Giorno prima, Il (1987)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Giuliano Montaldo

Writers:

Piero Angela (writer)
Jeremy Hole (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Fifteen strangers take part in an experiment to learn whether such a group can survive in a cramped disaster fallout shelter.

Plot Keywords:

Single Mother | Scientific Experiment | Euro Trash | Strangers | Partial Female Nudity

Cast

Ben Gazzara	...	Mike Zella
Kate Nelligan	...	Sarah Howell
Kate Reid	...	Camille Dupont
Burt Lancaster	...	Dr. Herbert Monroe
Ingrid Thulin	...	Mrs. Havemeyer
Erland Josephson	...	Swanson
Cyrielle Clair	...	Laura Swanson
William Berger	...	Mr. Peterson
Jean Benguigui	...	Max Bloch
Andréa Ferréol	...	Rosy Bloch
Lavinia Segurini	...	Eva Bloch
Flavio Bucci	...	Herman Pundt
Zeudi Araya	...	Sheba
Amy Werba	...	Greta Hellstrom
Andrea Occhipinti	...	Matteo

Also Known As:

Control (International: English title) (USA) (TV title)
Contrôle (France)
Mind Control (International: English title)

Runtime:

90 min | France:106 min

Country:

Italy | France | Canada | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | West Germany:16

Company:

Alliance Entertainment

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Sheba starts singing, on the first night at the shelter, her lip movements do not match her voice.

Quotes:

Rose Bloch: Filet mignon! With sauce béarnaise!

Standard made-for-tv fair.

This movie was all right, about what I'd expect from a made-for-tv movie.

I had three problems with this film. The first is that I figured out the surprise plot twist that occurs at the end of the movie very early on in the movie. Maybe it comes from being a psychology major. Or maybe it was blatantly obvious.

My second problem was the way in which the characters behaved at the end of the movie. While I agree that in such a situation, otherwise normal people may behave in atypical, illogical, extreme behavior. However, I thought this film made such behaviors too extreme; this is the same problem I had with Lord of the Flies, where children turn into murdering cannibals when left alone on an island for awhile. I get the point both this film and Lord of the Flies were trying to make, but I think they both overstated it.

My third problem with this film is the characters themselves. There was very little depth to them, and they tended to be quite stereotyped. This problem likely arises from the fact that there are several important characters to flush out and only 2 hours minus commercials to do it in. Because of this, I think they should have either limited the number of people in the shelter to about 8, or they should have picked one or two characters and told it from their perspective.

This movie was a good way to waste time when I was having problems sleeping. If you want a movie that deals with either nuclear attack or the problems with a bunch of people confined to a small space in an intellectual, intriguing manner, this is not the movie for you. However, if you just want to waste a couple hours, this movie is great, because if you end up having something you have to do or if you can finally fall asleep or whatever, because this film does not engage you enough to prevent you from turning off the television.