Dario Argento's "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage"

Signifying a rebirth of the thriller genre, and unleashing a vast wave of "giallo"--murder mystery/horror hybrid--films, Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) is a masterfully framed, shot, photographed, and scored picture. Tony Musante stars as Sam, an American writer in Rome, who witnesses an attempted murder in an art gallery. He sees a sinister figure in a black coat struggling with a beautiful woman, who is stabbed and left to bleed on the antiseptic white floor of the gallery. Ending up trapped between two massive glass panels at the gallery front, Sam is powerless to help as he watches the woman reach out to him. She appears to be the latest victim of a serial murderer, who we see in scattered scenes in the film, dressing to kill and running gloved hands along polished knives with fetishistic obsession. Sam is drawn into solving the mystery of the killer, which places him and his girlfriend Julia(Suzy Kendall) in mortal jeopardy.

The film is all about fractured memories and fractured minds. All through the story, Sam is plagued by his memory of the attempted murder he witnessed. Something doesn’t seem right, and finding the fault line in his memory becomes Sam’s obsession, and the key to tracking the killer. Memory, and its unreliability and susceptibility to manipulation and deception, became a key theme in Argento’s films. His later masterwork, Deep Red, also featured a murder witness plagued by doubts of his own memories. Argento argues that we often remember in a way that our culture conditions us to remember. It’s only when the protagonist breaks through that conditioning and parses their memory from a fresh direction that they can solve the mystery.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage has a stronger and leaner screenplay than most of Argento’s later works. The story’s focus is squarely on Sam’s investigation, with all needless clutter swept away. Predating CSI's fascination with forensics by three decades, the film delves into the use of technology to track down a murderer. This being the ’70s, said technology includes whirring magnetic tape reels and crude dot matrix printouts, but no matter. It’s still interesting to see an early meditation on the use of machines in detective work. In the end, though, wetware outperforms hardware, as Sam finally figures out what is missing from his memory, and the solution to the mystery and the reveal of the killer is ingenious and surprising.

Dario Argento’s direction is stylish and assured here, with a brilliant use of colour and darkness. One especially memorable shot shows the screen completely black other than a door to the left that shows as a white rectangle. The camera angles and the setup and movement of characters within the frame are carefully designed to imbrue the film with mounting dread. A sequence with the killer menacing Julia in her apartment by pecking a hole in the door with a large knife and peering through the hole at her is masterfully done. There are camera pyrotechnics on display here too, including a shot where a camera is dropped from a building on a cable to simulate the POV of someone falling. Unlike some of Argento’s later work, though, the direction is never intrusive and doesn’t overwhelm the film.


Argento is also helped considerably by legendary film music composer Ennio Morricone, whose haunting score adds another dimension to The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. The music is frequently dissonant, and the central melody includes a childlike chant, lending considerable edginess and eeriness to the film.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage arrives for a second time on DVD in a 2-disc Special Edition from Blue Underground. This superb package includes a new remastered print on disc 1 that is a considerable improvement over the old DVD. Presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the picture is vibrant and clear; for a ’70s film this is a showcase presentation. Disc 2 has several short documentary pieces on the film, including informative interviews with Argento and Morricone. This DVD set is well worth picking up for film buffs.

Most Anticipated of 2006

It's time to 'fess up to the films I most eagerly anticipate in 2006.

Casino Royale--An adaptation of the first Fleming novel, starring Daniel Craig in his first outing as 007, with a screenplay polished by award-winning screenwriter Paul Haggis, and a reported return to the gritty literary roots of the enduring secret agent. What Bond fan wouldn't be there with bells on?

The Departed--Legendary director Martin Scorsese brings us an American remake of the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs. Scorsese's new DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon star. Scorsese + Crime Thriller = Potential Dynamite.

United 93--Paul Greengrass's documentary-style recreation Sunday Bloody Sunday was a superb film, and here Greengrass returns to that style with a real-time recreation of events on one of the hijacked flights on September 11. Likely harrowing; probably amazing.

Miami Vice--Written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann. That's all I need to know. Oh, and Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx are in it.


Mission Impossible 3--Television director/producer J.J. Abrams (one of the minds behind the intelligent and highly addictive Lost) directs the third adventure of IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise). Popcorn fare all the way, no doubt, but the trailer is a blast and Phillip Seymour Hoffman stars as the villain.

Superman Returns--Bryan Singer left the X-Men franchise to helm a brand-new Superman flick starring unknown Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel. With Singer directing, this has the potential to be a smart, stylish piece of myth-making

X3--Director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) could be a liability, but the superb ensemble cast, headed by Ian McKellan and Hugh Jackman, could make this as watchable as the first two X-Men films, especially if the script manages to be as humanistic and intelligent.

