Friday, February 17, 2012

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

Genre: Giallo • Thriller
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho, Raf Valenti
Language: Italian
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 8.5  

Summary:
A writer is stalked by a serial killer after witnessing a murder attempt on one woman's life.



The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is the directorial debut by Italian master Dario Argento, loosely based on the novel The Screaming Mimi by Fredric Brown.
 
A stunning introduction to the Giallo genre, and to the vivid imaginative style of the visionary director, who began his career as a scriptwriter and who helped pen the Sergio Leone masterpiece Once Upon a Time in the West. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage contains all of the telltale cinematic signatures that Argento would later become known for, presented with a story written and executed much like a straightforward mystery.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

There's the catchy score from none other than Ennio Morricone, the first of their many collaborations. Though the music doesn't take center stage like it does in many of his subsequent films, the lullaby sounding cues are a prominent and unsettling ingredient of the thrillingly suspenseful atmosphere. There are also a series of memorable set pieces, none more impressive than the strikingly lit and sparsely decorated art gallery, the location of both the pulse quickening beginning and the twist-laden ending of the film.

Then there's the cast, full of colorful and eccentric supporting characters who provide a healthy supply of possible suspects; impossibly beautiful women with tragically short life spans; an unwitting hero who gets caught up playing detective; and of course a brutal and sadistic maniac who remains perfectly cloaked and unpredictable until the final reel.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

All of which is nothing without some one of a kind camerawork. Featuring close ups of small animals, dilated eyes, black gloved hands, bloody knives and other such implements of murder. Scenes which begin conventionally, but then are revealed to actually be first person point of view shots that place us uncomfortably into the scene, forcing us to witness horrifying acts from both the killer's and from the victim's perspectives. Device emphasizing zooms, swirling crane swivels and steady hand-held follow sequences, often captured from unorthodox angles. Static wide angle views, taking advantage of tall shadows thrown on angular walls and dark twisting staircases in the dead of night.

Future multiple Academy Award winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, Reds, The Last Emperor), handles everything he is called upon to do here masterfully, translating every twisted invention of Argento's creative mind's eye directly onto the screen.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

Ok so the acting isn't the greatest, the dubbing is awkward at best, the dramatic tone is uneven, and the natural laws of physics and science don't particularly apply in Dario Argento's cinematic world. What you must understand is that giallos exist in a nightmare universe where logic and reality are irrelevant. These are sensual and visceral journeys into that scary hidden layer of our subconscious that makes us wary of every creak in the house, and sleep with the lights on as children.   

Starting with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Argento was still learning how to tap into that sense of fear and panic. The story was conventional, and the imagery though striking was rather subdued compared to what was to come. It may be Argento-lite, but it's still a gripping and thrilling mystery accomplished with a confident declaration of style. One that serves as the perfect entry point into giallo films and into the master's oeuvre.


Bonjour Tristesse

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

11 comments:

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I knew what you meant :) Thanks for the visit JD!

CastorTroy said...

Sounds like my kind of movie since I'm an Argento newbie. Added it to my Netflix!

d_4 said...

Just another one to add to the list of 'these'. I've got about 15 lined up thanks to Banacek. And thanks to Banacek, the acting won't be a surprise to me.

Jack Deth said...

 Oops!

Meant Jesus Franco, instead of James.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

The poster for Cannibal Holocaust makes this one look like a Disney effort.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yikes Andy, what happened to your old blogspot url?

Jack Deth said...

Hi, Bonjour and company:

Outstanding choice and topic!

I caught this film along with 'Suspiria' when I was going through my 'American Abroad'
phase along with James Franco's  'Venus In Furs'.

Argento showed great skill with tapping the veins of suspense and fear with 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage' and really amped it up with 'The Cat o' Nine Tails' and 'Suspiria'.

Andrew Buckle said...

This is a fantastic film. I watched this an Suspiria last October and became an immediate fan of Argento.

Also, not sure if you are aware yet, but i screwed up my url  - and it is now http://thefilmemporium.blogspot.com. That will get you too my site - but all of my articles that exist in the search engines still have the buckle22.blogspot url - and lead to blank pages. There go my numbers, and random passers by. Any hints on how to get this old url to redirect. I don't think it is possible through blogger. 

FrontRoomCinema said...

Probably one of the most shocking movie posters I have seen.... just saying

The Angry Lurker said...

I've actually watched this, I remember it being good and grim......

James R. said...

I went through a number of Argento's films last year, and whatever he had going for him in the 70s he hasn't had for a long time. I'm starting to think even his good films from the 70s were flukes.

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