All the Colors of Sergio Martino

While the Italian film industry churned out numerous great (and some not so great) giallos during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, there are only a few maestros who were able to repeatedly produce quality giallos. Dario Argento and Mario Bava are rightfully two of the most famous giallo directors, known for their fantastic, black-gloved, blood-spattered films but there is another, less praised director who belongs in that pantheon of giallo greatness: Sergio Martino.

Martino’s first directing credit came in 1969 and he directed over 60 films (counting TV productions) and continued working into the 2000s. During that time he directed movies in almost every genre, spaghetti-westerns, crime (known as poliziotteschi), exploitation, comedy, adventure, dystopian sci-fi, and horror. While he did produce enjoyable films in a variety of genres, he excelled at both the giallo and the poliziotteschi films that were also popular in the ‘70s. Between the years of 1970 and 1973, Sergio Martino directed five giallos, and while he rarely returned to the genre after that (and never at the same level of creativity), these five films are some of the best giallos made during the heyday of the genre.

The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971)– Martino’s deft first giallo shows he can handle all the expected conventions of the genre in an original and compelling way. Although made in 1970, the film was released in Italy in January of 1971 and was retitled in the U.S. (to emphasize the violence instead of the sex) as Blade of the Ripper. To be sure, this is a film that has plenty of both violence and sex, as you should expect from a classic giallo. The beautiful Edwige Fenech stars as Julie Wardh, the neglected housewife of an ambassador. The couple returns to Vienna from an extended period away to discover that the city is living in fear because a serial killer has been preying on women. Adding to the tension, Julie soon becomes stalked by a sadistic ex-lover. She also begins an affair with her best friends’ cousin (George Hilton), and it is not long before she is entangled in a sinister web of sex, intrigue, violence and double-crosses, caught between all three of the men in her life. 

This giallo is told entirely from the woman’s perspective and that perspective is a refreshing change of pace. Along with its setting in Vienna and the (legitimately) surprising series of twists at the end, these elements provide some enjoyable enhancements to the plentiful sex and knife-slicing violence we expect from the genre. But, Martino was just getting started ….

The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail (1971) –In his sophomore giallo effort Martino hews more closely to the conventions of the genre. Although somewhat more conventional than his other thriller films, The Case of theScorpion’s Tail is a first-rate giallo and a prime example of the genre at its best. This time the wealthy wife of a successful London businessman becomes a widow in the first moments of the film when her husband’s plane explodes. She wastes no time grieving and instead makes immediate plans to go to Athens to collect the life insurance money and run away with her secret lover. However, in a giallo schemes never go as planned and soon she is involved with the insurance company investigator (George Hilton, again), her dead husband’s jealous lover, an Interpol agent, a local journalist (Anita Strindberg) and the obligatory black-gloved killer.

The movie takes its time getting to the murders but when it does Martino directs some of his best suspense sequences here, going more for the violence than the sex in this outing. The mystery is a McGuffin for sure but it maintains interest and there is a nice sting in the tail of this scorpion. The score by Bruno Nicolai is a masterpiece and rightfully acknowledged as one of the best of the genre. The great soundtrack combined with tight direction, good performances and intriguing locations in London and Greece make this film an enjoyable ride all around. The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail shows Martino engaging more with the genre conventions and succeeding at creating a stylish, thrilling and suspenseful film. 

All the Colors of the Dark (1972) – In his next outing Martino really pushed the giallo conventions. All the Colors of the Dark might not even be strictly classified as a giallo but as more of an occult thriller. However, it has plenty of giallo style and is a classic of ‘70s Euro-trash cinema so qualifies for this list in my opinion. 

The superb duo of Edwige Fenech and George Hilton are back, this time as a husband and wife living in London. Fenech’s Jane is in bad psychological condition, distraught by a recent car accident that killed her unborn child and haunted by that as well as by an earlier childhood trauma. Hilton’s Richard is a pharmaceutical executive that tries to solve Jane’s problems and her reoccurring nightmares by sedating her with drugs. On top of all that, Jane believes Richard may be having an affair with a neighbor in their building and believes she is being stalked by a strange man she sees everywhere. But is that real or is she being paranoid, or even worse losing her sanity? Since neither the sedatives nor a psychiatrist seem to be doing anything for her, when a neighbor suggests that attending a satanic ritual will help Jane agrees to give it a try. Why not – it is Swingin’ London in the early ‘70s after all.

