A crystal bird?

 

Last week I talked about Deep Red (1975) by Italian director Dario Argento. This week I want to go over Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970).

This is a film that I thought I had seen before, but it turns out I had it mixed up with another movie. Thus, I could go into it with open eyes and an uncluttered mind. Now I have to take a look at a few other titles to see what is what. But on with this weeks topic.

What struck me very quickly and persisted throughout is that the plot is incredibly similar to Deep Red.

In Deep Red we have the English pianist Marcus Daly, here we have the American writer Sam Dalmas. Like Marcus, Sam witnesses an attack on a woman and becomes involved with the investigation. Also like Marcus, Sam is incredibly cavalier about his own safety, even more so than Marcus. In one scene Sam is being pursued by a hitman with a silenced gun and despite managing to escape decides to follow the hitman to get some answers... Yeah that's smart... Kind of like hunting tigers by grabbing their tails. Sure, you caught it but now what?

Anyway, I'm not going to spoil anything so bear with me. There are as many differences between the two movies as there are similarities, but the beautiful cinematography I mentioned in Deep Red is almost missing in Crystal Plumage. The embryo is there, you can clearly see Argento's vision, and sometimes it works but most scenes are just functional rather then art. He wasn't there yet, but a mere five years later he had it nailed.

The actors do a good job and it amused me to learn that Tony Musante who plays Sam also starred as a mafia boss in HBO's Oz. Its also really fun to see what would have been cutting edge police computers in 1970. We've come a long way...

The plot is actually really good. It made more sense than Deep Red, at least to me and it is more complelling. The killer's motivation was more believable than in Deep Red, and the puzzle pieces fit better as well. Like in Deep Red, Argento plays it completely straight. He doesn't cheat at all, it is all there for you to solve, even if some details are only explained in the end. I failed to figure out the identity of the killer in Deep Red but I got it in Crystal Plumage.

Bottom line is that this movie is said to have skyrocketed the popularity of the Giallo genre, but in my view it stands on the fence between pure thriller and Giallo. With this being Argento's first time directing solo, it makes sense that Crystal Plumage is quite a bit rougher around the edges than Deep Red, but not in a bad way. It can be seen as both and enjoyed by fans of both genres. It drags a bit at times, but never so much as to risk becoming boring. It's not a movies for gorehounds and I would have hated it in my youth. Luckily I have matured a bit because I recommend it without hesitation.

That as they say is that. Join me again next time and until then have a great week, stay safe and wash your hands!