Dario Argento

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Although, to the uninitiated, the frequently used analogy "the Italian Hitchcock" may offer a quick and tidy summation of director Dario Argento's enduring career, this overused comparison ultimately fails to give Argento due credit for his undeniable originality and natural talent as a filmmaker. His often disturbing and horrific films possess a transcendent visual beauty that, in addition to carrying the flame for such Italian cinematic legends as Mario Bava, combines with his talent for weaving supremely menacing mysteries to create waking celluloid nightmares that burn themselves into the audience's psyche.
Born in Rome to prolific Italian film producer Salvatore Argento and fashion model Elda Luxardo, it was obvious from the beginning that young Dario was meant for a career in the film industry. Though, by all accounts, he led a relatively normal childhood, it was his early years that found the future director developing a marked fascination with dark fantasy. Inspired by the works of the Brothers Grimm and Edgar Allan Poe, it wasn't long before young Argento's vivid imagination began to run wild. Argento became a critic for Rome's Paese Sera while still a Catholic high school student, and, feeling restricted by having to critique the films of others, he decided to put his knowledge to good use by writing a screenplay. After gaining his initial writing credits with a handful of Westerns and crime dramas in the mid- to late '60s, a collaboration with Bernardo Bertolucci and Sergio Leone resulted in the classic Once Upon a Time in the West and began to open many doors for the ambitious young screenwriter.

Argento penned numerous screenplays in the following few years, and eventually his writing would catch the attention of Titanus head Goffredo Lombardo. When Argento hit the typewriter to pound out his interpretation of the Frederick Brown novel The Screaming Mimi, he grew so attached to his screenplay that he insisted on taking directorial duties. Backed by Titanus and father Salvatore, who served as producer, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage proved a highly stylized mystery that scored a box-office hit on both sides of the Atlantic. That film and Argento's follow-ups, The Cat O' Nine Tails (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972), were dubbed the "Animal Trilogy" by fans and critics. Though neither of the latter two proved the box-office draw of his debut, they showed an impressive talent emerging. Accompanied by the hauntingly melodic strains of Ennio Morricone, the collaboration between director and musician provided a trio of memorably effective scores that highlighted the Animal Trilogy's haunting tone. Those films continued Argento's association with stylish mysteries inspired by the Italian giallos (a series of lurid mystery paperbacks) made popular by such directors as Mario Bava (Blood and Black Lace), though the director was eager to try his hand at something else, lest he become pigeonholed as the result of his early success.

Taking a break from the giallo to direct the Italian-centric comedy Western The Five Days in Milan (1973), as well as some television work, it wasn't long before Argento was back to his old bag of tricks -- this time finding more success than ever. Released in 1975, Profondo Rosso (aka Deep Red) combined all of the most effective traits of his early efforts into a visually flamboyant and audacious thriller that would set the international standard for decades to come. Additionally, it found the director eschewing the melodic scores of Morricone for the all-out aural assault of Goblin. Having originally heard the progressive rock group performing under the moniker Cherry Five, Argento collaborated with the band under the name Goblin to create one of the most memorable scores of the 1970s. Both unconventional and severely unsettling, the band would continue to score many of Argento's subsequent films, not the least of which was his subsequent film, Suspiria.

Scored before filming even began, it is rumored that Argento blasted the terrifying Suspiria soundtrack as actors played out their scenes in order to create an unmistakable air of discomfort. (As was usual for Italian films of this period, no synch sound film was used, making it easier to dub films for international audiences.) Essentially combining the giallo with supernatural horror, Suspiria was inspired by the writing of Thomas DeQuincey and offered Argento the chance to collaborate on a screenplay with girlfriend Daria Nicolodi (who had previously starred in Profondo Rosso). A nightmarish visual and auditory assault, Suspiria terrified audiences worldwide and stood alongside Profondo Rosso as the apex of Argento's career. It was soon announced that Suspiria would be the first installment of a planned trilogy, often referred to as the "Three Mothers" films.

Following duties as producer on director George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (Argento also held rights to edit a markedly different cut of the film for European audiences), Argento returned to the director's chair with Inferno (1980), the second chapter in the Three Mothers series. The film proved Argento's first and only collaboration with Bava, and though it ultimately failed to live up to the stratospheric expectations bestowed upon it, Inferno proved a worthy successor in the eyes of many fans. Although the title of his next film, Tenebre (1982), may have initially lead fans to anticipate the final chapter in the Three Mothers saga, the effective thriller found Argento returning to his roots in giallo. The visually stark film proved semi-autobiographical in that it was inspired by a Suspiria fan who had threatened Argento's life after being profoundly affected by the film, and it proved that the director still retained the ability to make reality as frightening as fantasy.

It was during this period in his career that Argento began to assist the development of such up-and-coming directors as Lamberto Bava (Demons and Demons 2) and Michele Soavi (The Church and The Sect) by offering his abilities as producer of their early films, but it wasn't long before he was stepping back in the director's chair for Phenomena (1985). Starring future Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly as a troubled teen who attempts to solve a string of murders by telepathically communicating with insects, the film proved a modest success with international audiences (Argento often cites it as his personal favorite) with its bizarre combination of heavy metal mayhem and menacing monkeys.

Following the success of Opera (1987), the early '90s marked a notable decline in the quality of the director's work. In addition to marking the beginning of a troubled period in the director's professional career, Argento's personal life would also suffer during this time due to both the loss of his father and the breakup of his relationship with longtime girlfriend Nicolodi. A collaboration with Romero for the Poe-inspired Two Evil Eyes was soon to follow, and Argento's Trauma (1993) was often touted as the director's "return to the giallo." Trauma ultimately proved a noble but failed attempt to recapture the magic of Argento's early efforts, but it did provide the director his first collaboration with his daughter, emerging actress Asia Argento. The cinematic duo would once again re-team for the decidedly more effective The Stendhal Syndrome (1996), a tale of a young police officer (Asia) who falls prey to a viscous rapist, which left many viewers labeling the director a misogynist (certainly not a new accusation against the director noted for donning black gloves to portray the killer in his films) and questioning how a father would be able to film his daughter in such horrific circumstances. Accompanied by an eerie Morricone score, the film seemed to bear the mark of a director who was returning to form, a fact that made the utter mess of his subsequent Phantom of the Opera (1998) all the more tragic.

Without question the nadir of his cinematic career, the unmitigated international flop of Phantom of the Opera left many fans wondering if Argento still had what it took to make a seriously effective fright film. Argento's subsequent Non Ho Sonno (aka Sleepless, 2001) -- once again touted as Argento's "return to giallo" -- seemed to play as more of an Argento rip-off than an actual Argento film, sparking heated debate among fans as to whether he had truly returned to form. Penned as a semi-sequel to The Stendhal Syndrome, Argento's next effort, entitled The Card Player, told the story of a female detective forced into a deadly game with a brutal killer who boldly murders his victims via online webcam. A tantalizing concept that served to bring Argento's traditional thrillers into the 21st century, his fans waited in eager anticipation until the release of the film in late 2003. To this day Argento has yet to complete his Three Mothers trilogy.
 

Filmography: Deep Red, Do You Like Hitchcock?, Door into Darkness (1973), Inferno, Innocent Blood, Masters of Horror - Pelts, Masters of Horror: Dario Argento - Jenifer, Mother of Tears, Opera, Phenomena, Suspiria, Tenebre, The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, The Card Player, The Cat O Nine Tails, The Phantom of the Opera (1998), The Stendhal Syndrome, Trauma (1993),

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