Martino brings psychedelic style to this film and it is a phantasmagoria of colors, weird camera angles and grooving Bruno Nicolai sounds. The dreamlike (almost Lynchian) style perfectly fits with the setting and the psychological state of Jane, who does not know what is real and what is hallucination. Cribbing a bit of Rosemary’s Baby and a bit of giallo madness, the film deftly straddles the line between the two genres. The murders don’t start until the last half of the film and by then the audience is questioning what is real and what is not as much as Jane. The ending brings all the red herrings together with a lot of schemes and plots exposed in typical fashion, and provides a thrilling final dose of suspense. Martino creates a fun ride for anyone interested in a mix of satanic cults, giallo kills and psychedelic head-trip films.

Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)– The title of this film is taken from a line in The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh and much of the plot is an updated take on Edgar Allen Poe’s gothic The Black Cat. This time, the heroine, Irina (Anita Strindberg), is the tortured wife of an abusive, racist, alcoholic writer. The writer, Oliviero, lives on an ageing family estate in the Italian countryside where he hosts drunken, sexually-charged parties with groups of hippies and artists. Oliviero is haunted by memories of his dead mother and frustrated by writers block. He is a completely awful person, not only abusing Irina but cheating on her with multiple women as well. The mystery begins when one of Oliviero’s lovers is brutally murdered on a night she was to meet with him. This is just the first of a string of murders to come in prime giallo-style throughout the film. Add to this mix the lovely Edwige Fenech again, as Oliviero’s beautiful, flirtatious niece, and you have the makings of another off-beat and stylish Martino giallo.

In addition to the elements of the story loosely adapted from The Black Cat, the film itself has elements that are very similar to the much later work (both book and film) The Shining. The premise itself, an abusive, alcoholic writer, haunted by his past while living at a remote house and struggling with writers block, is almost identical to that of the book. To make the similarities even more apparent, in one scene Irina steals a look at what Oliviero has been writing on his typewriter and discovers that it is page after page of the same maniacal phrase typed over and over (a scene that only appears in Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining). We do not know if either Stephen King or Stanley Kubrick ever saw this obscure 1972 giallo before creating their works, but it does make you wonder.

Again, Martino delivers some original elements to the giallo formula with Your Vice… and weaves them with a dash of Poe and some genuinely surprising twists in the finale to produce one his best films.  

Torso (1973) – Martino ups the ante with his next giallo and, in the process, helps lay the groundwork for what would later become the U.S. teen slasher film. Mario Bava’s earlier Bay of Blood (1971) took the giallo genre into slasher territory long before the well-known U.S. slasher like Halloween (1978) or Friday the 13^th (1980) and both it and Torso predate even the oft-acknowledged Canadian forerunner Black Christmas (1974).

Torso (originally titled The Bodies Present Traces of Carnal Violence in Italy) offers a virtual blueprint for later slasher films by offering up a bevy of partying and promiscuous teenage girls as prey for the masked (and of course black-gloved) sex killer. Suzy Kendall (just two years after her role in Argento’s seminal first giallo Bird with the Crystal Plummage) stars as Jane, an American exchange student at a University in Perugia Italy. The University coeds are frightened because several of their female classmates have been victims of brutal sex killings. In what would become a slasher tradition, each one is killed shortly after a sexual encounter, which means that our good traditional values American Jane is sticking around this film for awhile. 

This film has a more gritty vibe than most earlier giallos, with Perugia replacing the cosmopolitan Rome, London, Paris, et al. This is also no longer the late ‘60s beautiful people with swinging, psychedelic parties and fashionable clothes, but more the post-Mansion-era ‘70s hippies with old T-shirts and bellbottom jeans sitting in the dirt smoking pot. The soundtrack also has a harder edge incorporating rock sounds instead of the more jazz influenced earlier soundtracks. This is a style that later culminates with Argento's use of the groundbreaking music of Goblin in the iconic Deep Red and Suspiria soundtracks.

The usual red-herring suspects are around and keep you guessing whodunit until the bitter end. Martino’s set-piece killings are all staged masterfully again with great suspense, and here he adds more slasher-style brutality to the mix. With the University gripped by fear, Jane decides to join a small group of her girlfriends at an isolated villa in the countryside outside Perugia. Without giving anything away, the killer also leaves Perugia and the segment at the villa provides a wonderful premise that allows Martino the opportunity for a masterful, prolonged 30-minute suspense sequence. Taking place with almost no dialogue, Martino wrings out the suspense the entire time. This sequence ranks as possibly his best giallo work and is a fitting end to a short but fertile period of filmmaking for Martino. 

Small Screen Renaissance

It seems that there are fewer and fewer films these days that engage me in new and interesting ways - films that challenge and provoke as well as entertain. The film world increasingly seems dominated by a bunch of spandex clad people throwing buildings at each other or shooting ray-guns and flying their hot-rod space ships through far away galaxies. Simultaneously, anyone not mesmerized by this cinematic Peter Pan Syndrome has been repeatedly told that we are also in the "golden age of television.” This essentially means that storytellers and filmmakers need to package their vision into a serialized format and squeeze it onto a smaller screen because there is no room at the multi-plex for serious and thoughtful filmmaking.

