Death by Bad Art

Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) - Argento







The serial killer is on the loose and an American man (Tony Musante) witnesses a near murder of a beautiful woman (Eva Renzi) in an empty gallery from outside the glass window at night. The incident leaves a great impression on him and he decides to postpone his return to the US and start his own investigation. As usual in a giallo, there are plenty of red herrings and pretty girls getting murdered along the way.

The use of architecture and art Bird with colors and framing, the Crystal Plumage is perhaps one of the most accomplished, stylish debut feature of all time. It contains all of the Dario Argento signature of his later classics and can still be counted as one of his very best. Renzi is appropriately freaky. A great giallo.

My Top 10 Discoveries 2016

This is more like a year end summery of my viewing habits. It pains me that I wasn't more adventurous this year and didn't dig deep enough to see more films, because it is evident that I watched more interesting stuff earlier in the year than later. I'll be more adventurous next year I hope.

Hunter (2015) - Scott Barley

2016 started with a bang for me. In the KG Artist section at the torrent site, I discovered Scott Barley's work. Dark, mysterious and touching, his portrayal of beautiful loneliness deeply affected me. I've devoured everything the young artist has to offer. I contacted him and to my surprise, he responded and our correspondence resulted in an in-depth interview. There were other short experimental stuff I checked out too, notably:

Crystal World (2013) - Pia Borg


Then I watched
La Cienaga (2001) - Lucrecia Martel

and I don't have to tell you how great it is. Lucrecia Martel is, borrowing an esteemed fellow filmmaker Christoph Hochhäusler's own words, "she is one of the world's greatest filmmakers working today".
Just like La Cienaga, there were certain well regarded films I've been neglecting to see for a long time, but finally visited and found their greatness:

Long Day Closes (1992) - Terence Davies

The World (2004) - Jia Zhangke

and
Last Year at Marienbad (1961) - Alain Resnais

Great, all great stuff...

Found Garrel's self-reflexive artistry delicate and delicious:
Jealousy (2013) - Philippe Garrel


Then there was the heady world of Alexander Kluge to plunge into
Die Macht der Gefühle/The Power of Emotion (1983) - Alexander Kluge

Der Angriff der Gegenwart auf die übrige Zeit/The Assault of the Present on the Rest of Time (1985)


Also discovered the sensual world of Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro
Ventos de Agosto/August Winds (2014) - Gabriel Mascaro


Then I dug into exciting world of Giallo and experienced first hand the sensual violence and the batting eyelashes of Edwige Fenech

and watched her in many giallos, especially in
All the Colors of the Dark (1972) - Sergio Martino

also discovered that trudging through a dozen notable giallos that a good giallo is hard to come by. Other notable ones (But not as good as All the Colors) are - Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975) and Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)

J & B and Giallo

From: Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key

Have been watching a lot of Giallo films lately. Giallo is a Italian film genre that was popular in the late 60s - 70s. Giallo simply means yellow in Italian. It derived from popular pulpy crime novels with yellow jacket, hence the genre title. Gialli are mainly slasher films with some supernatural, crime elements with sexy heroines usually appearing in nude. Directors who were known for their craft in making delicious combination of thriller and softcore porn are Sergio Martino, Mario Bava, Umberto Lenzi and to some extent Dario Argento. Fetching Edwige Fenech became a big starlet of the genre and appeared in many gialli.

Killer eyelashes: the eyes of Edwige Fenech


As I was going through many well known Giallo films, I couldn't help notice recurring motifs. It seems that J&B, a blended scotch whiskey by Justerini & Brooks Liquour and Wine company based in England is the go-to beverage in these slashers, loved by killers and victims alike. So I was compelled to compile these J&B shots from the Gialli I've seen so far. And as I delve deeply into more Giallo, I am hoping to prove that this is not an isolated phenom.

From: Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) - Martino J&B meter 2/5


All the Colors of the Dark (1972) - Martino J&B meter 1/5


Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975) - Bianchi J&B meter 5/5





Torso (1973) - Martino J&B meter 2/5


Five Dolls for an August Moon (1970) - Bava J&B meter 2/5

Visual Feast

The Strange Colors of Your Body's Tears (2013) Cattet, Forzani





The dynamic visual stylist duo Hélèn Cattet and Bruno Forzani (Amer) offers here again, the most inventive and gorgeous visual feast ever put on screen. The Strange Colors concerns a man named Dan whose wife has disappeared, a suspicious cop named Vincentelli, a sexy woman named Laura and other tenants living in a gorgeous art nouveau apartment building adorned with Mucha style paintings, gilded colums and colorful stained glasses. There is a serial killer roaming around decapitating his victims or something. The apartment has secret passageways behind the walls and whatnot.

It's all about giallo inspired visuals and sound design. It's all leather, switchblades, the shape of the female genitalia, colors, voyeurism, texture.... The black and white stop motion sequence in the middle is to die for. Who cares if it doesn't make any sense? It's gorgeous!