What Have They Done to Your Daughters?

What Have They Done To Your Daughters?

"What makes a young girl like that commit suicide? That's what I'd like to know."

The body of teenager Sylvia Polvesi (Sherry Buchanan) is found hanging in an attic apartment and when it's discovered that her death was a murder and not a suicide, Inspector Silvestri (Claudio Casinelli) is assigned to the case. With the help of Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori (Giovanna Ralli) and Inspector Valentini (Mario Adorf), Silvestri uncovers a sordid conspiracy of prostitution and drugs. But as they dig deeper, a leather-clad biker wielding a meat cleaver is eliminating witnesses. Could Bruno Paglia (Franco Fabrizi), the peeping Tom who photographed the crime scene, know more than he's letting on? The police need help – but everyone has something to hide.

If you're a fan of Law and Order, you'll likely enjoy What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (not to be confused with What Have You Done With Solange?). Like that TV show, this movie shows how the police and DA's office work together while sometimes being at odds with each other. And like on Law And Order, justice sometimes means compromise in the end. Massimo Dallamano seems to enjoy working these intriguing moral complexities into his movies and they're certainly welcome in a genre that too often features shallow stock characters.

• The leather-clad killer with a motorcycle helmet is reminiscent of the murderer from Strip Nude For Your Killer. In both cases, it's a cool modern take on the traditional look of the giallo killer.
• The score, by Stelvio Cipriano, is fantastic and I especially enjoy the brassy, sinister main theme.
• You may recognize Farley Granger, who plays Sylvia's father, for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers On a Train.
• There's a fantastic chase scene in the middle of the movie where the motorcycle-riding killer runs from the police, who take turns pursuing in police cars. They tear through the city and into the country side, up gravel roads, and through tunnels and tight turns. There's a great shot where a car skids out and its back fender stops within inches of the camera lens.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

The police uncover an audio recording of the teenage prostitutes' encounters with their clients. While we never see what's going on, it's more than clear. The tape unspools for quite some time and gets progressively more violent and disturbing as it goes.

While evading the police, the killer sets up an ambush and one poor cop gets a surprise amputation as he reaches for a light switch.

Fashion Moment

As a District Attorney, Vittoria needs to present herself as a strong, decisive woman, and her business attire is very dark, formal, and masculine. But in the one scene where we catch her at home with her guard down, we get to see her in something comfortable, colorful and feminine. This red floral maxi dress is a peek into her character's inner life.

Also, notice how the colors in her clothes tie her into her surroundings. It's clear that this is her safe place, where she's most comfortable.

What Have You Done to Solange?

What Have You Done To Solange?

"Don't worry, Uncle. I promise I won't go near the river banks today. Bye!"

Enrico Rosseni (Fabio Testi) is a handsome, popular teacher at London's St. Mary's Catholic School for Girls. His wife Herta (Karin Baal) is also a teacher there, but their marriage is strained and Enrico has been having a secret affair with a student, Elizabeth (Cristina Galbó, credited as Christina Galbo). During one of their secret rendezvous, Elizabeth witnesses the murder of a classmate – but she and Enrico can't come forward without revealing their affair. With his tarnished reputation and no solid alibi, Enrico is a suspect in the case, but things turn quickly as more schoolgirls are murdered in the same brutal manner. Now Enrico must investigate on his own to discover what dark secrets link the victims. Who would want these girls dead and why? Are they as innocent as they appear? Could one of the school's priests be the killer? And how does a mysterious girl named Solange fit into the puzzle?

Besides having a fantastic title, What Have You Done To Solange? is an engaging, twisty, and complex thriller, ending in a place you'd never suspect. It also features something rare and wonderful in depicting the complex, grown-up relationship between husband and wife Enrico and Herta. They start the movie as ice-cold enemies, even taking separate cars to the same job, but the mystery unexpectedly brings them closer and, by working together to solve the case, they re-discover their love for each other. Watching a relationship re-kindle over the course of a movie is the stuff of serious art films and here it is in a giallo alongside Porky's-style scenes of a peeping Tom in a girls' shower and teenagers getting stabbed in their lady parts.

• The screenplay was based on a novel by Edgar Wallace
• The original Italian title (Cosa Avete Fatto a Solange?) uses the plural form of "You," which doesn't translate exactly into English. The closest we can get would be the colloquial What Have Y'all Done to Solange? It's a subtle difference, but it changes the meaning of the title dramatically.
• Ennio Morricone's score expertly transitions from a gauzy love theme to eerie dread and tense action.
• The main staircase of the school sort of does a half-twist, but I'm counting it as a spiral staircase anyway.
• The title, as I said, is brilliant. Using the unusual name "Solange" and taking the form of a question creates a sense of intrigue and anticipation before the movie even starts. Then the title character isn't even mentioned until about an hour and 12 minutes in, creating an even greater sense of mystery.

What the Hell am I Watching?

Not to give too much away, but there's a gruesome and upsetting flashback scene that takes place in a kitchen.

This movie's most jaw-dropping move is making an adulterous pedophile its hero and somehow redeeming him in the end. In that sense, he's sort of like Norman Bates in Psycho – the deranged sicko for whom we're compelled to root.

Fashion Moment

Herta starts the movie stern and cold, angry at her estranged husband. Her hair is a tight blonde helmet and she wears crisp, masculine suits.

But as she starts to re-discover her relationship with her husband, her look softens a little.

 

She lets her hair down, has more femenine makeup...

...and we start to see more delicate fabrics and comfortable-looking, casual clothing.

 

Brava to costume designer Elisa Gut for engineering a complete character arc through Herta's wardrobe.