Tenebrae

Summary

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

Inferno (1980) proved to be a deeply unpleasant experience, thus putting Argento off the idea of finishing off his trilogy of supernatural horror films. Rather perversely, his subsequent return to the giallo with Tenebrae (Tenebre, 1982) almost seems poised as another film about witchcraft. Inferno had focused on Mater Tenebrarum, the mother of darkness, and it also provided a glimpse of Mater Lachrymarum, the mother of tears, in the form of actress Ania Pieroni. Pieroni appears in Tenebrae as a shoplifter who is brutally murdered in the opening act of Tenebrae. And while the title Tenebrae promises darkness, visually the film is awash in light, with even night scenes deliberately brightened to suggest the idea that there’s nowhere to hide in this world of senseless, random violence. Viewers at the time were a little disappointed that Argento was in no hurry to finish off his supernatural trilogy, but that didn’t stop Tenebrae from being a big hit in Italy. In the U.K., it suffered from censorship woes and in the U.S. it was afforded spotty distribution in a cut version retitled as Unsane. In its original form, it remains a key Argento work. It’s not quite as accomplished as Deep Red, but runs a very close second in terms of his gialli. Anthony Franciosa is terrific as the author of thrillers who finds himself embroiled in a real-life thriller when a deranged fan starts copying his books. The film was Argento’s most “meta” to date, with slyly humorous dialogue acknowledging the controversy surrounding his violent and bloody nightmares on celluloid. Franciosa’s writer is a stand-in for the director, but a final twist suggests that Argento couldn’t have cared less about assuaging the fears of critics that such art could potentially be dangerous to the public. In addition to Franciosa, there are marvelous turns by John Saxon as a shady literary agent and by Giuliano Gemma as a slick inspector with a love for pulp fiction. Daria Nicolodi is on hand, too, but by this stage the Argento/Nicolodi dynamic had grown very strained and she later complained that she hated her role and wanted to play the fetish queen in the stylized flashback scenes—which Argento cast with well-known transsexual movie star Eva Robin’s. In a way, it also feels like Argento’s response to the films of Brian De Palma; De Palma has long been accused of cribbing from Argento, but Tenebrae’s sexier, slicker approach can’t help but remind one of Dressed to Kill (1980), so fair enough. Luciano Tovoli is back on board to provide the cool, shimmering cinematography and a justifiably famous bit of “pure cinema” allows Argento to experiment with the then-new Louma crane which Tovoli had already used to great effect for Antonioni in The Passenger (Professione: Reporter, 1975).

Review

Dario Argento’s career is marked by a series of high water mark films followed by crushing defeats at the box office. This pattern repeated itself numerous times. Originally, he had conceived Suspiria with Inferno and Mother of Tears as a trilogy. Unfortunately, Inferno could not replicate the success of Suspiria critically or commercially, so his plans for Mother of Tears were pushed aside until decades later. One genre that Argento knew he could always return to was the giallo, and he did exactly that with his film Tenebrae. The same way in which a failed comedy had sparked him towards creating Deep Red, the failure of Inferno pushed Argento to prove himself again with Tenebrae. It has long been a fan-favorite film by the director and in 2016 Synapse Films gave it a proper release on Blu-ray.

As the film begins, a black gloved killer tosses a copy of a book named Tenebrae onto the logs in a fireplace. This is the latest thriller from American novelist Peter Neal. In America, Peter (Anthony Fanciosa) prepares to board a flight to Rome to promote his latest novel. At the JFK airport he receives an agitated phone call from his fiancé Jane McKerrow. While on the phone, his suitcase is swapped out for another for reasons unknown. While he is in flight to Rome, a beautiful young shoplifter named Elsa Manni is killed in her apartment. The killer stuffs pages of the novel into her mouth as he executes her. Landing in Rome, Peter and his entourage – assistant Anne (Daria Nicolodi) and literary agent Bullmer (John Saxon) – begin preparation for his press tour where he will need to fend off reporters that accuse his novels of sexism and being overly violent. Detective Giermani (Giuliano Gemma) and Inspector Altieri approach the novelist to see if there are any similarities or connections to his novel with the murder. When Neal receives a letter from the killer promising to kill again, the detectives enlist the help of Peter in solving the crimes as they occur.

