The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (2-Disc Special Edition)
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DVD details
Actor: Gildo Di Marco, Giovanni Di Benedetto, Giuseppe Castellano, Mario Adorf, Omar BonaroPrimary Contributor: Suzy Kendall
Primary Contributor: Tony Musante
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Blue Underground
DVD Reviews of The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (2-Disc Special Edition)
DVD Review: And a horror icon was born.
Summary: 4 Stars
In Rome, the police are knee deep in a few murder cases involving young women. On his way home, Sam Dalmas witnesses an attempted murder. After failing to provide accurate and convincing information to the police. He is forced to help solve the cases by figuring out who the murderer could be.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was Dario Argento's debut directorial film. And you can clearly see the potential hidden in this film. But Dario was still on training wheels here. I found the plot to be too predictable and I had things pretty much figured out by the middle, so when the end came around. It was no surprise to me at all. But it doesn't take away this is still a very good watch.
I usually don't mind a slow pace. But I found this to be too slow at times. Plus I felt a few scenes were way too long and one even over acted. The characters were well used for the most part and actually seemed a bit realistic.
Dario delivers with the visuals here. A trademark that he soon becomes very well known for. The excellent soundtrack fits very well with the atmosphere but I just didn't feel too creeped out at all.
Overall, I find "Bird" above average at best, 3.5 stars from me. The mystery and suspense just didn't it for me. Dario did a much better job with his later films Deep Red and Tenebre. Watching those two you can clearly see he pretty much mastered the "whodunit" theme because those two are clearly better films. I still think the movie is worth a watch but I'm not sure if I would recommend this as a place to start.
Now for the DVD aspects. The film is in widescreen(2.35:1/16:9) and is very clear and free from grain. The sound is very good as well.
Disk one contains the movie and trailers, plus TV spots. Disk 2 contains the interviews. They are pretty interesting and worth a listen.
Out of the Shadows: Interview with Co-writer/Director Dario Argento
Painting with darkness: Interview with Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
The Music of Murder: Interview with Composer Ennio Morricone
Eva's Talking: Interview with Actress Eva Renzi
DVD Review: A Stunning Directorial Debut From The Italian Hitchcock!
Summary: 5 Stars
Because Dario Argento's latest film, "The Mother of Tears," will soon enjoy its American release, I wanted to revisit the first film he wrote and directed, "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage." Still regarded as one of his finest gialli, "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" has a lean plot: a serial killer is terrorizing Rome. Beautiful, young women with no connection are being brutally stabbed. An American writer, Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante of "We Own the Night") witnesses an attack. Him and his girlfriend Julia (giallo queen Suzy Kendall of Sergio Martino's "Torso" and Umberto Lenzi's "Spasmo") are eventually stalked and attacked by the black-gloved killer.
It is no wonder that Argento is referred to as the Italian Hitchcock. His film is rife with suspense, mystery and shocking, innovative murder sequences that rival the shower scene in "Psycho." His set pieces are dazzling; they range from grungy stone buildings in the country to fog-enshrouded city streets to psychedelic high rise apartments. A great musical score is provided by the legendary Ennio Morricone who has scored hundreds of Italian gialli and Spaghetti Westerns.
"The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" is the first in Argento's Animal Trilogy. The second one, "The Cat O' Nine Tails" is my favorite of the three because of the endearing relationship between the blind man and his daughter. I've never seen the third one, "Four Flies on Gray Velvet," and don't understand why no one has given it an American release. Thankfully we have "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage." If you are a fan of Dario Argento and/or a fan of Italian gialli, you must see "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" - a beautiful giallo named after a beautiful bird.
DVD Review: A good beginning for Dario, but not as intense or as brilliant as the later stuff....
