Tag: Criterion Channel

Morricone

The Morricone Collection: “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” (1970)

Post author By Reece Crothers
Post date November 1, 2024

“We can’t rule out the possibility that he is a pervert.”
-Quote from “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.”

**Ennio** **Morricone** circa 1970, the year “**The Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**” was released.

Spanish DVD art for “**The Bird With The Crystal Plumage**.”

Italian DVD art for Arrow’s home video release of “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

Morricone’s score for Dario Argento’s debut picture, 1970’s Rome-set thriller “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage,” is the first of three scores the Maestro composed for Argento’s so-called “Animal Trilogy” (followed swiftly by “The Cat O’ Nine Tails,” and “Four Flies On Grey Velvet“).

Morricone would later compose the music for Argento’s “The Stendhal Syndrome,” and “The Phantom Of The Opera,” bringing the total of Argento-directed films with Morricone scores to 5.

Of course, Argento was already an established screenwriter of note before making his directorial debut on “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.” Argento penned the screenplays for the Morricone-scored pictures “Comandamenti Per Un Gangster,” “Once Upon a Time In The West,” “Metti Una Sera A Cena,” “Un Esercito Di 5 Uomini,” and “La Stagione Dei Sensei,” making it a 10 film-collaboration over four-decades.

“**The Bird With The Crystal Plumage**” director **Dario** **Argento** with the Maestro himself.

The “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” score begins with a light touch, very much in the vein of Morricone’s more melodic lounge compositions, but things quickly get weird, with strange vocalizations, moans, and heavy breathing over sparse, jagged, anxiety-inducing discordant themes.

**Suzy** **Kendall** and **Tony** **Musante** in “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

The effect is that Morricone’s score lulls you into a dreamy state before it strikes with dissonance and unnerving sounds meant to put you on a razor’s edge, only appropriate given the nature of the film to which this music belongs.

**Tony Musante** and a soon to be murder-victim in “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

**Tony** **Musante** interviewed by the police in “**The** **Bird** **With** **The** **Crystal** **Plumage**.”

A staple of the *giallo* picture: the silhouette of a mysterious killer all in black.

Although it wasn’t the first (credit Mario Bava‘s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much” with that honour) Argento’s oft-imitated suspense picture set the benchmark for the giallo genre.

The original giallo picture, Mario Bava’s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much”

Literally translated as “yellow” from Italian, gialli are Italian thrillers that take their name from “Il Giallo Mondadori,” a series of popular Italian murder mysteries originally published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, with their iconic yellow jackets.

“**Giallo**” was an Italian literary genre before bleeding into Italian cinema.

Argento was the best of the best in the giallo business, and has become synonymous with the genre, but there are many other classics to seek out, from Lucio Fulci’s “Don’t Torture a Duckling,” to one of my personal favourites, Luigi Bazzoni’s “The Fifth Cord” (also scored by Morricone).

Poster for **Lucio** **Fulci’s** *giallo* classic.

After you check out the soundtrack, don’t forget to see the film! And on the subject of gialli, Arrow Video has been releasing a number of significant giallo pictures both on blu-ray and on their Arrow Player streaming app.

Visit the giallo section of Arrow Video’s website here:

https://www.arrow-player.com/giallo-essentials

Along with Spaghetti Westerns (Italian westerns) and Poliziotteschi (Italian cop thrillers), the giallo sub-genre shows what a rich period the 1960s and ’70s were for Italian cinema. For more on everything giallo, check out the documentary “All The Colors of Giallo,” which is a fun deep-dive for fans of the genre and newcomers alike.

Watch the complete documentary “All The Colors of Giallo” here:

“All the Colors of Giallo” on YouTube.

And for more on poliziotteschi and why the ’60s and ’70s were the heyday for Italian genre cinema, check out the trailer for “Eurocrime: The Italian Cop & Gangster Films That Ruled The 70s” here:

https://youtu.be/ILqe-2aumvw?si=E8vFuKH9DtApG8CJ

Expect future posts on my favourite gialli and poliziotteschi pictures soon. So long!

Listen to the complete “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” score here:

Morricone’s complete score for “The Bird with The Crystal Plumage” on YouTube.