As a result, I have found I'm spending most of my time with new television shows rather than screening new films. Everyone has heard ad nauseam about the great TV shows like Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Deuce, Game of Thrones, etc. etc. Those are all great shows, but there is no sense adding my voice to the thousands and thousands of words already written about them. I want to focus on some very good and great shows that have flown a little under the pop culture radar.

Broen/Bron/The Bridge (4 Seasons: 2011-2018) – Although I loved this show and binged all 4 seasons as they came out, I am not sure I can look at it objectively because it appeals directly to two of my critical blind spots: investigative procedurals and Nordic Noir. I can watch even marginal shows that fall into those categories, but this one rises to the top easily. The first season of The Bridge had such a great premise that it has been re-made in numerous countries, even on FX here in the U.S. 

A dead body is found on the long, picturesque bridge that connects Denmark to Sweden. As a consequence, the investigation of the crime is shared between both countries and thus offers a glimpse into the societal differences, prejudices and ultimately the connectedness of both cultures. The mysteries are always vast and layered, but the stories never lose focus on the strong characters at the center of the series. Sofia Helin is wonderful as Saga Noren, the lead Swedish investigator and one constant character throughout all four seasons. Saga has some level of Aspergers Syndrome which makes for some unique investigative methodology and great interplay with her Danish and Swedish colleagues. While some of the events are implausible the storytelling is done with such style and conviction that you easily get wrapped up in the mysteries and immersed in the Scandinavian atmosphere. The first two seasons are the strongest but seasons three and four don’t disappoint at all and even wrap the series up with a nice denouement. Originally broadcast on Swedish and Danish television, the BBC and other European channels, the first three series’ are now available for streaming from Amazon Video.

Berlin Station (2 seasons: 2016-2017) – This is a classic espionage thriller set in modern-day Berlin. The U.S. is operating a secret intelligence office in Berlin and that office has recently been compromised by insider leaks of operations to the press. Daniel Miller is transferred to the Berlin station on an undercover mission to find and stop the leaker. While doing this clandestine work inside the station, Miller also has to contend with ongoing operations, protecting undercover sources, and numerous people and events from his past. Berlin Station is a well plotted tale of the intelligence game – and while it is probably not a realistic take on life as a modern-day spy, it is a sold thriller without huge leaps in plausibility. Fine acting and great stories with a nice balance of plot and character. This is classic thriller storytelling done well. 

The first season wraps up the leak storyline, and season two begins with how the station is dealing with the aftermath and changes wrought by that operation. This season is equally good with a very timely and intriguing plot revolving around the tide of far-right populism engulfing Europe (and now the U.S.) While the station deals with major changes, Miller begins an operation to infiltrate a German far-right political party to find out about possible terror plots. The series gets major extra credit points for using Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans” for the theme song. Berlin Station originally aired on Epix, which explains how it received so little attention. Season three has been announced and premiers December 2, 2018. The first two seasons are now available to stream from Amazon Video.



Babylon Berlin (2 seasons: 2017-2018) – My second Berlin located and titled selection is a period thriller set during the Weimar Republic years. In the U.S. we hear almost nothing about the history of Germany between WW I and WW II so the setting is fascinating to me, and the fact that Tom Twyker (Run Lola Run, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) created the show and directed many episodes made this something I had to check out. Babylon Berlin is said to be the most expensive non-English language TV show produced and the budget shows on screen. The recreation of 1929 Berlin is fantastic and the acting first-rate. This is more of an ensemble drama with many seemingly separate plots that come together as the show progresses. As the show begins, WW I vet Inspector Rath has been sent from Cologne to cosmopolitan Berlin to track a pornography ring tied to the mafia. In Berlin, Rath becomes entangled in the social and political changes rocking the Weimar Republic while trying to simultaneously deal with his own personal demons. There are numerous twists and turns during the 16 episodes so to say too much would give away some surprises. Suffice to say, Babylon Berlin is a compelling amalgam of period drama, mystery and action thriller.  

Twyker brings his trademark visual style to the show and the entire cast does a wonderful job creating the characters that populate Berlin. That is important because Berlin and the Weimar Republic are a major character in this show. The plots, while myriad and vast are a macguffin of sorts because they are really an entertaining way to present the changes going on within German society at this pivotal time between WW I and the rise of Hitler. Through these characters, Twyker shows a representation of the social and political forces that were in play and the audience can see the poverty, and the beginnings of the populism and “Germany First” mentality that led to the horrors that followed the Weimar Republic. But, we also see the modern, swinging Berlin, a city enjoying a time of peace if not of prosperity, a city delighted to once again be a cultural center in Europe. Seasons one and two are available on Netflix and a third season has been announced (although Netflix has not yet committed to buy the rights for Season three yet). 

