Tommy Snöberg Söderberg 
A three-part, loosely connected story about a girl/woman who encounters mysterious events in various ways. Even as a child, her dead grandfather seems to haunt her, and similar events continue to follow her throughout her life. All with a touch of sexual attraction…
I looked up the French word “amer,” which makes up the title of this film, using one of the many services on the internet for that purpose, and found that it means roughly “bitter.” It fits the context of the film quite well, even though I perhaps can’t explain why in words. It’s more of one of those feelings you sometimes get from the combination of the visual language and the music. It simply feels bitter.
It’s also somewhat bitter, at least for me personally, that I didn’t appreciate the film more than I did. I had built up incredible expectations, and unfortunately it fell a little flat. They try to sell it as a giallo—a type of Italian thriller, even though it’s French—but I really don’t mind that. I don’t think you have to follow the terminology strictly, and there are several French and Spanish films that are more giallo than their Italian equivalents.
A giallo? Really?
But I can’t quite make it into a giallo anyway, at least not in the conventional sense. There are mysteries along the way, certainly, but no distinct thread running through it and definitely no murder mystery of the kind the most stereotypical giallo usually has. It is, however, very beautifully shot, and that’s where the appeal comes in. It is sexually suggestive for most of the running time. Well, perhaps not right at the beginning of the story, which deals with the girl before she becomes a woman, so to speak. This part did remind me somewhat of Mario Bava’s anthology Black Sabbath, particularly The Drop of Water. But comparing this to such a masterpiece feels a little like sacrilege, an insult, actually.
It bears some resemblance, but still doesn’t come anywhere near the intensity of Mario Bava’s film. And therein lies some of the problem with the entire film. It’s boring, and it’s incredibly difficult to become interested in it. It seems as though all the ammunition was spent on the visual language (which is magnificent) at the expense of any interesting content. That’s a shame, because there was clearly potential to create something classic.
About the Author
Del Gibson 