Watch the trailer for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” here:

Arrow Video trailer for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on YouTube.

Watch the Arrow Video Story on “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” here:

Arrow’s Video Story for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on YouTube.

Watch a clip from “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” here:

“The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” clip “The Painting” on YouTube.

Watch “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on The Criterion Channel here:

https://www.criterionchannel.com/the-bird-with-the-crystal-plumage

Watch “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” for free on YouTube here:

Full film on YouTube.

See Dario Argento introduce the film at the Lincoln Center here:

Dario Argento introduces his debut film at the Lincoln Center screening for “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.”

Watch the Film at Lincoln Center screening Q&A here:

Dario Argento Q&A on “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” at the Film at Lincoln Center screening.

Find a copy of Morricone’s “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” on Discogs here:

https://www.discogs.com/release/3405084-Ennio-Morricone-The-Bird-With-The-Crystal-Plumage

If you are in the Toronto area, say hi to my Filmography podcast co-host Bjorn, and rent or purchase “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” by visiting the last great video store, Bay Street Video, in store or with the link below:

The last great video store, Bay Street Video.

If you’re not in Toronto, you can find the blu-ray on Amazon here:

https://a.co/d/hC0Oerl

Watch the Arrow Video Story for the prototypical giallo picture, Mario Bava’s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much,” here:

Arrow Video Story on Mario Bava’s “The Girl Who Knew Too Much” on YouTube.

Watch the trailer for Lucio Fulci’s giallo classic “Don’t Torture A Duckling” here:

“Don’t Torture A Duckling” trailer on YouTube.

Watch the trailer for Luigi Bazzoni’s giallo classic “The Fifth Cord” here:

“The Fifth Cord” trailer on YouTube.

Listen to Morricone’s score for “The Fifth Cord” (aka “Giornata Nera Per L’Ariete) here:

https://youtu.be/CS6cyjaSofw?si=bfMk7SafCarhcZz1

Podcast

New Podcast Episode Available Now: “First Reformed”

Post author By Reece Crothers
Post date September 28, 2024

**Paul Schrade**r in press photo for “**First Reformed.**“

On this week’s episode of The Filmography podcast, Bjorn and I take a deep dive into Paul Schrader’s 21’s picture, “First Reformed,” for which he received his first Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.

Listen to The Filmography on Spotify (link above), Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

**Ethan Hawke** as Reverend Toller in my favourite still from “**First Reformed.**” Just look at that pink and purple sky! Like something out of an impressionist painting.

**Paul** **Schrader** in a press photo for “**First** **Reformed**.”

With “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader’s wilderness years are finally over. It seems “Dog Eat Dog” did what it was supposed to do, blasted away all the cobwebs, cleansed the palate (especially of “The Canyons”), done away with all of the experimentations of genre and style, and returned Schrader to his transcendental roots, exploring the influence of austere filmmakers like Ozu, Bresson, and Dreyer, on whom Schrader wrote the book that launched his career as a film critic even before he became a celebrated screenwriter and director.

**Paul Schrader’s** classic text on the style of **Ozu**, **Bresson**, and **Dreyer**.

From the moment we see Ethan Hawke alone in a room, sitting at a table, writing in a journal, we know immediately that this is not just a Paul Schrader picture, but one of his “man in a room” stories, a cycle which began with “Taxi Driver,” and includes “American Gigolo” (no journal writing), “Light Sleeper,” “The Walker” (no journal), “First Reformed,” and following that, “The Card Counter,” and “Master Gardner.”

These films are linked with common themes of isolation and self-destructive violence.

Out of bullets, De **Niro’s** finger becomes a weapon.

Willem Dafoe goes kamikaze in “**Light** **Sleeper**,” and survives.

Ethan Hawke works out his Jesus complex in “**First** **Reformed**.”

“First Reformed” recalls “Taxi Driver” in many other ways, too. Some similarities are superficial, referencing specific shots, such as the Pepto Bismol in the whiskey glass in “First Reformed,” and the Alka Seltzer in water in “Taxi Driver.”

Breakfast of champions in “First Reformed.”

