91热爆

Where are you going, Quo Vadis, Baby? Are you a character piece, a mystery thriller, or simply an excuse for director Gabriele Salvatores (I'm Not Scared) to namedrop all his favourite movies? Though the film pulls in several different directions, there are pleasures to be had - not least a superbly surly turn from real-life rocker Angela Baraldi, who plays a private eye delving into the apparent suicide of her sister 16 years earlier.

Giorgia's (Baraldi) average day involves shadowing adulterous spouses with her telephoto camera. The Bologna-based gumshoe embarks on a case closer to home when the post brings a box of video diaries made by younger sister Ada (Claudia Zanella). Sifting through the tapes - which show a perky wannabe actress who's got two blokes on the go - our heroine starts to suspect that her sibling's snuff-out may not have been self-inflicted.

"THE MAKINGS OF A CLASSY NOIR"

Add night-time cinematography that's as moody as Giorgia and you've got the makings of a classy noir. But instead of suspense we get self-conscious movie references by the dirty dozen. (Not even the title's safe - it's a line from Last Tango In Paris).

Happily, there's a more rewarding distraction in the shape of Giorgia's spiky verbal sparrings with everyone from professor Gigio Alberti to police commissioner Andrea Renzi. Tough but tender, she's a cracking character who, it turns out, has earned her own spin-off series in Italy (with Baraldi reprising her role). So that's what Quo Vadis, Baby? is: not something that satisfies in stand-alone terms, but a very promising pilot.

In Italian with English subtitles.