This is an Argento piece. Another giallo-style who-done-it that takes place at an opera, hence the oh so clever title. It is fairly predictable in its plot and is faithful to the pattern of most giallos. Many killer-POV shots, the killer is not revealed until the very end, and the killer’s motives are so ‘out there’ you have no chance at guessing the killer’s identity.
Argento uses a lot of great camera angles and clever perspectives to add substance and style to this film. The music/soundtrack is almost all opera with a few metal-ish pieces during some of the more frenetic scenes. In terms of something new, well yes, Argento does do something new, but I yai yai. Lemme ‘splain.
The particular opera in production and being performed during the movie is Macbeth. Aside from it being the ‘unlucky’ play (boooooo, scary!), it also has a lot of ravens in it. So there is a bird handler and several large cages of these birds backstage for use in the opera. At one point in the film the killer kills several of these birds. According to the handler, these birds have long memories and are vengeful. So, near the end of the movie, the director of the opera decides to let loose all the ravens at once into the audience and they will identify the killer. Sounds crazy right? Well guess what, it fucking works!! So I guess something new isn’t always something good.
There is some decent gore sprinkled throughout and just a smidgen of nudity. Only one actor of note in the film, a young William McNamara who you may recognize as the killer from Copycat.
Good but not great, 3 Georges.
P.S.- Something I’ve noticed during the viewing of the past 4 or 5 Italian-made movies, with this film being the exception that helped me determine a timeframe. Italians love J&B. More specifically, they loved J&B in the 70s. Just about anytime someone is relaxing in the living room, or having company over, or trying to make time with a sexay lady, or toasting something, odds are good that they are doing it with some delicious Justerini & Brooks. Just look for the bottle with that big yellow label and red letters. Though I haven’t done any research into this (and won’t), it may be that J&B was a big sponsor or investor in the giallos of the early 70s, but I like to think that Italians just love scotch. Mmm mmm
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2 comments:
Uh Karl, I know that Jeff wants us all to post as often as we can, however, you only have to hit the submit button once. Either you were you hitting the scotch early this morning or setting off all those fireworks at the dark side this weekend addled your brain.
Fixed, sorry 'bout that. Teh intarwebs were acting up this morning.
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