The Bird with the Crystal Plumage – Technically Speaking

[Mojo]

That's a fair point keirarts. I bought the BU edition of Deep Red for similar reasons.

Watching Bird again after all this time has actually made me realise it's one of my favourite Argento films. What the hell has happened to him???!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

That's a very good question. I guess he lost some of the drive, ambition and appetite for filmmaking he had in the 1970s and early '80s, which meant he doesn't have the flair he once had and can't be so ferocious with studios.

The same can probably be said for George Romero, Wes Craven etc, whose recent output is nowhere near their best.

[KaiGusto]

Just getting around to watching this tonight..

Pretty disappointed the specs on the back of the cover are incorrect yet again.. it's not LPCM Uncompressed mono audio, its just DTS Mono

[Rhodes]

less money, less daria, age, etc. he's still the man.

[Daemonia]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

less money, less daria, age, etc. he's still the man.

I'd argue differently. And so would most people after seeing the appalling spectacle of Giallo. Such a monumental failure on just about every level.

So no, I wouldn't say he's 'still the man' at all.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

less money, less daria, age, etc. he's still the man.

Like Daemonia, age has possibly diminished his skills and/or passion for filmmaking as his latest releases are nowhere near the quality of his first half-dozen movies.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was a long time ago and 'Euro horrors' are very different now, with a new breed of filmmakers pushing boundaries as Argento did in the early to mid 1970s.

[Rhodes]

even though they arent his best i still love mother of tears, the card player, sleepless, jenifer, pelts, the phantom opf the opera ETC. i havent seen giallo yet but even if it's the worst film of all time it would take more than that for me to start hating on dario argento because, well..he's the man.

[keirarts]

luigi cozzi's theory is its down to budgets. To a certain extent I believe he's right. Theres no cash about these days to do spectacular sequences like the bullet through the key-hole from opera, re-use technicolor film stock ala suspiria, the camera over the house in tenebrae ect ect... and darios one of those directors where visual spectacle is key to enjoyment in his movies.

[Daemonia]

I can't really believe it's down to budgets either. A director of great flair and inventiveness will make any low budget film something special. Bava hardly worked with big budgets and just look at his films. I mean, what dazzling visual set pieces are in A Bay of Blood? None. But he directs with such flair and innovation it becomes a work of genius.

If what we're saying is that Argento can no longer pay the people to make his films look so spectacular, then maybe Argento never was great, but rather had a great team behind him. Heresy, I know. But a good director with a handful of cast and crew and a camera will make something special. Dario hasn't made anything noteworthy in a long time. How many stinkers does he have to make for the blind fanatics to finally realise he's no good anymore?

[James Morton]

Originally Posted by keirarts

luigi cozzi's theory is its down to budgets. To a certain extent I believe he's right. Theres no cash about these days to do spectacular sequences like the bullet through the key-hole from opera, re-use technicolor film stock ala suspiria, the camera over the house in tenebrae ect ect... and darios one of those directors where visual spectacle is key to enjoyment in his movies.

it was the case of budgetery reasons for the ending of THE CARD PLAYER