**Martin** **Scorsese’s** out-of-the-box **Alka** **Seltzer** ad from “**Taxi** **Driver**.”

Some references are more profound, such as the protagonists of both films attempting to save themselves by saving a young woman. In the case of “Taxi Driver,” that woman was initially a romantic interest, as played by Cybil Sheppard, before morphing into an actual rescue attempt, with the character played by Jodie Foster.

**Cybil** **Sheppard** as Betsy, a campaign worker De **Niro’s** **Travis** **Bickle** fixates on.

**Jodie** **Foster** as Iris, an adolescent sex worker that Travis attempts to rescue.

In “First Reformed,” both parts manifest in one character. Played by Amanda Seyfried, Mary is one of Reverend Tiller’s parishioners, a pregnant widow to whom he feels an immense sense of responsibility, since he blames himself for her husband’s suicide.

**Amanda** **Seyfried** as Mary in “**First** **Reformed**.”

Unlike Travis’ relationships with Betsy or Iris, Rev. Tiller’s feelings for Mary are reciprocated, fuelled by a shared sense of grief and trauma. It is Schrader’s most tender romance to date, culminating in a hyper-stylized “magical mystery tour” sequence (as Bjorn calls it) that would have eyes rolling in the hands of most other directors, but coming from such an unsentimental filmmaker as Schrader, is actually quite moving.

**Amanda** **Seyfried** in a still from “**First** **Reformed**.”

The “magical mystery tour” sequence in “**First** **Reformed**.”

Three men in a room (though two are pictured outside here!): **Ethan** **Hawke**, **Oscar** **Isaac**, and **Joel** **Edgerton**.

With the success and acclaim of “First Reformed” Schrader must have realized he had finally hit upon the winning formula. His next two pictures, “The Card Counter,” and “Master Gardner,” would complete an unofficial “man in the room” trilogy.

Though “Light Sleeper” remains my favourite Schrader Picture, “First Reformed” may very well be his best. For the full breakdown on why, you’ll have to listen to the podcast!

Watch the trailer for “First Reformed” here:

“First Reformed” trailer on YouTube.

Listen to Schrader’s audio commentary for “First Reformed” here:

Audio commentary by Paul Schrader for “First Reformed” on YouTube.

Watch the “magical mystery tour” sequence from “First Reformed” here:

Ethan Hawke takes Amanda Seyfried on a “magical mystery tour” in “First Reformed.”

“**First** **Reformed**” double exposure image from Mubi.com

Read Mubi’s article “Everybody Sacrifices” here:

https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/everybody-sacrifices-paul-schrader-discusses-first-reformed

Read the NY Times review, “First Reformed Is An Epiphany…” here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/movies/first-reformed-review-paul-schrader-ethan-hawke.html

Listen to the Variety podcast, “Paul Schrader reflects on the long journey of ‘First Reformed'” here:

https://variety.com/2019/film/podcasts/playback-podcast-paul-schrader-first-reformed-1203136319

Watch Alex Ross Perry’s portrait of Paul Schrader, “Man In A Room,” on the Criterion Channel here:

https://www.criterionchannel.com/meet-the-filmmakers-paul-schrader

Read the Interview Magazine article “Paul Schrader tells Nicolas Cage why ‘First Reformed’ is his masterpiece” here:

https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/paul-schrader-nicolas-cage-april-issue-2018-interview

Morricone

The Morricone Collection: “Teorema” (1968)

Post author By Reece Crothers
Post date September 6, 2024
1 Comment on The Morricone Collection: “Teorema” (1968)

With one side dedicated to Morricone’s original score to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s surrealist psychological drama, “Teorema,” and the other dedicated to Mozart’s “Messi da Requiem,” listeners are treated to two of the greatest (if not THE two greatest) composers of any era.

Morricone’s score starts heavy and foreboding, with sharp strings and otherworldly voices, before turning ebullient and playful halfway through with bouncy harmonies, twangy guitar and poppy drum beats, including some bittersweet horn arrangements along the way that would not have felt out of place on any number of the Maestro’s Spaghetti Western scores.

Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 6th film, “Teorema,” which the Criterion Channel describes as “a cooly cryptic exploration of bourgeois spiritual emptiness,”stars Terrence Stamp (“The Limey“) as the mysterious “visitor” who seduces an entire Milanese family.

Links: