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The Bird with the Crystal Plumage -
The giallo genre is a bit of a blind spot for me, so I'm glad that I clicked with what is as good of a place as any to start. After all, it's not the first one, but it is the master of the genre's first. Dario Argento has been called the Italian Hitchcock and it's easy to see why. Our "ordinary hero in extraordinary circumstances," Sam, is just the guide I needed because he's not only new to detective work, but also to Italy. Also, like John Woo and Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) demonstrate, violence and beauty can coincide without diluting the former's impact. That there's ingenuity in the beauty made me appreciate it even more; for example, a fall from the top of an apartment building involved an actual camera being dropped to its destruction. The movie does not exactly rewrite the rulebook for murder mysteries, but it at least avoids some of its most tired formulas. Even though the police chief holds on to Sam's passport and thus makes him a captive, for instance, they end up having a cordial, near-bromance relationship anyway, which is a welcome change of pace from them having that certain kind of measuring contest instead. Oh, and as a certain visit with a prisoner with an unusual stutter and another one with a reclusive artist and cat...uh...enthusiast indicates, comedy and this kind of violence can also be bedfellows.
Discussing what this movie meant to me beyond its quality and stylish thrills and chills is difficult because of the possibility of spoiling the conclusion. I'll at least say that the finale will not only challenge your expectations about "who done it" or even when the movie concludes, but also about society and how we treat each other. Is this an ideal introduction to giallo? I don't know, but I am inclined to watch them all now, and to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, I feel like I've taken a first step into a larger world. I only wish I could have watched it with others or in a theater because I found myself talking to the screen and guessing who I thought did it out loud.
The giallo genre is a bit of a blind spot for me, so I'm glad that I clicked with what is as good of a place as any to start. After all, it's not the first one, but it is the master of the genre's first. Dario Argento has been called the Italian Hitchcock and it's easy to see why. Our "ordinary hero in extraordinary circumstances," Sam, is just the guide I needed because he's not only new to detective work, but also to Italy. Also, like John Woo and Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) demonstrate, violence and beauty can coincide without diluting the former's impact. That there's ingenuity in the beauty made me appreciate it even more; for example, a fall from the top of an apartment building involved an actual camera being dropped to its destruction. The movie does not exactly rewrite the rulebook for murder mysteries, but it at least avoids some of its most tired formulas. Even though the police chief holds on to Sam's passport and thus makes him a captive, for instance, they end up having a cordial, near-bromance relationship anyway, which is a welcome change of pace from them having that certain kind of measuring contest instead. Oh, and as a certain visit with a prisoner with an unusual stutter and another one with a reclusive artist and cat...uh...enthusiast indicates, comedy and this kind of violence can also be bedfellows.
Discussing what this movie meant to me beyond its quality and stylish thrills and chills is difficult because of the possibility of spoiling the conclusion. I'll at least say that the finale will not only challenge your expectations about "who done it" or even when the movie concludes, but also about society and how we treat each other. Is this an ideal introduction to giallo? I don't know, but I am inclined to watch them all now, and to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, I feel like I've taken a first step into a larger world. I only wish I could have watched it with others or in a theater because I found myself talking to the screen and guessing who I thought did it out loud.