Dario Argento

Dario Argento (born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo(more precisely known as “thriller” in Italy, as the word “giallo” is Italian for yellow which usually refers to generic mystery books that were bound in yellow covers), and for his influence on modern horror and the slasher genre.

Argento was born in Rome, the son of film producer/executive Salvatore Argento and Brazilian-born photographer Elda Luxardo. He began his career in film as a critic, writing for various magazines while still attending high school. Argento also began working as a screenwriter. His most notable work was for Sergio Leone; he and Bernardo Bertolucci collaborated on the story for the spaghetti western classic ‘Once Upon A Time in the West’. Soon after that film’s 1969 release, Argento began working on his directorial debut, ‘The Bird with the Crystal Plummage’, which was released in 1970 and was a major hit in Italy.

Argento directed two additional successful thrillers, ‘The Cat o’ Nine Tails’ (1971) and ‘Four Flies on Grey Velvet’ (1972). Along with The Bird with the Crystal Plummage, these three films are frequently referred to as Argento’s “animal trilogy”. The director then turned his attention away from giallo movies, filming two Italian TV dramas and a period comedy (Five Days in Milan) in 1973 before returning to thrillers with 1975’s classic ‘Deep Red’, frequently cited by many critics as the best giallo ever made. Argento’s next movie was ‘Suspiria’ (1977), a violent supernatural thriller. Lacking the constraints of the more conventional giallo subgenre, Suspiria is a semi-surreal work of art, where plot and character are secondary to sound and vision. Argento planned for Suspiria to be the first of a trilogy about “The Three Mothers”, three ancient witches residing in three different modern cities. The second movie of the trilogy was 1980’s ‘Inferno’ before a long wait until the release of ‘The Mother of Tears’ (2007) belatedly concluded the trilogy.

In between the making of the first two “mothers”, in 1978, Argento collaborated with George Romero on his zombie classic ‘Dawn of the Dead’, earning a producer credit. Argento oversaw the European release of the film (where it was titled Zombi) which was much shorter and featured much more of the score written and performed by his favourite group Goblin.

After Inferno, Argento returned to the more conventional giallo style with ‘Tenebrae’ (1982). He then attempted to combine giallo and supernatural fantasy in ‘Phenomena’, also known as Creepers (1985), which was one of Jennifer Connelly’s earliest movies. Phenomena also showed Argento’s predilection for using new technology, as evidenced by the film’s several prowling Steadicam shots. Both films received a lukewarm reception upon their release (although each has been positively reappraised retrospectively).

‘Opera’ followed in 1987. Set in the Regio Theatre in Parma during a production of Verdi’s Macbeth, the production was beset by real-life misfortunes that Argento suspected were caused by the supposed traditional “curse” on the Shakespearean play. Argento’s father died during its production, Vanessa Redgrave quit the project before filming began, he had problems working with his former long-time girlfriend and collaborator Daria Nicolodi on-set, and the cast and crew were plagued by several minor accidents and mishaps. Whether these are true or stoies released to help with the advertising campaign, who knows?

His 1996 ‘The Stendhal Syndrome’, in which a policewoman (played by Argento’s daughter, Asia) who suffers from Stendhal syndrome is trapped by a serial killer in an abandoned warehouse, was the first Italian film to use CGI. Moreover, the film’s opening scene was shot in Florence, at Italy’s famed Uffizi Gallery, the permanent home of Michelangelo’s Statue of David. Argento is the only director ever granted permission to shoot there.

He followed up with ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1998), ‘Sleepless’ (2001) and ‘The Card Player’ (2004), however these movies received mixed receptions from both fans and critics alike. 2005 saw the TV broadcast of Argento’s ‘Do You Like Hitchcock?’, in which the director paid homage to Alfred Hitchcock after decades of being compared to him by critics. Later that year, he directed a segment of ‘Masters of Horror’, a Showtime television series called “Jenifer”. Soon afterwards, Argento directed “Pelts” for season 2 of the same series.

Argento’s ‘Giallo’ (2009) premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival. The movie was a relative failure. In 2011, Argento will produce the American remake of his cult film ‘Suspiria’. On March 4, 2011, it was announced that Rutger Hauer had signed on to play Van Helsing in Argento’s ‘Dracula 3D’ which began shooting in Budapest on May 16th 2011. The official website for the project features a gallery, synopsis and backstage footage.