The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - film review

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage marked the debut in 1970 of Dario Argento as a film director. The movie was a big success, and he proceeded to become known as "the Italian Hitchcock", although as he has himself admitted, his output differs from Hitchcock's in many respects - even if both men are Catholics, with an acute sense of sin that is relevant to their work.

I find it interesting that Argento was inspired to write the film in part by Fredric Brown's excellent thriller The Screaming Mimi, and in part by the film The Spiral Staircase, based on a novel by Ethel Lina White. The connection between these works isn't obvious, but it is there for those who want to look for it - rather like well-hidden clues in a mystery.

Tony Musante plays Sam Dalmas, an American holidaying in Rome with his girlfriend Julia (Suzy Kendall). Walking past an art gallery, he sees a bizarre sight - a woman is stabbed after grappling with a leather-clad assailant. His attempt to save her is thwarted, but even so, she survives. The Rome police are investigating a series of killings of women in the city, and Sam forms a bond with the chief detective, while pursuing an investigation of his own.

There are some gripping set piece scenes - for instance when a brutal hitman in a yellow jacket hunts Sam down in a coach park. Some of them are set in darkened rooms, with lights and telephone lines cut - yes, Argento plays around with cliches, but he does so in an arresting way. A soundtrack by Ennio Morricone offers a jaunty bonus to the action, and although the psychological explanation put forward for the crimes struck me as dodgy to say the least, I thought this film - which launched the "giallo" movement of lurid Italian crime films - was very watchable.

End of the Game - film review

End of the Game is a 1975 film that is known under various names, including the original German title, Der Richter and sein Henker (The Judge and his Hangman.) It's based on a book published 25 years earlier, written by the Swiss playwright and novelist Friedrich Durrenmatt. When I was studying for my A Levels and S Levels in German, at the tender age of 17, I read Durrenmatt's famous play, The Visit, which I thought was superb. This prompted me to seek out his other work, including Der Richter und sein Henker, a detective story. I really enjoyed it - and not just because it was short and pretty easy to read in the original German!

I did not, however, find out until recently that the book had been filmed. Thanks to Sergio's excellent blog, Tipping My Fedora, I learned about the DVD's existence, and made sure I acquired a copy. I'm glad I did. The cast is excellent. Donald Sutherland has a tough part, playing a cop who is found shot dead in his car right at the start of the story. Jon Voight plays the keen young detective Tschanz, the breathtaking Jacqueline Bisset is the dead man's girlfriend, and Robert Shaw is the nasty criminal whom the lead detective, the cancer-stricken Barlach, is trying to pay back for past misdemeanours,

One very pleasing feature of the film is that Durrenmatt himself makes an appearance - as a writer called Friedrich. We encounter him, musing over a chess game. When asked what he is doing, he says, "I am playing myself." The double meaning is a typical Durrenmatt joke - his specialism was not detection, but comedy, usually with an ironic edge.

This is a stylised film, by no means wholly realistic, but none the worse for that. The mystery element is not at all bad - the complications are piled on rather cleverly, thus blinding the viewer to what is, in truth, an obvious solution to the whodunit question. The cast is very good, and the soundtrack is provided by that wonderful composer Ennio Morricone. I was glad to be reminded of Durrenmatt's excellence. Recommended.

Deception (2013) - film review

Deception is an unoriginal title for an unusual film that came out not so long ago. Its alternative title -not brilliant, either, to be honest - is The Best Offer. But you can't judge a film by the quality of its title. This is a really interesting movie, with a great cast led by an actor I admire very much, the very versatile Geoffrey Rush.

Rush plays Virgil Oldman, an auctioneer and expert in the fine arts who is a strange, and very repressed, character. It is a tribute to Rush's excellence that we stay interested in the character without ever learning enough of his backstory, to a point, towards the end of the film, where sympathy is very much with him. Virgil is very, very rich, and has a secret room full of valuable paintings of women, but he also has at least one secret. He has an unscrupulous side, and is involved in dodgy auction deals with Billy Whistler (Donald Sutherland, at his breeziest) who is an art forger.

Virgil is contacted by a mysterious young woman, Claire Ibbetson, who wants him to value the rare treasures in her parents' villa. The caretake (Philip Jackson, yes, Inspector Japp himself!) has never laid eyes on her, and she continues to avoid a face to face encounter with Virgil. He becomes fascinated, and deduces that she suffers from agorophobia, and is hiding in her own secret room in the villa. It takes him a long time to catch a glimpse of Claire (played by Sylvia Hoeks) but when he does, he finds that the wait was definitely worth while.

Virgil finds strange items in the villa which his young pal Robert (Jim Sturgess) tells him are parts of a priceless old automaton. Bit by bit, Robert pieces the mechanical marvel together, while giving Virgil advice on his romantic pursuit of the mysterious but gorgeous Claire. This is not a fast-paced film, but it is visually striking and brilliantly enhanced by the soundtrack, written by the great Ennio Morricone, one of the finest of all film composers. The strange atmosphere of the story also derives in part from the fact that it's by no means clear where it is set. Italy, perhaps? There are conflicting clues.

Despite that lack of pace, I found this film gripping, even though, considered in the cold light of day, the plot does not really hang together. But the splendid acting, music and visuals make it very watchable. Even though I do wish they'd come up with a title with more resonance.