Offscreen. "Murder by Numbers."

"Evilenko is, along with Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, one of the more grim cinematic depictions of a murderous mind," writes Donato Totaro in an issue of Offscreen devoted to "Murder by Numbers" (spotted via They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?); Lise Millay Stevens interviews Evilenko director David Grieco who had been reporting on Andrei Chikatilo, the actual serial killer who, as Totaro explains, "has the dubious distinction of being the most prolific (if that is the right word) serial killer in modern history, with anywhere from 52 to 55 victims, according to different accounts. More disturbing is the method of his killing, which included rapacious, wolf-like attacks of live dismemberment, multiple stabbings, and cannibalism." Grieco, a journalist, wrote a novel based on his reports, Il comunista che mangiava i bambini (The Communist Who Ate Children), before directing this first feature.

Betty Kaklamanidou seeks "to unravel the intricate levels of sociopolitical meanings within [Costa-Gavras's] Le Couperet, an 'Ax' that takes whatever form or shape one desires and is used as a weapon in an increasingly callous society."

Will Wright argues that Dario Argento "creates statements within such films as Tenebrae and Opera that are directed at the negative accusations of sexualised violence that are said to be operating within his movies."

Catherine Benoit writes that Jane Campion's In the Cut "revolves around the constant schematic confrontation between what is male and what is female, that is, how female sexuality is almost continually threatened by male violence."

Posted by dwhudson at June 5, 2006 9:39 AM