IMDB:
Tino is an art student.He arrives to Venice to paint and live with his aunt and uncle in their old-school antiquarian mansion.Not very long after his arrival he hears strange sounds coming from a room upstairs.Somebody is living in the attic.A lunatic brother of Tino's uncle,who is kept locked in the forbidden room and is not allowed to leave.Very subtle and quiet mystery drama set in beautiful Venice.The performances of Vittorio Gassman and Catherine Deneuve are excellent.The final twist is utterly surprising and incredibly sad.If you are a fan of "Don't Look Now" or "La Residenica" you can't miss "Anima Persa".It's a tightly written and extremely memorable film with lots of atmosphere and some perverse psycho-sexual overtones.8 out of 10. SECOND OPINION
This Italian-French co-production could easily be thrown into the Italian giallo genre of the time, but it is really a pretty unique film that differs from other films in that genre in several major respects. First off, it is much more of a big-budget, arty affair with big-name actors like Vittorio Gassman and Catherine Deneuve, and a director who had just come off a big international art-house success with "Profuma di Donna" (the original Italian version of "Scent of a Woman" which also featured Gassman). It's also much more obscure than most giallo and was never clumsily dubbed into English. Mostly though it has a plot that actually makes sense and it develops slowly and subtly--quite a contrast from the hysterical tone and overwrought style of most gialli.