Taboo (1 season 2017) –Taboo is like a Hammer film made for the art-house rather than the drive-in. This isn’t to say that Tom Hardy’s show is pompous or condescending towards its pulp origins, but that it is done with style and a singular artistic vision rather than just as exploitation to entice a large audience. This gothic horror/drama is dirty, both literally and figuratively and visually captures the grittiness of London in 1814 - - this is no period drama with clever conversation over tea. Tom Hardy is mesmerizing as James Delaney, dressed all in black and scowling menacingly throughout the show. As Taboo begins, Delaney had been gone 12 years in Africa and was thought to be dead. He returns for his father’s funeral and begins to set in motion a mysterious plan of vengeance against the East India Company (headed by the superb Jonathon Pryce) and possibly the Crown itself. Through this straightforward revenge plot, Taboo tackles the issues of colonialism, racism and the symbiotic relationship between government and corporations (in this case the powerful East India Company).

Taboo does move slowly and often Hardy’s strong central performance is needed to carry some episodes through. Oona Chaplin is also exemplary as Delaney’s half-sister. Gossip about their relationship as well as about Delaney’s deceased mother provides a thread of mystery throughout season one. The biggest mystery however, is how and why Delaney went missing, and what happened to him during those 12 years. He returns not only with thoughts of vengeance but also with apparent mystical powers learned while he was gone. Taboo answers some of these questions but leaves others open to investigate more in season two. I am looking forward to returning to the grimy and treacherous world of Taboo in search of more answers. Season one aired on FX in the U.S. and the BBC in the U.K. It is available to stream or on Blu-ray from Amazon. Season 2 is scheduled to appear in 2019. 

Counterpart (1 season: 2018) – Another show set in Berlin, Counterpart is a compelling Spy-Fi show, combining a science fiction premise with an espionage thriller. Like Taboo, it is a drama that spins around a great central performance by a talented actor, in this case Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons. Simmons plays Howard Silk, a bureaucrat working at the Office of Interchange, a UN agency in Berlin for 30 years. He is not high enough on the hierarchy to know the details of his work and is merely a nameless functionary in the government machine. He exchanges coded communications with another agent but neither knows what the codes mean. One day, Howard’s superiors bring him to a secretive meeting where Howard meets someone who looks identical to him. It is explained to Howard that during the final years of the Cold War a portal to a parallel universe was accidentally created in the building that would eventually become the Office of Interface (OI). The alternate Howard has disobeyed protocol and come over because he has information that an assassin with a kill list has crossed over. One of the people on the list is Howard’s sick wife, who is an agent at the OI.

From this compelling sci-fi premise the show launches into a season of drama, espionage, and action. Simmons as both Howard and his alternate is fantastic at playing the subtle but significant differences in each character. The believability of his performance is key to making Counterpart work as well as it does. Amid the mystery and double-dealings, there is reflection about the nature of identity and the role both our genetics and life choices make in determining who we are. Counterpart is filled with twists and turns, and you are never sure who to believe or what will happen next. It is fast-paced but filled with deep drama and self-reflection. The Berlin setting is again well used, and is filmed effectively to represent both our modern world and the alternate world that is similar but just slightly “off” from ours. Counterpart is a perfect mix of action and thoughtful drama – the kind of science fiction that should define the genre, and my favorite show of the five discussed here. I am not going to risk any spoilers by providing more detail, but seek this show out and watch it now. Season 1 aired on Starz and is available on Amazon to stream or on Blu-ray. Season 2 begins on December 9, 2018.

Honorable Mentions:

Dark (1 Season, 2017, Netflix) – Superficial Summary: German Twin Peaks without the quirkiness – the name describes its atmosphere; Season 2 expected in 2019

Frankenstein Chronicles (2 Seasons, 2015/2017, Netflix) –  Reimagines Mary Shelly’s monster tale as a police procedural with elements of horror and historical drama.

Top of the Lake (2 Seasons, 2013/2017, Sundance Channel) – Mystery series that also owes gratitude to Twin Peaks. Jane Campion directs Elisabeth Moss as she investigates the disappearance of a young girl in rural New Zealand.

The Kettering Incident (1 Season, 2016, Foxtel Australia/Streaming on Amazon) – Another dark mystery with a female protagonist uncovering buried secrets after returning to her childhood home in Tasmania.

