LastingAware
The greatest movie ever!
Boobirt
Stylish but barely mediocre overall
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Myriam Nys
The mayor of a small, impoverished town in Italy hires a painter in order to restore an altar fresco in the local church. The fresco, which was made by a local artist, shows Saint Sebastian being transfixed with daggers by screeching harpy-like torturers. The hapless painter gets embroiled in a story of evil and madness... Let's begin with the bad. "Laughing windows", as a whole, suffers from some kind of amateurishness, which may be the result of factors such as artistic immaturity, inexperience, rushed working conditions and/or a shoestring budget. Or perhaps it's just a case of too little talent and too little care - who knows ? Much of the acting, to put it politely, is not of Oscar quality, while the narrative all too often depends on characters saying or doing things no real-life human of the saner variety would say or do. As a result the movie is littered with WTF moments both large and small : think, for instance, of a man showing up in the large, ramshackle house of a woman he's never met, and making himself comfortable as a non-paying guest or lodger... And yes, it's one of those horror movies where characters decide to remain close to dangerous people and dangerous situations, rather than run away screaming. ("Yes I know the supermarket is on fire and yes I see burning people rolling about in agony, but I really want to finish my shopping. Would you like to eat fish fingers for supper ? Or perhaps a nice pizza ?") Having said this, "Laughing windows" also has its strong points, such as an interesting central premise. The sets and scenery are well-chosen, there is an exquisite colour palette and some of the visual images, such as the Saint Sebastian fresco or the house with the laughing windows itself, are very striking. Last but not least the generous innocence of nature is nicely juxtaposed with a nasty, brooding sense of menace.
qmtv
Best part of the movie is the locations and the cinematography. They are not great but that's the best thing I could find. There's a scene where someone is getting kicked out of the only restaurant in the town. That was handled well. Besides this, the film is boring.The lead actor is boring, no charisma. He goes to an island or isolated town to fix or repair an ugly disgusting painting. Hooks up with an older teacher/prostitute, speaks with the town folk, all strange, something to hide, then he hooks up with a hot young replacement teacher. What luck! A few people die, the mystery is revealed that the dead artist's sisters are trying to preserve the artists corps, and killing people. The whole town is in on it. And the priest that commissioned the restoration, is, wait for it, one of the sisters, who undresses and for our trouble to sit through this slow paced boring nonsense, we get a flash of one tit. Great stuff.So, depending on what you call art, you may actually like this. I didn't. I found the beginning interesting, and then the boredom of the lead character was all over the place. This movie sucks.What's the story with the recorder plug bursting on fire, house fuse blows, then the recorder turns on by itself? Is this supposed to be supernatural, or was it just a stupid gimmick? I say just plain stupid.Snails in the refrigerator! Is that supposed to be gross, or strange? Someone actually thought it was cool to put that in the film.Here's some advice to aspiring directors and producers: If you try to show a genius artists work in your films, make sure the art that is shown is not some 3rd rate cartoon amateur garbage like the ones shown in this film. It just goes to the discredit of the artist character, and to the film makers to present such garbage. People who love this garbage may need to see more films. If you believe it's a cult film, maybe you should think about joining the same garbage witches cult that Argento started in Suspiria, another crappy amateur piece of crap, along with Four Flies, Plumage and anything else Argento has directed. Here are a few films I will recommend: Don't Torture a Duckling, Messiah of Evil, White Zombie, Footprints on the Moon, Scream Bloody Murder. Some movies with actual stories, and people who care to present them. Rating is an F, 1 star.
BA_Harrison
Art restorer Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) is hired to repair a damaged fresco in a remote village church painted by renowned local artist Buono Legnani, who was reputed to be mad, and who only depicted death and suffering in his work. As he carefully reveals previously unseen sections of the painting, Stefano also gradually uncovers a terrible secret that has blighted the town for decades.This giallo, from director Pupi Avati, seems to get an awful lot of love from Euro-horror fans, who praise it for its unsettling atmosphere, slow-burn approach, and cool visual style. If, like me, you're a fan of the genre, but tend to prefer them on the sleazier side, with lots of nudity and gore, be prepared to be disappointed and read between the lines when checking out the mostly positive reviews here on IMDb.For 'deliberate pacing', read 'slow and lifeless'. For 'brooding atmospherics', read 'dull story'. For 'classy' or 'stylish', read 'boring'. For 'unsettling', read 'it'll have you fidgeting in your seat'.And when people say that the twisted ending is 'a shocking revelation that will unhinge your mind', or some such claptrap, just be prepared to be massively underwhelmed: I found the surprise revelation at the end of the film ridiculous in the extreme but not in the least bit unnerving (far more disturbing for me was the discovery that gorgeous, young, snail-loving school-teacher Francesca, played by Francesca Marciano, wears over-sized granny pants!).
vesuvian
After 35 years of anonymity, I want to state that I was asked by the director, Pupi Avati, and his brother Antonio to model for the painting. It took place one May day outside of Rome, and I was paid 35,000 lire (about $50) to have them photograph me for eventual conversion into a painting. I show up at the seven-second mark at the beginning of the film, and I know it's me, not only because I have two slides from the shoot, but because the scars on my knees were faithfully recreated by the (uncredited) artist.I have been attempting to get listed in the credits here on IMDb and would appreciate any advice as to how I can move from an anonymous role to seeing my name in the cast list. It's not much...though it would go a long way to realizing my dream of being in the movies.
