Kino Lorber
Recently, I reviewed the 1968 movie Danger: Diabolik here on Forces of Geek.
Directed by Italian auteur Mario Bava, the super-villain adventure has become better known and respected over the years than it was when it was originally made.
Did you know, however, that Diabolik was revived more than 50 years later in not one movie, but a trilogy?
Despite being comics-based films, these big-budget Italian movies received no US release as far as I know, and very little coverage, even on the ‘Net!
A couple years back I watched part of the first one but, with no English subs, I just gave up.
Now, though, all three movies are getting a proper release, complete with subtitles.
It’s inevitable to want to compare them against the original but let’s not. I will say all three are missing the crazy camp energy of the sixties version. They can be a bit slow at times, and each one feels a tad overlong, but, still, taken on their own, they make for a uniquely enjoyable—if amoral—series that makes a full circle from the beginning of the first one to the end of the last one.
The filmmakers have given all three films a very stylish look, with some lovely cinematography throughout. The third one in particular pulls some extremely creative tricks out of the bag. Besides multiple varied split screen effects, clever wipes, and a very purposeful use of color…or lack of color in some starkly black and white flashbacks…the musical score is also ramped up with several atmospheric songs. All three have memorable scores, in fact.
To be specific, the three motion pictures, all made by The Manetti Brothers (known more for musical comedies according to Wikipedia!), are called, in English, Diabolik (2021), Diabolik: Ginko Attacks! (2022), and Diabolik, Who Are You? (2023). Rather than any of them being a specific remake of the Bava movie, these are based on various different arcs and scenes from the long-running Italian fumetti.
The heart of the story is always Inspector Ginko, the dogged, intrepid long arm of the law, and his frustrated attempts to capture his evil opposite, the evasive, murderous super thief, Diabolik.
Think Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarty, or perhaps more appropriately Sir Denis Nayland Smith vs. Dr. Fu Manchu. Valerio Mastandrea portrays the wily, pipe-smoking Inspector perfectly in all three films.
The stunningly beautiful actress Miriam Leone (Miss Italia of 2008) co-stars in all three movies as Eva Kant, the high society woman who first becomes enchanted by the activities of Diabolik and subsequently seduces him into making her his partner in crime. Her often deadpan appearance with her blonde bun and her catsuit is at times quite mesmerizing.
And what of Diabolik himself?
Well, for one, there are two.
Two Diaboliks.
Luca Marinelli takes the role for the initial installment. He’s handsome, thin, and rather stern looking, with a widow’s peak and dark eyes, just as a bad guy should look. And since all you can see when he’s wearing his face mask is those eyes, that works out. Marinelli also has good chemistry with his female accomplice.
The films are said to be set in the 1960s, and Diabolik does have his own version of a Batcave, complete with a hidden mountain entrance. In fact, he has a number of hidden labs and tunnels and secret whatevers all over the area. In the first film, his wife (!) finds out about them, and his true identity.
The second film opens with an elaborate high-rise robbery, with our hero…err…villain, escaping with his ill-gotten loot with the help of Eva Kant. As they speed away in his cool car—he always has cool cars, usually Jaguars—he pulls off the black mask to reveal the new actor, one Giacomo Gianniotti.
Gianniotti is more muscular, with a rounder, more traditionally handsome face and a dimpled chin. In fact, he resembles (slightly) Chris Pratt from the MCU. It took me a while to warm to him as the new lead, but the fact that he had even better chemistry with Leone helped quite a bit. His eyebrows aren’t quite as good at acting as were Marinelli’s, or even John Phillip Law’s, but he fills the suit nicely.
When he’s not in the suit, Diabolik is usually in disguise. He is a master of disguise, specifically the kind of life-like rubber masks created by Martin Landau’s character on the old Mission: Impossible TV series. Eventually, he even teaches these tricks of the trade to Eva, and she, too, is often in disguise. While other actors play them when they’re disguised, the imagery of them removing the masks is quite realistic!
It’s unfortunate that our protagonists, with whom we are supposed to identify and root for, are also violent and not above killing completely innocent people to achieve their goals. As in the comic, Diabolik is an excellent knife-thrower.
Each picture features at least one crazy over-the-top crime scheme and Ginko’s latest plans to capture his arch-enemy. The second film feels more assured than the first, as the police make great in-roads, only to be stymied once again.
The third and most recent movie is probably the best of the bunch, despite far less Diabolik action. This one is essentially an origin story, related via flashback to the inspector as both sit chained in a green-lit prison cell, captured by vicious bank robbers. It has less Eva Kant, sadly, but when she does appear, she casually steals the scenes, as usual, saving the day for all concerned, in fact, with the help of a most unexpected person.
One particularly nice (if unrecognizable to me at first) surprise is the brief presence of 79-year-old Barbara Bouchet, a familiar European sex symbol of giallo films in the 1970s and ‘80s who also did a surprising amount of American television back in the day!
Finally, an otherwise unrelated coda to this last flick completes the full circle from the beginning of the first, sweetly and symbolically rounding off about six hours of rousing, enjoyable, classy, violent, and yes—at least a little campy—adventure. Even if you aren’t familiar with the characters, if you can bring yourself to accept them despite their comic booky immorality (and a tiny bit of nudity), there’s a lot to enjoy in this new Diabolik trilogy.
Extras include featurettes, and trailers in Italian, with English subtitles
Booksteve recommends.
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