The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza)

The Great Beauty won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film two years ago but completely flew under my radar since I usually pay little attention to Hollywood's self-aggrandizing awards gala that, more often than not, equates commercial success, the best technical achievements that hundreds of millions of dollars can buy, or hand-wringing social message films with great art. I spent countless hours watching every genre film produced in Italy in the 60s and 70s that I could find, and countless more hours watching classics from the greatest Italian directors like Fellini and Antonioni, but I had paid little attention to many recent Italian films. Fortunately, I happened upon Criterion's release of The Great Beauty, and the striking cover photo of the Blu-Ray combined with my personal longing to go back to Rome and aimlessly wander its labyrinthian streets made me immediately choose to watch the film that very night. I was rewarded with an experience that made me fall in love with Italian film and Rome all over again.

The Great Beauty is strongly influenced in style and substance by Fellini but director Paolo Sorrentino (who also created the new HBO series The Young Pope) manages to bring his own vision to this modern take on living la dolce vita in Rome today. Rome has not looked this magical and ethereal on screen since the great Fellini films and, once again, the eternal city is a character if not the star of this film. The human protagonist is journalist Jep Gambardella and the film begins as he is celebrating his 65th birthday. Jep published an acclaimed novel years ago and has been living off the celebrity of that novel since, becoming a fixture of the Roman arts, social and literary scene. Jep spends his nights dancing, drinking and sitting in cafes filled with fellow cynics offering biting commentary on everything and everyone around. However, he has never written another novel, instead earning his way with as little effort as possible by writing about art and the social scene. Through all the parties and gallery openings, café conversations and drinks, Jep and those around him seem to be alienated from each other and society.

Shortly after that 65th birthday celebration, Jep learns that his first love has died. These dual events cause Jep to begin to think about his life and the lost opportunities and the ultimate emptiness of the life he chose. During his nostalgic and melancholy reflections, he wanders around the streets of Rome, or hosts parties at his flat overlooking the Colosseum. The film never succumbs to being dire or depressing even though Jep and his "friends" seem lost in a lethargy or ennui that they have come to accept as their chosen world. Ultimately, Jep appears to regret but accept his choices in life.

The film doesn't preach but offers subtle critiques of modern life and the Roman bourgeoisie social scene through the characters and events portrayed. Particularly with some of the greatest human achievements in art and architecture as the backdrop, the endless procession of nightly parties and esoteric conversations seem ultimately empty and vapid. One particularly memorable scene shows Jep amongst a crowd gathered around an ancient Roman aqueduct to watch a piece of performance art. For the centerpiece of the performance, the artist runs and smashes her head into the aqueduct wall. The absurdity of all this human effort going into such empty gestures is inescapable. This is what the promise of his literary career has become – interviewing someone who smashes their head into a wall for an art magazine.

Sorrentino's camera moves through the party crowds capturing impressionistic images from odd angles and, like Fellini, finds many unique characters and stylized faces and figures staring back. He portrays the often carnivalesque atmosphere of modern life juxtaposed with the ancient, stately city surrounding all this activity. It is this duality that is part of the magical atmosphere of Rome, and that dual personality shines through above all else in this film. 

One can see how, surrounded daily by this majestic city, enticed nightly by wonderful parties and interesting people, Jep could lose his ambition and succumb to the easy pleasures. Watching Jep reminisce about his life in Rome is a bittersweet tale that nonetheless balances the melancholy and ennui with the excitement of living la dolce vita. The film ends with Jep contemplating that all this ends in death, but that before that there was life in all its noisy, chaotic beauty. As the camera pans along Tiber at dawn the feeling I leave with is a desire to not let this beauty slip away without making the most of every opportunity.

High-Rise

“And Mrs. Hillman is refusing to clean unless I pay her what I apparently owe her. Like all poor people, she’s obsessed with money.”

After reading High-Rise over 25 years ago, my first thought was that I wanted to make a film adaptation of the JG Ballard novel. The ideas and images conjured in Ballard’s prose connected with me in such a way that I thought if I ever had the chance to direct or write a feature this was my dream project. As my youthful desire to be a filmmaker was not realized, my wish slowly became that someone would take those indelible images from the page to the screen so that I could see what I imagined as I read the book brought to life. Apparently, producer Jeremy Thomas had that same vision for even longer than I did and almost adapted the novel with Nicolas Roeg decades ago. (Oh, to have seen Ballard’s work through the vision of ‘70s era Roeg!) I had faith that this would be a film worth seeing knowing that Thomas had already shepherded two “un-filmable” books successfully to the screen with David Cronenberg, Naked Lunch and Ballard’s other work of genius Crash.

However, it is inevitable that my thoughts about this film will be colored by having read and loved the novel, and by a sense of anti-climax that is bound to be felt after waiting for something so long. Not only will any film adaptation never be as rich and as individual of an experience as reading a great novel, but can any work of art desired for decades be as good as we want it to be? In this case, for me, the answer is no, but it can be a very good film in and of itself.