LAYER CAKE

It's a pity that EON Productions, keepers of the 007 franchise, couldn't line up Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn to helm the forthcoming James Bond thriller Casino Royale, as they were reportedly trying to do. Layer Cake is an engrossing, stylish, beautifully shot gangster thriller refreshingly free of the postmodern self-devouring serpents of hip irony that threaten to drag down other modern crime dramas like Snatch.


An excellent cast helps. Current 007 Daniel Craig proves he has the dramatic chops to shoulder a lead role. As the unnamed protagonist, billed as XXXX, Craig essays a smart, cautious, professional drug dealer. At the beginning of the film he calmly explains his formula for success: always pay your supplier on time. The supplier, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham), asks XXXX for a favour. Price wants him to find the daughter of another crime kingpin and also arranges a deal between him and Duke (Jamie Forman), a loud, obnoxious gangster wannabe who stole a large amount of ecstasy pills from some very bad people. Neither assignment is particularly favourable to XXXX, and the combination kicks him into a complicated tailspin.

The plot gives the term "labyrinthine" a bad name. Subplots fold within flashbacks within replays of previous action. Truth be told, the screenplay could have been trimmed or simplified, and characters could have been cut, without losing the core narrative. But when the film is as stylishly shot as this, it's easier to forgive the overwritten story.

Gliding around and into the action, Vaughn's camera effortlessly tracks its way through the characters and events, connecting places and faces in interesting ways. A move in/pull out on Craig's face as a scene transition is one of the more memorable cinematic tricks. Another well-filmed and edited sequence involves a brutal beating in a cafe. Several scenes are punctuated by sudden shocks, which imparts an edginess and capriciousness to much of the film. Admittedly a bit too stylish for its own good, Layer Cake is nevertheless often constructed in the vein of a Scorcese crime drama, and if that's your cup of tea, then the film is engrossing and enjoyable. The superb ensemble cast also includes the ever-reliable Colm Meaney, who gives the impression of a veteran criminal mind from just one glance.

The DVD of Layer Cake contains a superb anamorphic transfer of the 2.35:1 ratio film, which showcases the gorgeous colours of the cinematography. Extras are minimal.

"The Black Scorpion" and Digging for Gold

Like miners for tiny nuggets of gold sifting through buckets of dirt, fans of special effects monsters patiently endure tedious acting, inane plotting, wooden dialogue, and laughably awkward "romantic" subplots to be rewarded by those precious minutes of f/x glory. So it is with The Black Scorpion(1957), a second-rate monster flick with some wonderful stop-motion animation.


A hand-picked smorgasbord of every other monster flick cliche, The Black Scorpion's plot involves an earthquake in Mexico that releases giant scorpions from their stasis deep within the bowels of the Earth. Stalwart actor Richard Denning plays geologist Hank Scott who, assisted by Ramos (Carlos Rivas), investigates the buggy goings on, while boringly romancing hot ranch owner Teresa Alvarez (Mara Corday, also menaced by monsters in Tarantula and The Giant Claw, the latter a giant bird resembling a tatty pinata). The lids may begin to leaden, but don't worry film fans, your patience will be rewarded once the scorpions first appear to sting to death a telephone lineman in one of several eerie stop-motion animation effects sequences.

Scary and impressive, the stop-motion effects were created by effects pioneer Willis O'Brien and his technician Pete Peterson. A sequence with three scorpions attacking a train, plucking hapless passengers from the wreck and stinging them to death, is impressively animated and atmospherically shot. Another sequence where our two heroes descend a massive fissure in the earth and encounter scorpions, a worm-creature, and a giant spider is also beautifully done, and somewhat reminiscent of O'Brien's scrapped spider valley sequence from King Kong (1933). The f/x scenes by O'Brien and Peterson are islands of goodness in a sea of crap.

Unfortunately, true to '50s monster flick tradition, The Black Scorpion also features a cut-price puppet of the giant scorpion in close up, complete with drool dribbling out of its arachnid mouth, as often as possible in the f/x sequences. Sure it looks like crap, but hey, it's a lot cheaper than stop-motion animation.

Found by this author for a mere $6.49 (Cdn) at A and B Sound, the DVD of The Black Scorpion is a no-brainer of a purchase for monster fans. What sweetens the pot is some fascinating extras--some f/x test footage from Pete Peterson; the complete dinosaur sequence from Irwin Allen's The Animal World, animated by O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen; and an interview with Ray Harryhausen.

The Eighth Wonder of the World: KING KONG

There was a time when adventure awaited in mysterious places. An age when lost valleys of mists hid creatures undreamed of, forgotten by time. When intrepid souls, lured by the siren's call of daring exploit, guided by whispered stories and faded maps, travelled to places thought to exist only in myth. When creatures brought to life by the magic of wizards like Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, and Pete Peterson, lurched out of the jungle or from behind the rocks, to awe and amaze. Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong returns to that time and finds all that we remember and so much more.


