Quote:
|
Originally Posted by noisereductions
besides Opera, Argento mostly sucks. He just hides beyond beautiful colors and movement.
|
This quote makes no sense. He "hides" behind direction and cinematography (also, the "beautiful colors" are in exactly two of his films: Suspiria and Inferno, which are definitely in the lower spectrum of his works)? Isn't that what directing
is? His films are interesting to look at, sure -- more interesting than 99% of directors -- but his films have a lot of depth to them too. He's a master. His atmosphere is frequently incredible. Though for pure Italian horror, I prefer Fulci, who is a lot more consistently interesting (LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD/GATES OF HELL, THE BEYOND, DON['T TORTURE A DUCKLING, THE PSYCHIC, NEW YORK RIPPER, and countless others are indispensable works of pure horror, some of the most genuinely unsettling I've ever seen.) Anyway, I'm not sure how a director can "hide" behind "movement" either...
Basically.. BIRD WITH THE CYSTAL PLUMAGE = masterpiece. TENEBRE = masterpiece. STENDHAL SYNDROME = masterpiece. DEEP RED = motherfucking
masterpiece. Fuck it -- His animal trilogy is incredible! Opera is really good, too -- it's one of his most "colorful" films (the actual "colors" are muted and drab in most of the scenes; I don't mean colorful in the literal sense, moreso in the plot, which takes characters from an opera house to the country side, to a few dream sequences, and inside of a burning building; this film is all over the place), certainly one of his dreamy and theatrical, and surprisingly one of his least-liked. But I'll go ahead and defend it; the POV shots of the crows was a very welcome and artistic touch.. it was the first Argento I saw, and it got me hooked. Trauma is really amazing... underrated certainly. Third Mother was surprisingly good. And let's not forget Argento was one of the writers of one of the greatest films ever, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by noisereductions
Phenomenon is yr favorite??? What? It's so silly.
|
I will agree that Phenomena is kinda lame though. Certainly not one of his better works at all; Dr. Eugene is the first person whose posts I've read that seems to have a great love for it. It's got some okay visuals, and the opening murder is amazing, but it's just way too long. Hell, I prefer CREEPERS to it, one of the few times I prefer a censored version -- it excises about 45 minutes or so, which makes the pacing a hell of a lot better.
...I respect Argento highly as someone who is committed to his vision -- since he's made almost nothing but horror movies -- and he has been consistently great (well, he was; I would say the last decade hasn't been too kind to him, but he made good films for nearly 30 years), and he is
far more talented than most of the other horror hacks. He has made some absolutely horrible films, like PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and SLEEPLESS... and CARD PLAYER.. and DO YOU KNOW HITCHCOCK... and INFERNO... and so on.. hah. But his good films are REALLY good. He's actually kinda underrated, especially when compared to even someone like Bava -- who many genre stalwarts claim is faultless -- he has been an inspiring director who frequently crafts well-made films... that frequently lapse into some truly headscratching moments, but I assume most of that is from the language barrier. Something lost in translation.
Also, aside from the amazing Jorg Buttergeit (who made the classic Nekromantik films as well as Schramm and Der Todesking), he is one of the few directors who actually has injected some stylization and art into his films. So many horror films feel cliche, going from point A to point B; I like directors who take chances.. that's why Argento's films stand out -- evne the lousy ones. He is an artist, and as an artist, even his worst films are interesting, even when they don't work, because he's incapable of making something truly bad, for the most part (though Phantom of the Opera comes close). There are very few horror auteurs making truly original films, and he's one of the master directors who deserves respect. Tenebre should be on the CRITERION COLLECTION, honestly.