmi
- Pietro Brambilla as Lidio
- Ferdinando Orlandi as Marshall
- Ines Ciaschetti as Concierge
- Flavia Giorgi as Poppi's Wife
- Eugene Walter as Priest
- Carla Astolfi as Chambermaid
- Tonino Corazzari as Buono Legnani
- Pina Borione as Laura Legnani
- John Marquette as Saint Sebastian in fresco (uncredited)
Production
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The idea for The House With Laughing Windows came from a story director Pupi Avati had heard as a child involving the exhumation of a priest in the village of Sasso Marconi.[2] An early draft of the script was developed in the early 1970s under the title La luce dell'ultimo piano which was written by both Avati and Antonion Troisio.[3] It was produced by Antonio Cuomo who later backed out of the project.[3] Avati began working on the script again after the financial failure of his film House of Pleasure for Women and made several changes to the character and story.[3] The final story and screenplay was credited to Pupi Avati and Antonio Avati.[1]
The House with Laughing Windows was the first film produced by director Pupi Avati's company A.M.A. Film.[1][4] The film was shot over five weeks between April and May 1976 in Comacchio and Minerbio, Ferrara, Italy.[1][4] Although the credits state Incir-De Paolis Studios in Rome, this was purely listed for bureaucratic reasons.[1][4][5]
Release
The House with Laughing Windows was distributed theatrically in Italy by Euro International Films where on 16 August 1976.
The House with Laughing Windows was released on
Reception
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2014) |
The film has been received well by contemporary critics.
On review aggregate
Availability and legacy
On 9 August 2011
It was screened as an outstanding example of its genre at the British Film Institute in November 2019.[13]
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Curti 2017, p. 157.
- ^ Curti 2017, p. 159.
- ^ a b c Curti 2017, p. 160.
- ^ a b c Curti 2017, p. 158.
- ^ Curti 2017, p. 162.
- Amazon.com. 11 March 2003. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- ^ "House With Laughing Windows DVD". CD Universe. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- Tower.com. Archived from the originalon February 5, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- AllMovie. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
- ^ "La Casa dalle finestre che ridono (The House of the Laughing Windows)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- ^ Anton Bitel. "The House With Laughing Windows". Retrieved December 10, 2012.
- Trailers From Hell!. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- ^ "Buy cinema tickets for The House with Laughing Windows | BFI Southbank". BFI site. Retrieved 2019-11-29.[dead link]
Sources
- Curti, Roberto (2017). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1970-1979. ISBN 978-1476629605.