Giallo

People have been taking a giant shit on Dario Argento's GIALLO for about two years now, but my confidence in him never wavered. I think I was rewarded automatically as his sweeping camera captures the immense scope of a giant operahouse, dance club, and fashion studio..it brought a grin to this giallo fan's face knowing that Argento returned to his roots to include the fashion world in the story. And, then he shoots this wide shot of Rome with Siegner looking out, her breath taken away..it almost drew a tear because it was as if Mario Bava's ghost returned behind the camera one more time.



Celine(Elsa Pataky), a rising model in Rome is kidnapped by a serial killer who drives a taxi, the perfect vehicle to capture his victims. Using a hypodermic, the killer sudbues his victims, binding them for later sadistic kicks. Celine's sister, Linda(Emmanuelle Seigner), is visiting Rome and fears for her safety. Inspector Enzo Avolfi(Adrien Brody), not exactly the most hospitable of detectives, has been working on the cases involving the serial murders of models and pretty girls. He isn't exactly Mr. Nice Guy with Linda who is absolutely petrified with the sheer thought that her sister could wind up as those gruesome photographs featuring a number of butchered girls.



"Sometimes you have to do what has to be done."

Enzo is haunted by a recurring past memory that continues to traumatize him as an adult. He saw an intruder enter his home as a child, thrusting a butcher knife into her throat. This event is what has fashioned him into the detective he is at present, and answers why he can tolerate the kind of troubling job no one else wants(he works in the police department basement, alone with little association with others. It's obviously unhealthy to be so consumed with such a profession, his reason for even existing seems to be to catch "pattern killers". Under pressure to catch this wackjob, Enzo will have to find some clue, some sort of evidentiary lead, a detail that will get him one step closer to finding him.



"I wanted to destroy something beautiful." - Fight Club

Men destroying beautiful women due to their own definciencies is a theme often associated with films about serial killers who have social malfunctions due to homicidal urges and self image problems which effect their psyche.

Like giallo thrillers of old, Dario Argento, one of the key masters of the genre, the name of his new film ties in with the case represented GIALLO. A recording from an Asian victim lends a key description of the killer, yellow pigmentation of the skin, Argento's title reflecting this.

Argento develops a storyline which sympathises with the killer. There's a psychology he introduces in the film as a reason for why the killer behaves in such a manner..his problem which instigates the destruction of beautiful women. We see his face half way in, and then his story is provided for us. We know why his skin is such, and where his hideousness comes from..a junkie crackwhore mother who dropped him off at an orphanage. He has a serious liver disease which might just be a catalyst for his eventual downfall.



I have read how terrible this movie was. How Dario's talent is over and he no longer should make movies. I think all that is horseshit because I found GIALLO to be quite an entertaining thriller. I mean, Argento uses the terrifying situation of Celine, milking her dilemma for all it's worth. Will she escape and be the girl who got away? Will she wind up like all the others? Argento goes as far as pitting Enzo and Linda against each other thanks in part to the yellow killer by way of the location of Celine. Enzo just wants to do his job and stop the killer no matter what, taking into account Celine's life and whereabouts. Linda, desperate to find her sister alive, will do whatever it takes, if that includes assisting the killer, and when Enzo stands in the way of this, even if inadvertantly, she'll not appreciate his admirable efforts at apprehending him or ending the murderous reign if given the chance. Argento even went Hitchcock on me, which I always find thrilling, in how he sets up the horrifying possibility that Celine may never be found, only to toy with us through a fade to black, only as a way to tease us. I think GIALLO has a Hitchcockian camera. It moves in ways to lead us to where the action is..how wonderfully fluid and precise, too. It's a shame others can easily dismiss this movie..I thought it was beautifully shot with a surprisingly tasteful orchestral score, adding a sophistication to the camerawork. Maybe I watched a different movie than others because I came away more than a bit impressed. I think he's still got it. Perhaps Argento wasn't savage enough, and there's no nudity or sex as giallo fans are accustomed to.