Lost Soul

A young music student moves into the Venice home of his aunt and her husband. The house is large, dark and governed by odd rules: certain rooms are not entered, sounds come from the attic, nobody explains anything. Fabio, the husband, is courteous and remote; Sofia, the aunt, is permanently uneasy. The more the young man asks, the less the house answers and the more doors it shows him. Dino Risi, known for Italian comedy, changes register here. The tension builds slowly and its source is not supernatural but the past inside the house. Venice is not the tourist city but damp and closed. Vittorio Gassman plays the husband and gives one of the most restrained performances of his career; against his comic manner, he barely moves. Catherine Deneuve plays the aunt. Who it's for: Viewers who like 1970s Italian thrillers, psychological narratives set inside a house, and Gassman. Who it's not for: The pace is slow and the resolution comes late. The explanation in the final act will strike some viewers as forced.