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Diabolik

Mario Bava and Diabolik. Two criminal masterminds. A wizard of the handcraft's cinema  and the other a cult gentleman thief, designed by the Giussani sisters. Two genes. Of course, the encounter between these two personalities can only create something explosive. A visually stunning sixties movie, a pop masterpiece, fun and also trash in the right way.

A meeting that was not even planned a long time ago. The producer Dino De Laurentiis bought the movie rights of Diabolik and entrusts the project to Tonino Cervi. But it does not work. Instead of Cervi is called Mario Bava, who  in his hands has two hundred million lire  of budget, the highest sum most of his career.
This union work, very well can be said, and after two months of filming in Rome, Turin and Tor Caldano, arrives exactly in 1968, an irresistible pop movie.
A film that after time has entered with maximum honors in "cult movie" circle, thanks to a certain craftsmanship background.
Bava, thanks to his ability creates with four ideas, special effects, situations and solutions, which although are little rustic work well and give a comic good for a history of "Diabolik".

History says that the director has created environments with pictures and glass placed on the lens of the cameras. The bottom of the  Diabolik's cave doesn't existed, for example. Bava worked well with lights and pictures wonderering the actors and saying, how we can hear in a special DVD, which he would have told the producers, that he had spent hundred thousand dollars.

The vision of this movie, however, shows that the good Mario had fun placing his eyes a bit 'here and a little' there, in a simple manner, being able to create big action effects.
A beautiful piece of Italian craftsmanship this film, which pays homage to the famous comic with a transposition from paper to celluloid that it's  among the best of the time, and it gain charme thanks to the soundtrack by Ennio Morricone, on whose staff was also Bruno Niccolai.


Diabolik the masked robber, is the protagonist, the cause of many events that follow one another here, including twists and improbable situations that only he is able to deal with.
The structure follows the canons of comics, using the same key characters. The antagonist of the hero is usually the Inspector Ginko, starring a good Michel Piccoli, the Italian-French actor who we recently have seen in "Habemus Papam" by Nanni Moretti, an actor who has absolutely no physical similarities with the Ginko cartoon, but manages to be crebile and create the best character in the movie.

Eva Kant instead, the beloved, the beautiful dark lady, is played by Marisa Mell. To say only the name of the Austrian actress, opens the correct comparison as designed by the Giussani sisters. Eva Kant could not have best actress than Marisa Mell, among other things, replacement of Catherine Deneuve.

It's easy on paper for the beautiful Marisa, playing this character, but she is incredibly bad in the movies, wasting all and creating a character apathetic, dull, almost useless. And then there's him, Diabolik, of course, played by American John Phillip Law, who in the same year starred in "Barbarella". Apart from a resemblance with no connection to the English Jude Law, the actor was not really appreciated by Mario Bava, even if his performance is not bad.

The main characters ended with Ralph Valmont, created for the occasion and played by Adolfo Celi perfect as always.

Our hero is launched as usual in a series of incredible thefts. He steals ten million under the nose of Inspector Ginko, then mocks the police eliciting laughs with the laughing gas at a press conference and still dedice to give to his Eve a beautiful emerald necklace and especially tries to steal a gold ingot of twenty ton.

Ginko is always on his path and even the bad Valmont, Diabolik must use every trick, not to fall into enemy hands. And it's  a carnival of brilliant ideas that would make James Bond envious, from smoke from the car to the picture placed in front of a camera to get the suction cups to scale a castle to a substance that gives an apparent death.
Colorful and fun paper mache this film is really fun from beginning to end and has become a cult classic, as we said, but over time, cause the not good revenue at time and for the usual bad reviews.

The posthumous homage to this film known in many countries as "Danger Diabolik" are many. The most famous is undoubtedly the video "Body Movin '"  by Beastie Boys album "Hello Nasty". The New York-based group for the few that have not seen, is in a sort of parody and remake style "Diabolik".
Not convinced at all of this movie, Mario Bava, refused to shoot a sequel and we have only this unique and wonderful chapter.


Technical

Orginale Title: Diabolik

Alternative Titles: Danger: Diabolik (USA), Danger: Diabolik! (France), Diabolik - Pantertyven the jaguar (Denmark), Diabolik - mies mustassa Jaguarissa, Mies mustassa Jaguarissa (Finland), Diabolik ger ingen NAD (Sweden), Gefahr: Diabolik! (Germany), I ekdikisi tou Spaterman, or Spiderman me you Mavri maska ​​(Greece), Perigo: Diabolik (Brazil)

Year: 1968

Directed by: Mario Bava

Starring: John Phillip Law, Marisa Mell, Michel Piccoli, Adolfo Celi, Claudio Gora, Mario Donen

Duration: 96 '

Production Company: Dino De Laurentiis Film Studios