

A forgotten director would kill to be remembered. Literally? Maybe.
A horror film director, now forgotten, invites a young author who wrote the screenplay for a film, “Effetti speciali”. As long as he is remembered, the director is willing to do anything.
Direction
Amelio's early work already shows his meticulous visual control.
Acting
José Quaglio's Delvaux is gloriously unhinged and desperate.
Production
The film-within-film structure is surprisingly ambitious for TV.

Director
Gianni Amelio
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made for RAI television in 1978, this represents a fascinating moment when Italian auteurs used TV as experimental playground—years before American prestige television existed.
Gianni Amelio would later win the Golden Lion and become one of Italy's most respected directors; this early TV work was essentially buried until recent rediscovery.