POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!!!!
I was taken to see this film by my parents (in the first week of April 1945) and so had no option but to sit through it. The scenes involving the change of mood in Maddalena when her split personality came into play, accompanied by matching music, I found absolutely and completely terrifying, so much so that I hardly dared look at the screen for fear of what would happen next. Sinister, mysterious, shadowy, menacing - these were my impressions of the film. To see it on video many years later was to be reminded vividly of these childhood reactions. An absolutely unique film! I have no doubt that it can be criticised on many technical grounds, but that meant nothing to a boy of 9. The whole thing was quite simply an extraordinary experience.
I was taken to see this film by my parents (in the first week of April 1945) and so had no option but to sit through it. The scenes involving the change of mood in Maddalena when her split personality came into play, accompanied by matching music, I found absolutely and completely terrifying, so much so that I hardly dared look at the screen for fear of what would happen next. Sinister, mysterious, shadowy, menacing - these were my impressions of the film. To see it on video many years later was to be reminded vividly of these childhood reactions. An absolutely unique film! I have no doubt that it can be criticised on many technical grounds, but that meant nothing to a boy of 9. The whole thing was quite simply an extraordinary experience.