Giallo

User avatar
CineMaven
Posts: 3815
Joined: September 24th, 2007, 9:54 am
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Contact:

Re: Giallo

Post by CineMaven »

GEORGE!!!
Oh wow, Mr. A. Your avatar is spectacular
"You build my gallows high, baby."

http://www.megramsey.com
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

charliechaplinfan wrote:You've cleared some of it up but I'm confused in other areas. If Beba is Elise why would her nephew recognise her as Elise when she is Beba? Or is Beba just a name for another persona of Elise? Fabio loved Elise/Beba and that's who we see on the screen but cannot love the woman she become. Come on Fabio, it's Catherine Deneuve? She's beautiful even if she's pasty. She must have stood on the stage singing for him. She too yearns for his love but she will never have it again, that's why she's ill.

I knew the lunatic was played by a certain actor, it was obvious straight away but then it was explained away by brothers.

That's all for now, I'll go on the school run and no doubt come back with lots of other questions. It's stayed with me.
I get the impression that these are relatives that he has little knowledge, or memory of (although he does say he was in Venice for a summer as a child). This situation has been going on for a long time, as Denuve's character is clearly over thirty. Beba was probably an affectionate term, or alias for Denuve's earlier persona. Fabio cannot love her because he fell in love with a child and wanted to keep her as such, but that child no longer exists. To deal with his perversions, he invented another persona for himself, and one for her.

One can see the influence of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? (1966) combined with the sexual aspects of The Innocents (1961) on this work, which was originally a short story by Giovanni Arpino, who also wrote Scent of a Woman. In both of these earlier films the conflict arises from a longing that is real, but gives way to fantasy and role play when it is unfulfilled (The Innocents is ambiguous as to whether what the central character sees is truth, or imagination, but her suppressed desire is indeed real).
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

CineMaven wrote:GEORGE!!!
Oh wow, Mr. A. Your avatar is spectacular
Thanks! I nicked it off another fan of All the Colors of the Dark (1972). Hopefully, he won't come after me with a stiletto. :mrgreen:
User avatar
CineMaven
Posts: 3815
Joined: September 24th, 2007, 9:54 am
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Contact:

Re: Giallo

Post by CineMaven »

If someone comes after you with a stiletto, Mr. A...you can bet it will be a beautiful SHE. :)

Florinda or Edwige? What's your pleasure?
"You build my gallows high, baby."

http://www.megramsey.com
User avatar
charliechaplinfan
Posts: 9040
Joined: January 15th, 2008, 9:49 am

Re: Giallo

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I haven't seen The Innocents or Virginia Woolf yet. That's how I understood Anima Persa.

I recently watched Profuma Di Donna although it was only with French subs so my understanding was shaky but I could tell it was a good movie. Gassman is a great actor for roles where he's not what he originally appears to be. Deneuve is a good actress, not always given her due but she's acted with the best of both French and Italian actors and is more than capable of holding her own. I've never seen her as a vulnerable actress before but she conveys Elise's fragility so well.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

CineMaven wrote:If someone comes after you with a stiletto, Mr. A...you can bet it will be a beautiful SHE. :)

Florinda or Edwige? What's your pleasure?
Edwige. If you ever see any interviews with her, it's amazing to see how nice, down to earth, and humble she is. She's actually a big time Italian producer now.
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

charliechaplinfan wrote:I haven't seen The Innocents or Virginia Woolf yet. That's how I understood Anima Persa.

I recently watched Profuma Di Donna although it was only with French subs so my understanding was shaky but I could tell it was a good movie. Gassman is a great actor for roles where he's not what he originally appears to be. Deneuve is a good actress, not always given her due but she's acted with the best of both French and Italian actors and is more than capable of holding her own. I've never seen her as a vulnerable actress before but she conveys Elise's fragility so well.
Well, I hope I haven't ruined those two films for you. :wink: If you liked Anima Persa you might also enjoy The Designated Victim (1971), which is a giallo version of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1950). Like Anima Persa, it is set in Venice and contains almost no violence (only two deaths--both of which occur offscreen). For another great fragile performance by Denuve, check out Repulsion (1965).


[youtube][/youtube]
User avatar
charliechaplinfan
Posts: 9040
Joined: January 15th, 2008, 9:49 am

Re: Giallo

Post by charliechaplinfan »

I've been wondering about Repulsion but have never got around to watching it, I will and the youtibe film, thankyou.

