What Have You Done to Solange?

What Have You Done to Solange? is top tier giallo. The story revolves around Enrico Rossini, the gym teacher at a Catholic girls' school who is having an affair with the beautiful Elizabeth, who just so happens to be one of his students. While out sharing a romantic afternoon on a rowboat, Elizabeth sees out of the corner of her eye what looks like a gruesome murder taking place. And sure enough, a murder it was. The victim is one of the students at the school, and like with any good giallo, she is not the last to be picked off. What Have You Done to Solange? is full of the genre's usual generous helpings of titillation, such as schoolgirls in miniskirts at church for a funeral, or locker room antics. And of course there is much graphic violence to be had. But What Have You Done to Solange? is a bit more low-key than your average giallo, instead focusing on the police procedural aspects and the work of our amateur detective heroes, and the characters are more developed, their relationships more complex than usual. Above all, though, giallos are ultimately romances. It is during the moments where Elizabeth lounges in the autumn sunlight while the free-flowing Ennio Morricone score plays that one sees what the genre is really all about. The schlockmeisters of Italian horror are the true last romantics.