Essentially High-Rise is a dystopian microcosm of society' class system set in a high-rise apartment block. The rich live on the top with each class stratified onto the lower levels by where they rank on the ladder of economic success. Director Ben Wheatley wisely chooses to set the film in 1975, the year the novel was written. However, where Ballard's prose style is factual and clinical when describing the shocking and bizarre events, Wheatley goes for a more sardonic and grimly comic tone throughout most of the film. This tone combined with the '70s art direction and costumes is very reminiscent of the way Kubrick chose to present the provocative themes in his equally dystopian Clockwork Orange. (Take a look at both movies' posters side by side and you will see a definite homage in that design as well.) The more recent Snowpiercer also tackled similar themes using a train as a microcosm of society but shaped the material into an action movie.

Tom Hiddleston plays Dr. Robert Laing, the newest arrival to the middle (class) floors of the high-rise. It seems that in the British class system (at least in the '70s) a brain surgeon like Laing was considered middle-class. The higher floors are reserved for the old money aristocracy, with the building's owner and architect (Jeremy Irons) reigning over it all from his top floor estate. The tenuous social structure between the have and have nots begins to unravel shortly after Laing moves in and planned power outages begin to plague the lower-class residents. As more indignities to the lower class floors pile up, it does not take long for the building to descend into complete chaos and eventually literal class warfare between floors. The characters are archetypes, the rebel, the self absorbed aristocrat, etc, with Laing functioning as the everyman caught up in this maelstrom.

Wheatley is not concerned with presenting a cohesive narrative as Ballard does, but rather opts for a more impressionistic and episodic mosaic of scenes and images. What it lacks in narrative drive the film makes up for with memorable images and scenes that convey the same wry and ironic social critiques found in the novel. This is Wheatley's first sizeable budget and he does a fantastic job using his resources. The photgraphy, art direction, costumes, music and acting are all first class and bring Ballard's world to life with great style.

Anyone who has read the book will wonder if Wheatley opens the film with the infamous "dog" scene. The first paragraph of Ballard's book may be the most memorable opening hook I have ever read. Anyone who reads that paragraph has to read the rest of the book to find out how the narrator, Laing, came to be in this situation. Yes, he does and, like the entire film, while it works reasonably well it is not as compelling as the opening of the novel.


This is a thought provoking, stylish and entertaining movie that I look forward to seeing again and finding nuances I missed the first time. Still, do yourself a favor and read the book too. Now, who is going to make Concrete Island, the last of Ballard's three greatest books, into a film? Someone step up, please.

Amer

Giallos (Gialli?) are a genre of lurid Italian thrillers released primarily from the late ‘60s through the mid-‘70s. The name giallo (from the Italian word for “yellow”) is derived from the color of the covers of a series of pulp crime and mystery novels popular in Italy at the time. Giallo films took the thriller genre from the page and brought it to sensationalistic, technicolor life. There was always a central mystery in a giallo but it was their style that most set them apart  - a style characterized by operatic flourishes of violence and perverse sexuality. The giallo is indigenous to Italy - it somehow seems to embody the culture in its emotion, passion and flare, as well as with its conservative religious undertones of guilt and innocence. The giallo is an opera of sex and violence and Italian filmmakers created and perfected this form before it ultimately died out in the late ‘70s.

Amer is a French-Belgian co-production whose title translates to “bitter”. Directors Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani have crafted a modern-day homage to Italian giallos that is at once derivative and original. It is a visually stunning dream fugue of a film that will captivate with evocative imagery and possibly frustrate some viewers with its lack of character and narrative. Amer takes a black gloved switch blade to the giallo formula and slices out all the expository and character scenes, leaving only the stylistic excesses and psychological underpinnings.

The film focuses on three events in the life of the protagonist, Ana, at three different life stages: child, teenager and adult. As a child, Ana lives in a seaside villa that, despite its outward beauty, exudes a darkness and menace. The viewer is shown the house and Ana’s family life through her young eyes, literally. The film tells us that we will be seeing this world through Ana’s eyes from the opening shot – a triple split-screen close-up of Ana’s eyes looking at the viewer. Watching eyes seem to be everywhere in Amer, and everywhere Ana looks she sees something sinister.  The house is populated with strange, shadowy figures, mysterious noises, eyes peeping through keyholes, the corpse of her dead grandfather, and a grandmother who appears to be a witch.

In the next sequence Ana is a teenager out on a trip from the villa into a nearby town with her mother. Ana is now becoming a woman and she senses that the watching eyes are not just mysterious or sinister eyes but have now become the leering eyes of men on the streets and in the shops. The third and final sequence brings the story to a thrilling conclusion. Ana is now an adult and returning to the villa where she grew up. The dreamlike atmosphere continues – she walks from the train station through a town that is deserted in the middle of the day. The eyes looking at and menacing Anna continue to surface throughout this final sequence until it builds to a crescendo of suspense and violence.

