Cavani films the story elegantly, making nice use of the settings in both Italy and Berlin, coaxing understated, insinuating performances out of the cast and keeping things ticking ahead on two levels--what we see and what's really happening. There's a gentle stream of black humour and sly wit, although scenes progress with an almost painful slowness and tranquillity, despite the gruesome death lurking around every corner. In this sense, the film is very much like Hitchcock (especially the extended, increasingly tense train sequence). Even with their subdued energy, the cast is good. Malkovich does his Dangerous Liaisons slick-slimy routine, reining in his usual scene-chewing for more restrained displays of brainy humour. Winstone does virtually the same character he did so well in Sexy Beast, only this time with about half the brain cells; his bumbling British thug is great fun to watch. And Scott plays against type as a mopey blob of a man, dragged from innocence to guilt by one bad decision. With just a slight sense of pacing, this could have been a terrific dramatic thriller. As is, it's fascinating and entertaining, but rather dull as well.