Wow. I enjoy giallo, but I struggled with this
Who Saw Her Die? (1972)
Italian/West German produced giallo, directed by Aldo Lado. Italian sculptor Franco (George Lazenby) is separated from his wife Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg). He lives in Venice, she lives in London. His young (maybe 10) daughter Roberta comes to stay with him. However, Franco, whilst a loving father, is not too hot on keeping tabs on her in this city that she doesn't know at all. He lets her out at night on her own to go to the shops, as well as letting her go off and play with children she's only just met, that he doesn't know at all. One afternoon he and Roberta are out for a walk. She sees a group of children playing and wants to join in. He says no. Then he sees his girlfriend, and the emphatic 'no' becomes a quick 'go on then'. Franco and 'bit of stuff' then head back to his apartment and spend the rest of the afternoon in bed, without even telling Roberta they're going. Clearly a few hours later, girlfriend has gone and Franco is doing some sculpturing. It's only as he takes a break and pours himself a drink that he suddenly remembers... what's-her-name, and goes frantically searching for her. Long story short, she's dead, floating in a canal. Cue much soul-searching from Franco ('I feel like it's my fault!' No kidding! π) to his estranged wife who has now arrived for the funeral. Completely unrealistically, she doesn't blame him in the slightest. Jesus, it's only as I'm writing this now that I'm realising just how bad this was.
Okay, police investigation seems to be going nowhere, so amateur sleuthing is the order of the day. Similarities are spotted with other child murders (how they know that Roberta was murdered is never explained; there's no mention of any injuries etc on the body)... and suddenly we're looking at a pedo conspiracy that seems to reach the highest levels of society. Wow. It just gets more ridiculous as it goes on. Lazenby (long-haired, moustachioed, and looking positively emaciated) isn't bad, Strindberg is fine but doesn't really get much to do, Adolfo 'Thunderball' Celi is pretty good as a dodgy international art dealer, photography is good, editing is bad, music (by Ennio Morricone) is eerie, Venice looks nice, killer is pretty obvious from about the halfway mark. 4/10 (mainly for the unintentional laughs).