Amer plays with extreme close-ups and enhanced ambient sound to build the surreal atmosphere throughout each sequence. The loud clicking of locks or the sound of a black glove being pulled over a hand replace dialog as the most important elements of the soundtrack. In fact, there are only about 3 sentences of dialog in the entire 90-plus minute film. The appropriation of classic giallo soundtrack music from Stelvio Cippriani, Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai works surprising well and is not used gratuitously.

The story is not complex and the characters are merely ciphers for the psychological drama that unfolds. However, the visuals that Cattet and Forzani present, and the fever dream atmosphere they create through both sight and sound are enthralling by themselves. I found myself thinking that this is what a giallo would look like if it had been made by David Lynch. It is best to experience this movie as a waking dream and just sit back, leave logic behind and experience this visceral dream and the nightmarishly beautiful images with your eyes wide open.

Venus in Fur

At times throughout his career, Roman Polanski's films have been overshadowed by his personal life. From a tragic childhood in World War II Poland to the brutal murder of his wife and unborn son to the questionable, or possibly criminal, behavior that led to his exile from the U.S., Polanski's life itself would make a compelling movie. Several documentaries have depicted these events in detail, most recently and famously, Roman Polanski: Wanted & Desired, which chronicled the cirucus of events surrounding his latest legal troubles in Switzerland.

Given the short memory and attention span of modern society, the media frenzy over his 2009 captivity and the sordid past events that led to the U.S. extradition request are what resonate most in the public consciousness when Polanski is discussed today. His latest film output has not been popular enough or critically acclaimed enough to swing the public discourse back from his personal life to his artistic life.

However, he is the rare filmmaker who has maintained an exceptionally high level of artistic output throughout his entire career. Even more astonishing is that he has continued this quality output past age 70 and, with his latest film, into his 80s. Even the Hollywood legends like Billy Wilder, and Alfred Hitchcock lost their mojo when they reached the golden years of their lives, but Polanski continues to impress even today.

The argument can be made that Woody Allen has maintained high standards well into his 70s and that is somewhat true. However, despite the high quality of much of Allen's recent output, his characters always feel like a septuagenarian’s version of modern people. The characters in Polanski’s films continue to either ring pitch perfect or to tap into psychological traits that make them timeless.

While none of his last three films have been a classic on the level of The Pianist, all are of immensely high quality and full of energy and the creative spirit of an artist that continues to have a relevant voice in the world of cinema. Polanski's latest, Venus in Fur, features only two characters, a director and an actress auditioning for a role in his latest play. The self-reflexive nature of the material is enhanced by the fact that Polanski's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner plays the actress, and the director is played by Mathieu Amalric who looks strikingly similar to a young Polanski.

Like Carnage, Venus in Fur is an adaptation of a play and despite having only one set and mountains of dialog, Polanski’s direction keeps the film from feeling stage bound. As the title suggests, the film uses the 1807 novel Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch as its inspiration. The play within the film is supposed to be an adaptation of that novel. The novels author, Sacher-Masoch, is notable for having his work and name be the source of the term "masochist" so unsurprisingly the themes of submission, misogyny and self-identity are explored throughout Polanski's film.

Venus in Fur opens with a beautiful gliding shot down a Paris street. As a thunderstorm ominously builds the camera pushes in on a small theater. The coming storm ads a nice touch of the fantastique to the proceedings, as it almost seems to be bringing or heralding the arrival of the actress, Vanda. She arrives at the theater just as the director, Thomas, is about to leave at the end of the day.

Vanda, also the name of the lead character in the play, is a mystery. Even though she is not on Thomas’ audition call sheet, she has a copy of the entire play that he has not shared with anyone. She is clad in leather and clearly prepared to read for the part of the fictional dominatrix Vanda. Despite protests from the tired director, she forcefully maneuvers her way into auditioning.

Vonda carries a huge, almost magical, bag which soon produces the perfect Victorian dress as a costume. Inevitably, Thomas finds himself reading the submissive male character in his play opposite Vonda. Slowly, Thomas becomes caught up in the part and Vonda leads him on a psychological journey through his own fears and darkest desires. This literal role reversal between the previously controling director and submissive actor provides a nice allegory for the evolution and current state of human sexual relations and identity.

The dialogue in the film is smart and quick, and this is one subtitled movie where I had to pause several times to make sure I was catching every word. It is a pleasure these days to see a film where the words matter as much as the images. Both Seigner and Amalric do a wonderful job bringing those words and characters to life, while Polanski’s direction gives this theater piece great style through his subtle use of a roving camera and sound effects.

