Dario Argento
Dario Argento (born
September 7,
1940) is an
Italian film director,
producer and
screenwriter well known for his work in the typically Italian
giallo genre, and for his influence on modern
horror and
slasher movies. He is the father of actress
Asia Argento with then partner
Daria Nicolodi.
Argento was born in
Rome, the son of film producer
Salvatore Argento and
Brazilian fashion model
Elda Luxardo. He started his career in film as a critic, writing for various magazines while still attending high school. He did not attend college, electing rather to take a job as a columnist at the newspaper
Paese Sera.
While working at the newspaper, Argento started screenwriting. His most notable work was for
Sergio Leone, collaborating with
Bernardo Bertolucci on the story for the
spaghetti western classic
Once Upon a Time in the West. Soon after its release in 1969, Argento wrote and directed his first movie,
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, which was released in 1970 and was a major hit in
Italy.
His directing style was influenced by
Mario Bava,
Lucio Fulci,
Riccardo Freda,
Sergio Leone,
Alfred Hitchcock,
Michelangelo Antonioni, and
Federico Fellini.
|
Poster for L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo. |
Early in his directing career, he continued to concentrate largely on the
giallo genre (more precisely known as "thrilling" in Italy, as the word "
giallo" usually refers to generic
mystery works [it actually means "yellow" in Italian]). The films, like the lurid yellow-covered murder-mystery novels they were inspired by, followed the
suspense tradition of hardboiled
American detective fiction while incorporating
baroque scenes of
violence and excess. While
Mario Bava is credited with inventing the giallo film, Argento's passion in developing the genre has earned him widespread recognition as the key influence in popularising giallo cinema outside of Italy, and his unique vision has earned him acclaim as an '
auteur' director.
Argento directed two further successful thrillers,
The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971) and
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972). Alongside
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, these initial three films are frequently referred to as Argento's "animal trilogy". The director then turned his attention away from giallo movies, filming two Italian TV dramas and a period comedy (
Five Days in Milan) in 1973 before returning to thrillers with 1975's
Deep Red, frequently cited by many critics as the best giallo ever made. The film made Argento famous internationally, and inspired a number of other directors to work in the genre (
John Carpenter has frequently referred to the influence Argento's early work had on
Halloween). It also marked the start of Argento's long creative relationship with composer
Claudio Simonetti and his
Italian progressive rock group
Goblin.
Argento's next movie,
Suspiria (1977), an extremely violent supernatural thriller, is considered by many fans to be his best work, alongside
Deep Red. Freed from the constraints of the more conventional giallo format,
Suspiria is a semi-surreal work of art, where plot and character become secondary to sound and vision. Argento planned for
Suspiria to be the first of a trilogy about "The Three Mothers", three ancient witches residing in three different modern cities. The second movie of the trilogy was
1980's
Inferno, which went even further towards pure art. However, so far he has not completed the trilogy. In an interview at the 2003
Trieste Film Festival, Argento reportedly said that he was working on the third movie of the trilogy, to start filming in August 2004. However, subsequent reports indicated that financing problems prevented the film's production from proceeding.
In-between the two "mothers", in 1978 Argento collaborated with
George Romero on
Dawn of the Dead, earning a producer credit on the
zombie classic. Argento oversaw the European release of the film (where it was titled
Zombi) which was much shorter and featured much more of the score written and performed by
Goblin.
After
Inferno, Argento returned to more conventional giallo with
Tenebrae (1982). Then attempted to combine giallo and supernatural fantasy together in
Phenomena, also known as
Creepers (1985), which was one of
Jennifer Connelly's first movies.
Phenomena also showed Argento's predilection for using new technology, with its many prowling
Steadicam shots. Both of these movies received a lukewarm reception upon release (although each has been re-appraised retrospectively).
Argento subsequently took a break from directing to write two screenplays for Mario Bava's son
Lamberto Bava,
Demoni (1985) and
Demoni 2 (1986).
Opera followed in 1987, and was, according to Argento, a "very unpleasant experience". Set in
Parma's
Regio Theatre during a production of
Verdi's
Macbeth, the movie was beset in real life by misfortunes that Argento suspected were caused by the traditional "curse" on Macbeth. Argento's father died during the production,
Vanessa Redgrave dropped out of the project before filming began, he had problems working with his former long-time girlfriend and collaborator
Daria Nicolodi on-set, and the cast and crew were plagued by minor accidents and mishaps. The movie was again not particularly well received by fans or critics, despite showcasing Argento's skill with color and composition, and featuring some technically impressive camera movements (the ravens' descent in the Parma opera house is considered to be one of the director's most famous set pieces).
