Deep Red

Summary

Introduction by film scholar Troy Howarth – author of Murder by Design: The Unsane Cinema of Dario Argento:

Following a brief break from the genre with the atypical period-set historical comedy-drama Le cinque giornate (1973), Argento returned to the giallo with a vengeance. Deep Red (Profondo rosso, 1975) is arguably the giallo to end all gialli—a brilliantly plotted, brazenly executed masterpiece which shows its writer/director firing on all cylinders. Everything we tend to associate with Argento comes together here: the constantly roving camera, the fetishistic close-ups, the tricky camera angles, the pounding music, the elaborate and curiously beautiful murder set pieces. Deep Red has it all. David Hemmings is outstanding as the jazz musician who witnesses a murder and spends the rest of the film trying to remember a crucial clue he can’t quite bring to mind; his casting was a knowing nod in the direction of Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1967), and sure enough, Deep Red plays as much as an art house thriller as it does as a down and dirty giallo. In addition to Hemmings, Argento was fortunate to cast the beautiful and vivacious Daria Nicolodi, who would become a major force in the director’s private and professional life. Their period of blissful romance commenced during the filming of Deep Red and wasn’t destined to last long, but they would go on to collaborate on some of Argento’s best-remembered films in addition to giving birth to their daughter Asia, who would later supersede Nicolodi as a presence in his films. The lustrous lighting by Luigi Kuveiller and sinewy camerawork by Mario Bava’s long-time collaborator Ubaldo Terzano makes the film into one of Argento’s most dazzling and fluid visual extravaganzas. The script was written in collaboration with Bernardino Zapponi, the long-time writing partner of Federico Fellini. Crucially, the film also introduced the progressive rock outfit Goblin (formerly known as Cherry Five) into the Argento universe; following the jangling but comparatively conventional scores by Ennio Morricone in Argento’s first three thrillers, Goblin’s aggressive sound signaled a radical new dimension to Argento’s filmmaking. It truly is the greatest of all giallo films and it gets my vote as Argento’s masterpiece.

Review

Dario Argento had just made his first flop, 1973’s comedy film Le Cinque Giornate (The Five Days.) The public proved that they were not willing to accept him outside of the Giallo genre. In response, in 1975, Dario came roaring back onto the scene with arguably his best giallo film, Profondo Rosso a.k.a. Deep Red. This was not just a paint-by-numbers giallo film, but the best giallo film Dario had made since The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. I would argue that Deep Red is a good contender for the best giallo film ever made.

The beginning of the film shows a brutal murder in silhouette on a wall, a knife hitting the floor in the foreground, and a leg in a white stocking as it comes into the frame. It cuts away immediately. During a conference of psychics convened inside of an opera house called the Congresso di Parasicologia, a psychic named Helga Ulmann (Macha Meril) displays her amazing telekinetic powers. She can not see the future, but she can know and feel the thoughts of those around her. In the crowd she senses the presence of a murderer who she claims has killed and will kill again. She also thinks of a little child singing a song. The killer vacates the main room and heads to the bathroom where they put on their gloves. Returning to the main room of the opera, the killer stalks their prey. At her place of residence, Helga talks on the phone and then she hears a knock. Approaching the door, she realizes that it is the killer. The killer busts open the door and proceeds to murder her with hatchet blows. Meanwhile, on the street, pianist Marcus Daly (David Hemmings) talks to a drunken pianist named Carlo (Gabriele Lavia.) Carlo is on the rocks and drinking too much. Carlo is sitting on the street outside of a bar called The Bar. While they converse, Marcus looks up in time to see the final death blow as Helga’s head is smashed through the glass window. Marcus runs to her apartment in time to see the suspected killer move down the street in a brown rain coat. He explains to the police that he lived above her and knew her name, but didn’t know her well. He also feels that something is missing from the crime scene, possibly a painting. He knows that he saw something. A photographer named Gianna Brezzi (Daria Nicolodi) at the scene of the crime snaps a photo of him. They then meet up at the funeral, despite the fact that she runs his photo on the front page of the news. Compelled to figure out the murder, he begins investigating with her assistance.

This is a true return to form for Argento. While I enjoyed The Cat O’ Nine Tails, this is Argento firing on all cylinders and getting back into the territory that made him the most famous director of giallo with The Bird With Crystal Plumage. Aided by cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller, Argento achieves some of his most striking images, including opening scenes that take place in an opera and some great first person shots from the perspective of the killer (a trademark of Argento.) For Deep Red, the style of the film serves a purpose and all the imagery comes together as whole cohesively. 

