Quentin Tarantino’s newest feature, The Hateful Eight (“The 8th Film From Quentin Tarantino,” as the opening credits remind viewers), is his most violent film ever. Every act of violence is similar to something from his previous films, but never has Tarantino devoted so much of a single film to non-stop carnage. It wasn’t always like …
At this year’s Venice Film Festival, Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, there to promote his divisive new film A Bigger Splash, was announced as the director of David Gordon Green’s long-gestating passion project- a remake of Dario Argento’s giallo masterwork Suspiria. Naturally, this is news that has overshadowed that of the film he was there to …
Here are two films from the Chicago International Film Festival that couldn’t be more different. First is Miss Julie, based on the play of the same title by August Strindber, directed by Liv Ullmann and stars Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, and a pug. The general plot is simple, but the drama and themes, are …
The first 45 minutes of The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears lay the foundation for a full-throated suspense thriller that might have felt at home in the ‘70s. Sadly, the last hour degenerates into a monotonous slash-fest that’s too preoccupied with its own weirdness to bother with our enjoyment. By the end, you may be unsure what is real and what is imagined, but you’re damn certain you no longer care.
The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears Written & Directed by Bruno Forzani and Hélène Cattet Belgium, 2013 The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears is a truly cinematic experience, utilizing all the elements of film to embody complicated feelings and concepts. It is not a simple homage but a mutation where the syntax of giallo …
As a feature relatively hidden from mainstream film culture, Death Occurred Last Night’s only critical talk belongs to the hardcore giallo enthusiasts. Debate over whether the film fits into the strict classifications of giallo or perhaps the less-enthused poliziotteschi take prominence in these discussions, with something of a consensus drawn as “probably neither”.
Directing duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s debut feature Amer explored a young woman’s sexual awakening using traditional giallo tropes. An exercise in formalism, it treated giallo as pure aesthetic: a cinematic language with the potential to go beyond its usual generic applications. The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears, reportedly 11 years in the making, represents another stage in the development of this idea. More familiar yet more oblique, it plunges us into a surreal world where giallo is the only code of understanding, eschewing narrative in favour of startling images, symbols and style.
The etymologic history of the giallo sub-genre is well-documented by now. Giallo, Italian for yellow, refers to the cheap mystery books that at least partially inspired a cross-section of gruesome murder films from the likes of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, and Lucio Fulci. Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much from 1963 is commonly referenced …
The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972) Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo Written by Ernesto Gastaldi Italy, 94 min. The giallo film is obsessed with surface values, the quality and textures of materials; rough, soft, hard, supple, warm, cold, etc. The constant contrast between cold metal and hot flesh, the mixing of bodies and the release …
Berberian Sound Studio Written and directed by Peter Strickland UK, 2012 Berberian Sound Studio is an unusual thriller with a very striking atmosphere. Set amidst the production of a 1970s Italian horror production, it is definitely informed stylistically by giallo films, but also bears strong resemblances to David Lynch, early Roman Polanski and certain efforts …
Berberian Sound Studio Written and directed by Peter Strickland UK, 2012 Berberian Sound Studio is an unusual thriller with a very striking atmosphere. Set amidst the production of a 1970s Italian horror production, it is definitely informed stylistically by giallo films, but also bears strong resemblances to David Lynch, early Roman Polanski and certain efforts …
Études de mouvements à Paris Directed by Joris Ivens France, 1927 Visual studies have long been relegated to the fringe of cinema appreciation. A mainstay of early cinema of attractions, today these films are often appreciated solely for their historical or social value rather than their visual or artistic merits. In 1927 Dutch filmmaker Joris …
London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts recently hosted a murderous double bill to celebrate the imminent Blu-Ray release of 2009’s postmodern Giallo homage Amer, directed by real world couple Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, both of whom were on hand to provide an insightful Q&A session after the screening, alongside a rare projection of the 1982 …