Review of The Girl by the Lake

Based on a book written by a Norwegian female crime novelist who probably has Agatha Christie as her idol, "La Ragazza Del Lago" AKA "The Girl By The Lake" is an engrossing murder mystery set mostly in a small Alpine town near Udine, Italy. The naked body of a beautiful young woman is accidentally discovered by a little girl near a lake. She appears to have drowned. A veteran police inspector with problems in his personal life is assigned to the case. Excellently played by Toni Servillo, this inspector is like a more human, more vulnerable Hercule Poirot. The entire cast is good (by the way, Valeria Golino is perhaps even more beautiful at 41 than she was at 21; and the young Alessia Piovan is simply a knockout, face & body), but Servillo always remains the central figure. After a slightly slow start the film grips you, and Andrea Molaioli's direction is very atmospheric - he really transports you to this scenic, peaceful (?) little town. However, I felt that the ending was not fully satisfying: basically I was expecting at least one more twist and I was surprised to see the end credits appearing so soon (SPOILERS here, so don't read the next few lines if you haven't seen it: I also think that Anna having made a "pact" with her killer would have been a more plausible explanation for her not fighting back than the one the movie offers; even if she was prepared to die, she would have wanted it to be on her own terms END SPOILERS). I do recommend this film to fans of Agatha Christie-type mysteries, but Christie herself would probably have added at least one more sting in the tail. (***)