For this film Argento employed for the first time the progressive rock musical group Goblin alongside composer Giorgio Gaslini, who had done compositions for films like La Notte. For the majority of the film, Argento discovered that the music of Goblin fit his purposes better, so the score by Gaslini is not used prominently. The collaboration between Goblin and Argento would come to a crescendo in the next Argento film, Suspiria, but their contribution to Deep Red is profound. At the time the melding of the horror genre with prog-rock was uncharted territory, and it works brilliantly. The music makes this film more effective in every way imaginable and I can’t say enough good things about the songs by Goblin in the film.

The plot for the film is a bit convoluted, so be ready for moments where you lose your place or can’t quite understand a sequence of events until later. The plot is actually one of my favorite Argento plots, there is just a lot of it to take in. The main actor, David Hemmings of Blow-Up fame, does a good job in the film. The first time I saw the film Hemmings felt like an unusual choice, but on my second viewing the performance and reasoning behind his casting really clicked for me. This film also featured actress Daria Nicolodi who starred in numerous roles for Dario and co-wrote the film Suspiria with him. She is well cast.

Deep Red is arguably the best giallo film that Dario Argento ever created, which would also make it one of the best giallo films ever made. If you like the genre, this should move to the top of your must-see list. That way you can debate with me what is actually Argento’s best film!

Video

Arrow Video have provided an absolutely fantastic looking transfer of the film using an MPEG-4 AVC codec of a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negatives occasionally using interpositives to fill in any frames that were missing. The transfer is one of the very best efforts by Arrow Video and the image looks fantastic, retaining the grain and demonstrating great amounts of detail. This is one of Argento’s most intricately filmed and best looking movies. I was wowed by the visual presentation here and fans will want to purchase this one even just based on how great this video transfer turned out.

Audio

For the Director’s Cut, Arrow Video has provided an Italian LPCM Mono Track, an Italian 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, and an English/Italian Mono Hybrid track. For the Export Version they have only provided the English track (more than likely because no Italian track exists for that version.) On the Director’s Cut, I listened to the film intermittently in both languages and found that they both held up well. The reason that the English track on the Director’s Cut is a hybrid is due to certain scenes never having been dubbed in English. Arrow have provided every available option for the viewer and they all. My recommendation would be the 5.1 Italian DTS-HD MA track, but the mono version sounds great also. Fans will be thrilled the first second of Goblin’s theme song. Dialogue is crisp. This is well done work.

Supplements: 

Disk One:

Profondo Giallo – a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie. It begins by warning that it contains spoilers for both Deep Red and The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. In here he argues convincingly that these films are not style over substance, but actually that the style is the substance. He explains that the goal is a form of visceral cinema that can not be achieved by plot alone. This feature is very enjoyable overall.

Italian Trailer

Archival Special Features: These features were all included on the previous Arrow release of the film (in the UK only) a few years ago.

Rosso Recollections – Dario Argento discusses the themes and motifs of the film along with answering some questions regarding the characters and about the numerous name changes given to the film in different markets. This interview is brief but enjoyable.

The Lady in Red – an interview with Daria Nicolodi, who played Gianna Brezzi in the film. She went on to be in several more of his films and to cowrite the screenplay for Suspiria. This is a pretty solid interview that has some good information. She pointed out that the “gay” character, was actually played by a woman, which I totally missed on my first viewing.

Music to Murder For! – an interview with Goblin’s Claudio Simonetti. He gives good background info on how they came to work together and their influences. He also discusses their approach to scoring the film which was essentially they would record a few sessions and then it would be put to the film. Pretty different from now. He also discusses his surprise at their great success in selling records (4 million copies of Profondo Rosso) and the Profondo Rosso musical. As a big fan of the music, I appreciated this interview.

Profondo Rosso: From Celluloid to Shop – a tour of the shop that took its name after the film’s title. Argento collaborator and shop owner Luigi Cozzi gives the tour of the store that he owns with Argento. Next time I am in Rome, this will be the first spot I visit.

Audio Commentary by Thomas Rostock – Danish filmmaker and Argento authority, Rostock gives a lively and informative commentary.  

Disk Two:

The Export Version – (1080p, 1:44:53) the English theatrical version of the film, which is shorter by over twenty minutes, is included in the second disk. Which version is better is debatable, and it is great to have both versions in new 4K restorations.

American Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 5/5

Audio – 5/5

Supplements – 5/5

Overall – 5/5

Deep Red is Argento at his most satisfying. After Argento’s first flop, he had something to prove. He crafted one of his very best films that many argue is his best film. After debating back and forth and revisiting the film a third time, I believe that I prefer just slightly Deep Red to The Bird With Crystal Plumage. For myself, Suspiria will always be my personal favorite film from the director, but I am so glad to own this film in a beautiful new 4K transfer. The supplementary materials are great and the movie looks amazing. I highly recommend checking this film out if you have even the slightest interest in the genre. It is deservedly considered one of the best giallo films ever made. Argento fans should jump at getting this limited edition release from Arrow. This release earns my highest recommendation.