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Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)

post #1 of 9
3/3/10 at 5:59pm
Thread Starter 
I adore gialli and I greatly appreciate Dario Argento's earlier films, one of which is the subject of this thread, a film I saw for the first time last night.

Fucking amazing looking piece, some awe-inspiring visual craftsmanship on display; the final death scene practically launched me out of my seat, it was positively orgasmic, but...BUT...the revelation of the killer, and the "clue" that leads to it, the clue that gives the film its title? Quite possibly the hugest, dumbest fucking twist I've seen in a giallo this side of Umberto Lenzi's Eyeball / Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro (1975).

Again, I love gialli, and I am well aware that it's a genre that routinely pushes the boundaries of logic to bring the narrative to the home stretch, but Jesus Christ, Dario, way to undercut your movie with some off-the-wall wanky, sci-fi bullshit that has no place in reality.

I feel the film is beautiful and entertaing enough to have a lot of replay value, but really, Dario? Really?
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post #2 of 9
3/3/10 at 9:14pm
The gag of making it seem as if Roberto (Michael Brandon) is driving his car up the stairs of an office building is really quite marvelous. And, actually, the film is a grab bag of classic shots and editing tricks (also a favorite: framing one character in a circle, then pulling focus to reveal the camera peering through a guitar).

The science is ridiculous, like something out of a 60s era Disney comedy -- think Merlin Jones or Dexter Riley -- but Argento's silliness is a lot of his charm. The film also has perhaps Argento's most surprising character, a private dick who enters the film a would-be comic gay stereotype and leaves it bravely and sympathetically, arguably the warmest and most human of all of DA's creations.
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post #3 of 9
3/3/10 at 9:43pm
Cat 'O Nine Tails also uses wonky, outdated science, Deep Red starts when a psychic is murdered, Tenebre takes place in the future after a virus has wiped out a large section of humanity, and Opera uses the malice of crows to reveal the killer. His Gialli have really stupid plots. I still love the guy. Well, up to Stendhal Syndrome, which actually makes scientific sense, believe it or not.
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post #4 of 9
3/3/10 at 9:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gabe Powers View Post
Tenebre takes place in the future after a virus has wiped out a large section of humanity,
I have read that Argento intended the story to be futuristic, and I can see it in the set design. But I've never heard of the virus element. Is there anything in the script or the visuals that I'm missing to indicate that? Interesting.
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post #5 of 9
3/3/10 at 10:03pm
It's mentioned in an interview only. I can't remember which of my Argento books has it. He also claims humanity has forgotten about the virus or disease, and points out that everyone in the movie is an asshole. The two female leads actually seem like decent people to me.
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post #6 of 9
3/3/10 at 10:06pm
Yeah, I agree. John Saxon's character is also likable. The scene where he's waiting in the park and quietly enjoying all of the activity around him is kind of lovely.
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post #7 of 9
3/3/10 at 11:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malmordo View Post
The film also has perhaps Argento's most surprising character, a private dick who enters the film a would-be comic gay stereotype and leaves it bravely and sympathetically, arguably the warmest and most human of all of DA's creations.
I was so quick to bitch about the silly stuff that I failed to mention how much I liked this, but I wasn't surprised by it specifically because of Tenebre. He makes explicit his feelings about gays in that film, and it's a positive one, the inclusion of transsexual actress Eva Robins (or Eva Robin's as she is also known) as the girl on the beach in the flashbacks illustrates this as well. At one point on the commentary track Argento insists to the mediator that Eva is better than a real woman*, of course the mediator doesn't want to commit to this line of thinking at all, which I found pretty funny.

One part of me thinks that's just Argento being playful, the other part thinks that there are some interesting dimensions to the man and that he's maybe done some experimenting in his day. Good for him if this is so, I'm a big supporter of that attitude.



*I do believe that Argento is onto something though, but that's just me.

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post #8 of 9
3/4/10 at 7:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malmordo View Post
Yeah, I agree. John Saxon's character is also likable....
***SPOILER***




Except the part where's he's fucking his client's wife. I think Daria Nicolodi's character is the only one that comes off with any dignity intact within the story.


Tenebre is a picture of exquisite misanthropy.
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post #9 of 9
3/4/10 at 7:51pm
SPOILER

I actually love the retinal imprints idea, but then I never went into Argento movies expecting CSI. I think he found a great, inventive way to satisfy his recurring "dying moment" theme (though my fave example will always be Frank recalling Harmonica's origin just before wheezing out a final note). I don't care that it doesn't make real sense, it's just an effective horror detail in my honest opinion. Along the same creepy lines as Hiroshima silhouettes.

Love the movie as a whole, too. Bud Spencer for the win!
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