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a huge Dario Argento fan, but I've never really cared for his early work. This is his first film, and while very good in spots, is also kind of boring, even if you see it in widescreen (which you should). This film has the usual Argento plot (artist of some kind, usually an English speaking one, is in Italy and gets caught up in a murder mystery), and while it's not as frightening, surreal, or as intense as his best work (the 1975-1987 years are his best), it does have some very good scenes and an excellent twist at the end of the film. There's some very good mise en scene, with Argento using the frame very well. But there seems to be a lifelessness to this film, almost somnabulistic at times. The lead actor, Tony Musante, seems to be distant and aloof, and the other performers are just as absent, so to speak. Ennio Morricone's music is pretty haunting, but it's not as good as Goblin's soundtracks were/are. Perhaps if this was the first film of his I saw, I would like it more. Still, if you're a Dario fan, you should see this. It's the best of his animal trilogy, or, it's better than the 2nd one in the animal trilogy, Cat O Nine Tails, which is one of Dario's worst films. I haven't seen Four Flies on Grey Velvet, the third in the trilogy, except for one scene included in the documentary Dario Argento's World of Horror. Actually, most people haven't seen that one. Watch The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (great title) if you're interested in Dario. Otherwise, watch his masterful period starting with Deep Red. DVD Review: Excellent Thriller from the master of horror.
Summary: 5 Stars
One viewing of Argentos first film and you can tell he was destined to become one of the greatest horror directors who ever lived. Getting his first job directing from his father (who was a big time producer at the time), The Bird with the Crystal Plumage uses all the great techniques that made his later films so great. The Dream-like cinematography, the use of bright colors and lighting, and of course the stylistic death sequences. Where Bird really shines though is the writing. Considering Argento was a writer before he became a director this is no surprise. It's obvious that Argento took more than a couple cues from Hitchcock, but he takes a lot of Hitchcocks techniques and makes them his own with a more stylistic, dark, and violent tone. Bird is not Argentos best film but essential viewing for any die-hard Argentophiles like myself. BUY IT NOW!!!!!!!DVD Review: A must have for all Dario Argento's fans and horror films lovers
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very good quality product (2 disc special edition). The movie is the first Dario Argento's film, a clue to understand the director's artistic path. If you just like horror films, maybe you won't jump on your sit (but then again maybe you will), but if you are a horror film collector, you can't miss this one.
Description of The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (2-Disc Special Edition)
The Stunning Debut By Dario Argento The Italian Master Of TerrorIn his first film as writer/director, Dario Argento (SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, TWO EVIL EYES) single-handedly created the giallo genre and instantly emerged as the filmmaker critics worldwide hailed as 'The Italian Hitchcock'. Tony Musante (TRAFFIC, OZ) and Suzy Kendall (CIRCUS OF FEAR, TORSO) star in this pulse-pounding suspense thriller about an American writer in Rome who witnesses - and is helpless to stop - a brutal assault, the cunning vengeance of a maniac, and the heart-stopping horror that lives - and kills - deep in the dark.
Blue Underground is proud to present this legendary shocker remastered in High Definition from its original camera negative - including recently discovered never-before-seen footage of explicit violence - remixed in 6.1 DTS-ES and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX. Exclusive Extras in this 2-Disc Special Edition include four all-new featurettes with Argento, Oscar? winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, legendary composer Ennio Morricone, co-star Eva Renzi and much more!
Dario Argento takes sole writing credit for his directorial debut but The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is actually an unofficial adaptation of Fredric Brown's novel The Screaming Mimi. Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante), an American novelist in Italy, is a helpless spectator to a vicious attack in an art gallery. Initially a suspect, Sam becomes the key witness to the attempted murder, the fourth in a month but the first survived by the victim. Something about the attack haunts him and so he launches his own investigation as the murders continue, the killer finally turning on Sam. Argento exhibits a sure hand in his first film, creating an easy to follow thriller spiced with tightly choreographed murder scenes and leavened with character humor (his colorful cast includes a genial stuttering pimp and an eccentric artist who lives in a house with no doors). But it's his gift for arresting images and cinematic inventiveness that gives this thriller its edge, from the opening murder where Sam impotently watches the bleeding victim while trapped in a veritable glass cage to the killer's naked eye peering through a peephole at Sam's girlfriend (Suzy Kendall) as she hysterically searches for an escape from the killer's pounding attempts to break into her apartment. Future Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro shot the film and Ennio Morricone provides an unusual, often eerie score arranged for human voices. While less baroque than Argento's later work, it's a fine first film and a standout in the giallo genre. --Sean Axmaker
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