Venice lends itself to these kind of films.
Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself - Charlie Chaplin
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

When David Lean made Summertime (1955), he portrayed Venice as a sunny, magical fantasy. In the early 70's, giallo flipped that premise around and made it a haunting, lonely place. I can think of six giallo films offhand that were made there:

The Designated Victim (1971)
Who Saw Her Die (1972)
Don't Look Now (1973)
Anima Persa (1977)
The Bloodstained Shadow (1978)
Off Balance AKA Phantom of Death (1988)



The guys at TCM's Movie Morlocks also like The Designated Victim. Here's their review:

http://moviemorlocks.com/2010/06/19/str ... a-gondola/
User avatar
CineMaven
Posts: 3815
Joined: September 24th, 2007, 9:54 am
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Contact:

Re: Giallo

Post by CineMaven »

"Death in Venice" and "Obsession" didn't make Venice look like a walk in the park. I was in Venice for a few hours many years ago, but didn't get much of an impression of its scariness. A gondola ride, the church where all the pidgeons gather...ha! I'm a tourist.
"You build my gallows high, baby."

http://www.megramsey.com
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

Big news! Apparently, Romolo Guerrieri's The Double (1971) has been remastered and is finally available in a print that does justice to its incredible camerawork and claustrophobic storyline. This is a unique and amazing giallo.



WARNING! The clip below contains nudity.


[youtube][/youtube]
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

I've said before that Lucio Fulci's films are my favorites of the giallo genre. Where many directors utilize graphic violence to titillate their audiences, Fulci instead explores the human condition and seeks to have us understand what we are and might become--for good or ill. The incredible death scene of Maciara the witch from his masterpiece Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), is a case in point.

Maciara, accused of killing young children in the village, is released when it is discovered she could not have committed the murders (in fact, she made voodoo dolls in an attempt to protect them), but that does not stop a small group of men from pursuing their own form of justice. Note how Fulci uses music in this scene: Soft flutes as Maciara walks through the village in isolation, while the women spit at her presence (an early Christian ritual is to spit to the west at Satan, or evil). The sound of hillside singing, birds, and insects as she approaches the abandoned church and we see the highway splitting the countryside in two--modern life clashing with old world ritual. When the men surround her and begin to attack, we hear a hard driving song from a car radio. A director like Dario Argento would use this to excite the viewer, but Fulci turns the tables and has the DJ interrupt his own music and instead play a ballad, which underscores the tragedy of her death. This is a very violent scene, but it is also one that touches me deeply and reminds me of the value of human life.

[youtube][/youtube]
User avatar
CineMaven
Posts: 3815
Joined: September 24th, 2007, 9:54 am
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Contact:

Re: Giallo

Post by CineMaven »

GIALLO. It's not for everyone. There's beauty and pathos in this genre mixed with sex, sexual sadism and horror. Great endings, and great lessons to its stories. That's a rough scene in "...Duckling." But I can see that Fulci juxtaposed several different elements, thanx to your guidance. ( Ha...including mistaken identity. ) Florinda Balkan plays it for all it's worth, and it takes a deft director's hand to pull that all together.

Giallo. It's not for everyone. Thanxxx for introducing me to the genre. It is worthy of a college course. Still lovin' your avatar.
"You build my gallows high, baby."

http://www.megramsey.com
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

That scene reminds me a lot of The Oxbow Incident (1943) and I would not be surprised if Fulci was not referencing the movie in some way (although I haven't found a definite link). His use of music here (and throughout the film) is very much tied to the visuals and what he wants to tell us about them. He even uses the song to punctuate the blows, as Maciara is hit in the face twice right on the "one" beat. As she crawls away seeking help, her falls and actual death also coincide with the rise and fall of the music.

This scene and music ties with the ending where the killer is revealed and falls from a great height, as if from grace. Children are seen in both shots, but their significance is different for each of the dying. They are the innocent and pure--loved and protected by one, loved and murdered by another. The toy duck, tying into the title and referencing children would also reappear in his last great giallo, The New York Ripper (1982), where it is not only connected with a child, but the killer actually uses a Donald/Daffy speech impersonation when taunting the police and his victims.

[youtube][/youtube]
Mr. Arkadin
Posts: 2645
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 3:00 pm

Re: Giallo

Post by Mr. Arkadin »

I recently stumbled on this browsing youtube. It's the trailer for the Giallo Film Festival CineMaven saw and reported on here. Well made and looks great:

[youtube][/youtube]

Here's their Q&A w/Tony Musante:

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]
Post Reply