Broxton Comment-MB-005-54

GRAZIE ZIA (1968)

Grazie Zia, known as Come Play With Me in English, is a dark drama film directed by Salvatore Samperi. The film stars Lou Castel as Alvise, a young man who may or may not be paralyzed, and is receiving treatment for psychological problems. When Alvise is left in the care his aunt Lea (Lisa Gastoni) for a few days, he quickly becomes infatuated with her; when Lea unexpectedly reciprocates his advances, the two begin a torrid affair based around the playing, winning and losing of games – the stakes for which ultimately involve literal life and death.

Morricone’s score is based around several recurring themes which are reprised numerous times over the course of the film and the soundtrack. The most famous of the five is “Guerra E Pace, Pollo E Brace,” a highly unusual rhythmic piece for a ferocious, rock-jazz drumbeat and oddly-pitched chanted choral vocals performed by the Boys’ Choir of Renata Cortiglioni; it’s got a groovy, hypnotic, exotic vibe that is difficult to describe but is quintessentially Morricone.

The title theme, “Grazie Zia,” is a dream-like piece for abstract harpsichord notes, plucked strings, tinkling metallic percussion, and more vocals from the Boys Choir that fade in and out of the piece to create a peculiar, disorienting atmosphere. As the cue progresses it emerges into a livelier melody for more strident guitars and folk-like augmentations, then regresses back to stark, dissonant writing for harpsichord and percussion that sounds quite disturbing, like a broken music box. Later, both “Amore Col Cuore” and “La Guerra, La Pace” extrapolate on the music box ideas with gentleness and fragility, but the former offsets this with a dour and imposing slow march for church organ and piano chords in what sounds like a dry run for his famous march “Rabbia e Tarantella” from the 1974 film Allonsanfàn.

The score for Grazie Zia has been released many times over the years, on CD and LP, and as a suite on numerous Morricone compilations. The most comprehensive version appears to be the CD release from Digitmovies released in 2013, which contains several versions of the main “Guerra e Pace, Pollo e Brace” track, plus a number of original songs written by Morricone in collaboration with lyricist Audrey Stainton Nohra.

Track Listing: 1. Guerra e Pace, Pollo e Brace (2:27), 2. Fratello Biondo (2:49), 3. Grazie Zia (4:29), 4. Guerra e Pace, Pollo e Brace (Marcetta) (1:43), 5. Amore Col Cuore (2:28), 6. Filastrocca Vietnamita (performed by Sergio Endrigo) (3:21), 7. La Guerra, La Pace (1:02), 8. Guerra e Pace, Pollo e Brace (Marcetta #2) (1:39), 9. Fratello Biondo #2 (2:17), 10. Amore Col Cuore #2 (3:00), 11. Guerra e Pace, Pollo e Brace (Marcetta #3) (3:43), 12. Grazie Zia #2 (4:38), 13. La Guerra, La Pace #2 (2:07), 14. Guerra e Pace, Pollo e Brace #2 (4:04). Digitmovies CDDM-227, 39 minutes 47 seconds.

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