Una mariposa con las alas ensangrentadas

Behind a typically abstruse giallo title (the plot's link to a butterfly of any kind is extremely tenuous) lies a film that rarely feels like a typical giallo, with more police procedure and courtroom drama than usual. Director Duccio Tessari's film opens in familiar territory with the murder of a young woman in a park, the killer, in raincoat and hat, making his escape, but witnessed by several people. The police investigate the crime scene, forensics gathering numerous pieces of evidence, all of which points to TV reporter Alessandro Marchi (Giancarlo Sbragia) as the guilty party. The rest of the first half of the film is dedicated to the trial of Allesandro, with dreary flashbacks and cross-examination making the film something of a chore to sit through.

Found guilty of murder, Allesandro is sentenced to life, but while he is in prison, the killings continue, the modus operandi the same as before, the culprit contacting the police with a whispered phone call. When Allesandro's mistress comes forward with vital information that seems to prove his innocence, Allesandro is freed (much to the annoyance of his wife, who also has a lover). After much intrigue, Tessari eventually pulls together all the plot threads for an unexpected twist ending that goes some way to make the duller moments seem a bit more worthwhile. As far as the death scenes go, they are extremely tame and likely to disappoint fans of Argento or Fulci, and despite a fair few attractive women, the level of nudity is also fairly low.

Perhaps the most notable things about the film are its police inspector's strange obsession with coffee, and the cop who falls over running down some stairs during a chase on foot through the streets of Milan (it looks unintentional and is never spoken of).

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Duccio Tessari is probably best known as the director of several Spaghetti Westerns, most prominently the "Ringo" films with Giuliano Gemma, as well as the well-known Italian Crime flick "Tony Arzenta". The man also served as an (uncredited) co-writer of Sergio Leone's Italian Western milestone "Fistful of Dollars", and as a writer of several sword and sandal films in the early 60s. As a director, Tessari's doubtlessly best films are his two intelligent and plot-driven Gialli, "L'Uomo Senza Memoria" (aka. "The Man Without Memory", 1974) and this gem. "Una Farfalla Con Le Ali Insanguiante" aka. "Bloodstained Butterfly" of 1971 is a terrific, beauty- and suspenseful example for a purely plot-based Giallo that profits from an excellent cast, a great score, wonderful settings and a sublime cinematography. As it is the case with Tessari's other Giallo, "The Man Without Memory", "Bloodstained Butterfly" is a Giallo that focuses on the Mystery more than the Horror-elements of the genre. And the film is indeed a perfectly constructed puzzle of a mystery that is (though convoluted) always easy to follow.

When a French exchange student (Carole André) is murdered by multiple stabbing in a park in Bergamo, the police arrest TV anchor Marchi (Giancarlo Sbragia). Marchi's daughter Sarah (Wendy D'Olive), who was friends with the murdered girl, does not believe in her father's guilt... As said above, this is a purely story-driven Giallo. For genre-standards, there are only very few murders and very little gore. The film is very suspenseful, however, and delivers mystery and innovative twists from the beginning to the end, as a good Giallo should. The beautiful Bergamo locations are a wonderful setting for the film, which is furthermore (in good Giallo-tradition) brilliantly photographed. The beautiful score intensifies the atmosphere, and the film profits from a very good ensemble cast. The characters are all complex and elaborate. The always-sinister Helmut Berger and Italian Grenre-cinema regulars such as Ida Galli ("The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail"), Günter Stoll ("What Have They Done To Solange"), Silvano Tranquilli ("The Black Belly of The Tarantula"), and Giancarlo Sbragia ("Tony Arzenta") all deliver very good performances. As said, for a Giallo this features little violence and gore and also little sleaze, but the magnificently elaborate plot should be more than pleasant to Genre-fans. "Bloodstained Butterfly" is beautifully filmed with a lot of style, and highly recommended to my fellow Giallo-fans.

One of the best gialli to come out of Italy in the 1969-77 period, it's very stylish and (of course) convoluted, but always interesting and ultimately quite clever. For once the solution to the mystery actually matters (and makes sense!), and the motive behind the murders and the finale are worthy of Agatha Christie. I highly recommend it. Great soundtrack too, I just bought the CD.

A middle aged male TV presenter is arrested and convicted of the murder of a 17 year old French girl in a park, however the killings continue.. Whereas many Italian giallo movies have plots that are over complicated or lack logic this one is easy to follow, it's quite straight forward, perhaps even a tad predictable, but that's good. That's not to say that it doesn't have the odd twist. I came into this film worried that the courtroom scenes may drag this film down but it doesn't. It's integral to the plot and, like everything else about this film, is well done. Beautifully filmed and superb musical score. There's a dash of humour regarding the investigating police office and his taste in coffee. Rated 15 in the UK, it may lack the bloodshed & nudity of other giallo that are rated 18 but this is a fantastic example of these movies, highly recommended. And watch it in Italian, not dubbed!

While walking through a park in a rainy day, the young Françoise Pigaut (Carole André) is stabbed to death by man wearing raincoat and hat. Inspector Berardi (Silvano Tranquilli) is assigned to investigate the case and soon the TV anchor Alessandro Marchi (Giancarlo Sbragia) becomes the prime suspect. His daughter Sarah Marchi (Wendi D'Olive) was Françoise's best friend and their common friend Giorgio (Helmut Berger) had a crush on Françoise. Alessandro's friend and attorney Giulio Cordaro (Günther Stoll) defends him in the court but Alessandro is found guilty and sent to prison. When two other women are murdered and it is found that Alessandro's wife Maria Marchi (Evelyn Stewart) is the lover of Giulio, the defense asks for mistrial and Alessandro has another trial. Who might be the killer?

"Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate", a.k.a. "The Bloodstained Butterfly", is a crime story with a great twist in the end. The suspenseful screenplay begins with the presentation of several characters and is confused, and the slow pace is tiresome. But the story is good, and the unexpected conclusion surprises the viewer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Borboleta com as Asas Ensanguentadas" ("A Butterfly with the Bloodstained Wings")