Advertisement
In 1970, young debut director Dario Argento (Deep Red, Suspiria) indelibly redefined the “giallo” genre of murder-mystery thrillers with Crystal Plumage, catapulting him to international stardom.Sam (Tony Musante, We Own the Night) is an American writer living in Rome, and witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (Eva Renzi, Funeral in Berlin) in a modern art gallery. Powerless to help, he grows increasingly obsessed with the incident. Convinced he saw something that night which holds the key to identifying the maniac terrorizing Rome, Sam launches his own investigation parallel to that of the police, heedless of the danger to him and his girlfriend (Suzy Kendall, Spasmo).
A staggeringly assured first feature, Crystal Plumage establishes the key traits that defines Argento’s filmography, including lavish visuals and a flare for wildly inventive/brutal scenes of violence. With sumptuous cinematography by Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) and a seductive Ennio Morricone score, this landmark film has never looked or sounded better in this new, 4K-restored edition. (Dario Argento, Italy, 1970, 98 min.)
Restoration courtesy of Arrow Films and the American Genre Film Archive
Advertisement
Event Venue
Lightbox Film Center, 401 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19147
Tickets