Touching as it does on some of the usual Polanski themes and obsessions, sexual politics, human desires and self-identity, Venus in Fur fits nicely into his ouvre alongside such classics as Cul de Sac, What? and The Tenant. A slightly perverse, yet fun and funny movie, Venus in Fur takes the viewer on psychological trip through the dark side of sexual power games. Like Thomas, you may step out of the theater a little different than when you entered.

The Ipcress File & Funeral in Berlin

In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s Michael Caine was the man. Whether playing a spy, a lothario or a writer, Caine had an every-man quality that made his characters sympathetic. Terrence Stamp was hip and bohemian, Malcolm McDowell was young and cocky, but Michael Caine had a working-class cool. In a relatively short time Caine starred in some of the best British films of the era, including Get Carter, Pulp, The Italian Job, and Alfie.

Caine's first major starring role was as the downtrodden spy Harry Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965). The film is based on a 1962 novel of the same name by Len Deighton that was published shortly after the first Bond film, Dr. No, was released. The character of Harry Palmer is the anti-Bond. He lives in a small apartment, wears thick glasses, and is burdened and constrained by overwhelming bureaucracy. He is also not working undercover out of any sense of honor or love of adventure. Palmer was an army sergeant drafted into the intelligence service to work off his prison sentence for black marketeering.

In The Ipcress File a number of prominent Western scientists are being kidnapped and brainwashed. Their brilliant minds are being wiped clean before they are returned to their countries. Palmer is sent to find out who is behind this plot and immediately gets in trouble by calling for an unauthorized and unproductive raid and accidently shooting a CIA agent. Palmer does manage to find the only clue to what is happening to the scientists when he turns up a piece of audiotape marked "IPCRESS". He just needs to figure out what IPCRESS means and what it has to do with the brainwashed scientists.

Despite the very Bondian plot synopsis, The Ipcress File is not jet-setting spy film. This is a gloomy, leisurely paced film with gritty London locations and fistfights instead of exotic locales and high-tech gadgets. The intelligence service headquarters is an old, dingy office disguised as an employment bureau, not a glamorous historic government building. The office manager is an old crone many years away from ever having been an attractive Miss Moneypenny. All of these elements lend a more realistic atmosphere and capture the real type of grunt work involved in the spy game. This game is not played in tuxedoes while sipping martinis and playing craps. It is played in the shadows of back alleys by civil servants clad in old overcoats who are trying to make a living without getting a bullet in their back.

The Ipcress File is a spy procedural and not a spy adventure but there is subtle humor lurking within the details of these procedures. Palmer is overwhelmed with bureaucratic paperwork and every action or request requires triplicate T1-04s or a TX82. Amid the dry humor and procedural elements the film does include some subdued but tense action scenes and even a Manchurian Candidate style psychedelic brainwashing. The Ipcress File offers a nice, grim alternative to James Bond glitter and kicks off this spy series in fine fashion.

Also adapted from a Len Deighton novel, the second Harry Palmer film, Funeral in Berlin, followed one year later and repeats the same basic formula with a more intricately plotted cold war scenario. Caine returns as the reluctant spy caught up in the decidedly unexcotic machinations of the spy game. This time, Palmer is sent to the divided city of Berlin to assist with the defection of Colonel Stok, a Russian officer in charge of intelligence in East Berlin. After meeting Colonel Stok, Palmer doubts his sincerity about wanting to relocate to the west. However, Stok passes a test Palmer arranges to gauge his honesty, so plans are made to work with members of the Berlin underworld to sneak the general across the iron curtain.

In another reversal of the Bondian spy clichés, while in Berlin Palmer is also seduced by a beautiful woman named Samantha Steele. Rather than being the suave aggressor, Palmer is the passive partner in this exchange when he accepts a ride to a party from Samantha only to end up instead at her house for a more intimate get together. As with Colonel Stok, Palmer is suspicious of Samantha and he gradually discovers that her secrets are also connected to his mission in Berlin.

In addition to being a reluctant rather than predatory ladies man, Caine's Palmer is also not a cold-blooded killer. At one point he is not only given a license to kill but is ordered to kill, and he refuses to let his government turn him into a hired assassin. The person he is told to kill is far from innocent but Palmer disobeys his orders because he will not let himself be turned into a murderer.

Everyone has something to hide in this film, and the maneuvers and double crosses play out in amid the grim, authentic cold war atmosphere of Berlin. The action again develops slowly and although it lacks some of the humor of The Ipcress File, the plot and locations of Funeral in Berlin make this the better of the first two Harry Palmer movies. Both films are genre-bending spy movies offering a refreshing portrait of the workaday life of a secret agent navigating both bureaucacy and bullets during the cold war hysteria of the 1960s.