[Susan Foreman]

There is a Dario Argento season at the BFI Southbank during May

"Dario Argento: Doors Into Darkness

Throughout his career, Dario Argento has frequently been dubbed ‘the Italian Hitchcock’. But in truth, there is no other filmmaker quite like Argento.

The connection is understandable. Hitchcock wasn’t just a filmmaker, he was a brand. You think suspense, you think Hitchcock. So, when Argento appeared with his uniquely baroque take on the whodunit, what better way to make sense of this prodigious new talent than compare him to the master. Of course, they do share many similarities, not least a proclivity for murder, but it’s the deeper difference that ultimately sets them apart – Hitchcock’s is the cinema of details and discipline, Argento’s is of dreams and disorientation.

The textures, tones and reverberations of Argento’s visions are so evocative, the mere mention of his name can transport you to a psychotropic German dance academy, or send you soaring over a brutalist apartment building in the dead of night. After more than 50 years crafting a body of work so distinctive and singular, comparisons are no longer necessary. If there is one filmmaker whose name speaks for itself, it’s Dario Argento."

Talks and events:

• Dario Argento in Conversation - The Italian horror maestro discusses his screen career.
• Strange Phenomena: Argento season introduction - Season programmer Michael Blyth guides us through the fantastic, unsettling and visceral worlds of the Italian horror maestro.
• Deep Red + Q&A with Dario Argento - Making stylistic excess look effortless, Argento’s sumptuous giallo marked the beginning of the director’s golden age.
• Suspiria + intro by Dario Argento - Argento’s most famous film is a beautiful and brutal burst of untamed imagination, showcasing the full extent of his visual artistry.
• Tenebrae + intro by Dario Argento - Following his supernatural sojourns, Suspiria and Inferno, Argento steps back into the real world for a blood-soaked tale of murder and meta-textuality.
• Opera + intro by Michael Blyth, season curator - Boasting quite possibly his most iconic single image, almost certainly his most spectacular death scene, and indisputably his most insane ending, this is essential Argento.

Films

• The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - Argento’s astonishingly accomplished first stab at directing stands as one of Italian horror cinema’s most influential works.
• The Cat o’ Nine Tails - Proving he is far more than just elaborate set-pieces, Argento’s overlooked second feature is ripe for reappraisal.
• Four Flies on Grey Velvet - Unavailable for many years, the once lost finale of Argento’s so-called Animal Trilogy is a thrilling hint of things to come.
• The Five Days - Ditching contemporary thrills for historical high jinks, Argento’s forgotten film is unlike anything else in his career.
• Deep Red - Making stylistic excess look effortless, Argento’s sumptuous giallo marked the beginning of the director’s golden age.
• Suspiria - Argento’s most famous film is a beautiful and brutal burst of untamed imagination, showcasing the full extent of his visual artistry.
• Inferno - Arguably Argento’s most visually arresting film, Inferno is to be experienced, not understood.
• Tenebrae - Following his supernatural sojourns, Suspiria and Inferno, Argento steps back into the real world for a blood-soaked tale of murder and meta-textuality.
• Phenomena - Ditching his four flies for an entire army of insects, this wild fusion of psychics and psychos saw Argento turn it up to eleven.
• Opera - Boasting quite possibly his most iconic single image, almost certainly his most spectacular death scene, and indisputably his most insane ending, this is essential Argento.
• Trauma - Eschewing baroque extravagance in favour of sombre restraint, this mystery thriller was Argento, but not as we know him.
• The Stendhal Syndrome - Asia Argento gives one of her best performances in what may be her father’s most disturbing film.
• The Phantom of the Opera - Softly, deftly, this movie shall caress you. Hear it, feel it, let Dario possess you.
• Sleepless - Max von Sydow lends a quiet gravitas to this distinctly Argentonian murder mystery, hailed by many as the director’s return to form.
• The Card Player - Long before Jigsaw tricycled onto cinema screens, Argento wanted to play a game of his own.
• Do You Like Hitchcock? - The Italian Hitchcock pays his respects to the Master of Suspense with this playfully cine-literate homage to his most iconic films.
• Mother of Tears: The Third Mother - Argento gets back to the witch hunt with possibly the most eagerly anticipated film of his career.
• Dark Glasses - Argento’s first film in a decade is a wickedly enjoyable giallo throwback, which fans will have as much fun watching as the maestro clearly had making.

More info