It is widely accepted that his 1990s career and onwards has failed to live up to his golden period between
Deep Red and
Opera. Despite a disappointing collaboration with
George A. Romero on an
Edgar Allan Poe anthology entitled
Two Evil Eyes (1990), an unsuccessful stab at a mainstream Hollywood production (
Trauma of 1993) and a disastrous version of
Phantom of the Opera (1998) which lost him many fans, he continued to innovate. For example, his 1996
The Stendhal Syndrome, in which a policewoman (played by Argento's daughter, Asia) who suffers from a dramatized version of the illness is trapped by a
serial killer in an abandoned warehouse, was the first Italian film to use
computer-generated imagery (CGI). Furthermore, the opening of
The Stendhal Syndrome was shot in
Florence, at Italy's famed
Uffizi Gallery, Argento being the only director ever granted permission to shoot there.
Many saw 2001's
Sleepless, deliberately designed as a "comeback movie" with its strong giallo theme and numerous references to his earlier work, as a step back in the right direction. However, Argento's follow-up, 2004's
The Card Player, a giallo about a killer whose murders are conducted during Internet poker matches with the Rome police, earned a mixed reception: fans appreciated the techno music score composed by ex-Goblin member
Claudio Simonetti, but felt the film was too mainstream, with little of Argento's usual flourish. 2005 saw the TV broadcast of Argento's
Do You Like Hitchcock?, in which the Italian horror-meister paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock after decades of being compared to him by critics. Later that year, he directed a segment of
Masters of Horror, a
Showtime television series. The story, "Jenifer", based on an old
Eerie comics tale by
Bruce Jones, was a departure for Argento, but provided him with some of his best critical notices in several years. Author
F. Paul Wilson (
The Keep,
Repairman Jack) has stated recently that Argento will be directing an adaptation of his short story "
Pelts" for season 2 of the series.
It has been confirmed that Dario Argento has begun pre-production on his newest film, the conclusion of his
Three Mothers Trilogy, under the working title
Mother Of Tears. The last movie of the trilogy was released in 1980 and fans have been waiting ever since. The film will be set in Rome and will center around Mater Lachrymarum. Dario himself and Jace Anderson share writing credits for this movie. A joint effort between the Itallian Studio, Medusa, and the American Studio, Myriad Pictures (which made
Jeepers Creepers) will finance the production of the film giving it a large budget, at least compared to his earlier work, and Max Von Sydow has signed on to play an as yet unknown role.
Argento's works always include a profusion of
allusions (both obscure and obvious) to other films, literature ranging from the
Greek classics to current popular novels, politics, film/literary theory, as well as his own films. This dense network of allusions, combined with his notorious negligence of
plot, his bizarrely detailed mise-en-scenes, his obsession with gore-filled death scenes, and his unpredictable and roaming camera angles, has proven particularly resistant to critical interpretation.
Little 'serious' academic work on Argento has been published; until recently, the two most notable publications on Argento were
Maitland McDonagh's critically acclaimed auteur study,
Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento, and, to a lesser extent, a collection of promotional stills,
poster art and somewhat facile critical essays, edited by
Chris Gallant, entitled
Art of Darkness. British journalist Alan Jones recently published
Profondo Argento, a useful compendium of set reports, interviews and biographical detail which manages to further illuminate the personality behind Argento's movies.
While critical work on Argento is unfortunately limited (and often out of print), the director has acquired a cult fan base in Italy and the rest of the world; film reviews and interviews are regular subjects of interest in fanzines and internet discussion groups.
One significant factor in Argento's lack of recognition in the United States is the generic boundaries which do not recognize the "giallo" form: his films are often marketed as "slasher trash" or simply "horror", only occasionally making the
art house or college cinema circuits.
* He owns a horror memorabilia store located at Via dei Gracchi 260 in
Rome named
Profondo Rosso, after his classic
giallo movie. In the cellar is a collection from his movies. The store is managed by his long time collaborator and friend
Luigi Cozzi.
* One of Argento's later films,
The Stendhal Syndrome, is distributed in the
USA by cult
B-movie distribution company
Troma Entertainment.
*
Once Upon a Time in the West (1969)
*
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (
L'Uccello dalle piume di cristallo, 1970)
*
The Cat o' Nine Tails (
Il gatto a nove code, 1971)
*
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (
4 mosche di velluto grigio, 1971)
*
The Five Days (
Le cinque giornate, 1973)
* Deep Red (Profondo rosso
, 1975)*
Suspiria (1977)
*
Inferno (1980)
*
Tenebrae (1982)
*
Phenomena (1985)
*
Terror at the Opera (
Opera, 1987)
*
Two Evil Eyes (
Due occhi diabolici, 1990)
*
Trauma (1993)
*
The Stendhal Syndrome (
La Sindrome di Stendhal, 1996)
*
The Phantom of the Opera (
Il fantasma dell'opera, 1998)
*
Sleepless (
Non ho sonno, 2001)
*
The Card Player (
Il cartaio, 2004)
*
Dark Dreams: the films of Dario Argento*
Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database*
ToxicUniverse.com article by Mike Bracken
*
10kbullets Feature Article:
Dario Argento*
Dario Argento Project French