The story is an expanded echo of the 1933 classic, embellished as it would be by several generations of repeated Homeric readings. In a faded inkline sketch, the story is of maverick filmmaker and adventurer Carl Denham (Jack Black, not miscast as many have asserted) who discovers vaudeville entertainer Ann Darrow (adorable Naomi Watts) on the streets of 1930s Depression-era New York City and persuades her to star in his latest movie to be filmed in Singapore. Denham takes her on board the rustbucket steamer Venture, essentially hijacking screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) for the voyage, and heads out of port just ahead of the police, who were called by Denham's irate studio financiers. Their real destination is Skull Island, a sinking volcanic island whose lush, mysterious jungles hide dinosaurs, giant bugs, and Kong, the last of a breed of gigantic ape, worshipped and feared by the local natives. Ann is kidnapped by the primal, psychopathic natives, and offered in sacrifice to Kong. Ann is taken by the giant ape, and the crew of the Venture set off into the jungle to rescue her, finding themselves pitted against monsters forgotten by time, unpleasant death awaiting them behind every giant tree and dank crevice.

It's obvious. Peter Jackson loves the original King Kong. That love is evident in every frame of the film. Though the 1933 Kong will never be replaced in cinematic memory, Jackson's remake is remarkably assured and improves upon the story and characters from the admittedly wooden plotting and dialogue of the original. The characters are introduced slowly, are given depth, and have room to move in the story. And so, when we arrive at Skull Island after almost one hour of the film, we know and care about the major and minor players in the film. That Jackson and his screenwriters Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens have the understanding and confidence to do this is remarkable in this era of jump-cut, instant gratification blockbuster films.

But we're all here for the monsters, right? The 1933 Kong was a groundbreaking effects film, with the great Willis O'Brien using every trick in the book and inventing several new ones, and the 2005 King Kong features similarly jaw-dropping visual effects. The dinosaurs and giant insects are convincing and scary, with the lost spider pit sequence from the 1933 film brought to life here, complete in skin-crawling detail. The common thread with the animation of Kong in both versions is the attempt to instill character into the giant ape and Jackson's visual effects team at Weta succeed magnificently. Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, performs as Kong, his performance motion-captured and rendered in the final digital animation.

Having an actor behind Kong makes all the difference; the result is a brilliant f/x realization, with Kong generating sympathy and fear, and coaxing tears from the audience by the fateful end on the Empire State Building. Kong is a truly memorable creation, not merely a monster, and Jackson pays tribute to the pioneering O'Brien and pushes the visual effects envelope once more.

The story is involving and well-paced, the acting uniformly excellent, the action breathtaking, the heartstrings tugged but never played, and the visual effects and recreations of 1933 New York superb. Against many odds, Peter Jackson has delivered another film for the ages. Step on board and enjoy the voyage.

Spielberg's "Munich"

"There will be no peace at the end of this."

So says Avner (Eric Bana) in Steven Spielberg's Munich, a drama about the Israeli government's response to the murder of Israeli athletes by Black September at the Munich Olympics. Israel's Prime Minister, Golda Meir, authorizes the assassination of the 11 individuals responsible for Munich and Avner is tasked with leading the team of assassins. Avner's team includes Steve (current 007 Daniel Craig) who is the muscle; Carl (Ciarán Hinds) who removes evidence after every kill; Robert (Mathieu Kassovitz), the bomb-maker; and Hans (Hanns Zischler) who forges documents for the team. Receiving evidence through a shadowy, apolitical organization headed by Papa (Michael Lonsdale), Avner's team methodically tracks down the men on their list and assassinate them using explosive devices. Events thicken, of course, as the team is in turn hunted, and some of them begin to question the efficacy and morality of what they are doing.


Written by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth (from the book Vengeance by George Jonas), Munich is an argument that violent reprisals accomplish nothing save further violent reprisals, leading to the unrelenting spiral of sickening violence present in the Middle East, and rotting the moral core of us all. It's an argument that should be self-evident to all, but is obviously not, and Munich makes its case forcefully and unflinchingly. This is easily Spielberg's most violent film, showing the awful consequences of violent acts, and a couple of scenes are quite horrifying (as they should be). The film falters a little in depicting Avner's descent into turmoil and doubt, whether due to the writing or the performance by Eric Bana or some combination I'm not sure, but it is masterfully shot and cut. This is one of the few spy thrillers that, unlike say the Bourne films, feels steeped in the capricious, messy reality of actual intelligence actions.

In the end, we're left to wonder what has been accomplished, other than the replacement of dead targets with men who are even worse and further reprisals against diplomats and civilians. The film's conclusion includes a haunting shot of the World Trade Centre.

"All this blood will come back to us."