(Third viewing, never seen in a theater.)
Sorry, Steve, but this movie still seems to slide off my brain like butter on teflon. I suspect it's because it's the talkiest of Argento's early works (I've seen Cat O'Nine Tails but I don't remember much about it, and I've never seen Four Flies On Grey Velvet). (Another aside: Man, I love giallo titles.) There are lots of interrogative scenes, going through the plot inch by inch, and no pretty Christmas colors to hold me. It's funny; it seems like the normal journey of a film director would be to start with wild, irrational, incoherent, indulgent films, and then slowly harden his/her style, using their craft to create films that are slick and efficient, but Argento (at least through the 70s), went the opposite route.
However, a lot of Argento stylistic trademarks begin here, as well: the protagonist as foreigner in a strange land; the half-remembered clue to the killer's identity; the use of art, as a backdrop, as a clue, as a weapon; and the use of gender as a smoke-screen. What seems to be missing is the free roaming camera that gives his best work an oneiric quality.
(Hey, Vittorio Storaro, winner of 3 Academy Awards for cinematography: How did Argento convince you to do a shot where we can clearly see the cameraman reflected in the glass?)
Another thing I noticed (or at least, finally paid attention to) this time around was the obvious Hitchcock influence. There's the scene where are hero loses his yellow-jacketed assailant in a crowd full of similarly-attired men (which I'm sure Hitchcock used, but I can't think where -- was it The Man Who Knew Too Much?). Then there's a climactic guy-hanging-by-fingertips scene (which we've scene Hitchcock use countless times), made more amusing by the fact that the guy holding on to dear life looks a lot like Anthony Perkins, c. The Black Hole. Finally, the coda at the end is just like that in Psycho, with a psychiatrist explaining (uncovincingly, but I'd say unconvincing rationalizations are a genre trope) the killer's dementia. Hilariously, though, this bit is delivered in a TV studio, to be broadcast into millions of Italian homes. That's right, folks, the killer in The Bird With The Crystal Plumage gave birth to the 21st Century.
Where we saw it: dvd | We deign to rate it: outta 100With its prominent elevator murder, emphasis on black-gloved hands and similar "Psycho"-ripping explain-it-all ending, it could be argued that "Dressed to Kill" is a loose remake of "Bird" (and not de Palma's take on "Psycho" as is generally thought). I'll admit I've only seen this once, so maybe I'd change my mind upon a relook.
And I think my current favorite giallo title is "What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer's Body?" Unless, of course, you count the literal translation of the Italian title for "Torso" -- "The Bodies Show Signs of Carnal Violence". Well of course they would. Heh.
Posted by: Steve at February 6, 2004 05:47 PMThe best part of all was the plane ballet at the end.
Posted by: martin at March 3, 2004 08:54 PMYeah, the plane ballet scene was all right.
Posted by: crystal at October 22, 2004 05:22 AM