Tenebrae is a tightly written thriller that continued to show the exceptional talent of writer-director Dario Argento. With Suspiria and Inferno, Argento had been interested in playing with colorful lighting schema and gothic architectural elements. With Tenebrae, he turned away from those elements and focused on more commercial clean modern architecture and regular lighting. Despite the film being shot in Rome, like many other Argento films, the film feels very commercial and does not harken back to any of the statues and older building styles that define the city. The film was released in 1982 and it has the feel of that era with the clothing, hairstyles, and even the music by members of Goblin sounds very of its time. If you were to watch Suspiria and Tenebrae back to back, it would be hard to tell that the films were both shot by cinematographer Luciano Tovoli. The overall feel of the films is very different. 

While Suspiria and Deep Red rank as my two favorite Argento films, Tenebrae is a really impressive giallo. The film’s script cleverly uses macguffins that throw the viewer off the trail of the killer and lead to a satisfying climax. The film is certainly one of the most violent films from Argento, including one attack sequence that has blood spatter that reminded me of a sequence from Akira Kurosawa’s Ran. The film features some truly spectacular sequences, including a crane shot during an apartment break-in that is one of the best conceived sequences from Argento’s career.

Argento is clearly having fun with the storytelling aspects of the film. By using the Peter Neal character as a sort of self parody in which the novelist is constantly assailed by the press for his misogyny and violence, Argento is clearly writing from experience. Argento seems to have crafted one of his most violent films as a way of showing his disdain for the criticisms his works had received. It is a pretty tongue-in-cheek way of dismissing all of them, and I can absolutely appreciate that.

The acting in the film is performed by a solid group of actors. Anthony Franciosa brings charm and class to the role of Peter Neal. He is never unbelievable as the novelist in the film. Daria Nicoladi is enjoyable as Peter’s assistant Anne. She sells the finale with a perfect facial expression. John Saxon does not have a lot to do in the film, but is always a welcome addition. Giuliano Gemma is also well cast as the resilient Detective Germani.

Overall – Tenebrae is a well conceived and executed giallo film from master filmmaker Dario Argento. It proved once again that nobody could make gialli quite as effortlessly and stylishly as him.

Video

This 2016 transfer from the original camera negative by Synapse Films uses an MPEG-4 AVC encoding of the film in 1.85:1. This is a really solid presentation of the film that was created specifically for this release. With Tenebrae, director of photography Luciano Tovoli crafted a film that looks extremely clean and commercial. The film, while set in Rome, relies on modern architecture and lighting. Synapse have done a good job of preserving the artistic intentions of the director and the cinematographer. Fine detail is well maintained and colors feel natural. Fans should be pleased.

Audio

Synapse Films have provided two options – an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 track and an Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. For this film, I prefer the English dub due to Peter Neal’s prominent role in the film. The soundtrack from members of Goblin sounds great and definitely feels very Eighties. Fans of the film will be pleased with the overall clarity of this track.

Supplements:

•Audio Commentary features film critic Maitland McDonagh.

• English Sequence Insert Shots are available via seamless branching.
• “Yellow Fever: The Rise and Fall of the Giallo” – a feature-length documentary on the Italian giallo thrillers directed by Callum Waddell. This is a pretty fantastic documentary featuring interviews with Dario Argento, Ruggero Deodato, Umberto Lenzi, Luigi Cozzi, Kim Newman, Maitland McDonagh, and Richard Stanley all discussing the genre. If you are looking for a good piece to point you in the right direction of where to go after watching Tenebrae, this would be a good start.
• Alternate Main Titles 
• Alternate “Unsane” Closing Credits 
• International Trailer 
• Japanese Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Tenebrae is a brutal giallo from filmmaker Dario Argento that feels like a violent response from Argento towards his critics and the box office failure of Inferno. It is not Argento’s most beautiful film intentionally, but it is one of his most tightly written films. Working with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, Argento crafted some truly amazing sequences. As a reactionary piece of cinema, Tenebrae works brilliantly. While the film does not usurp the throne from Deep Red or Suspiria, it continued to show the genius and talent of Argento. Synapse Films have released Tenebrae with a fantastic feature length documentary on the giallo genre that is well worth your time. Recommended.