This Italian oddity transcends expectations, taking a different route to its giallo peers and is brilliantly surprising.
Two plot threads flow through the film. The first is a black-and-white nightmare of a moon landing in which an astronaut is deliberately left on the satellite’s surface as an experiment (overseen by Klaus Kinski). Alice (Florinda Bolkan) has been having this playout in her dreams since she was a child. She’s convinced that she’s partly remembering an old film she must have seen. She is sacked from her job as an interpreter because she hasn’t turned up for three days. Days that she has no idea she’s lost. Finding a torn postcard from a seaside town called Garma prompts her to visit the area. It’s here she meets a young girl (Nicoletta Elmi, a familiar face in these things) who tells her that she’s nicer than she was when they last met – and that she had a different name then. This obviously sends Alice into a tailspin, as she has no recollection of being there before. Does she have a doppelgänger, or is something more sinister?
Working more as a psychological mystery as opposed to a horror movie, Footprints on the Moon has an infectious atmosphere that builds paranoia and makes the most of the lush locations. Cinematographer Vittorio Storarro fills the screen with stunning imagery while the story follows the gradual mental decline of the lead. Directed tightly by Luigi Bazzoni, the ‘film’ footage of the sinister moon mission is deliberately jarring, creating a puzzling but engrossing tale.
Shameless’ Blu-ray is supplemented with a whole host of bonus features, including interviews with the stars and cinematographer and a commentary from critic Rachael Nisbet. Topping that off is three (count ‘em!) versions of the film itself. Admittedly, one alternate version only adds the Italian credits, but comparing the ‘director’s integral’ cut with the shorter US version is interesting.
FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON is out now on Blu-ray.
