This film is currently unavailable
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Dario Argento's hugely influential thriller, about a murder witness who becomes amateur detective, added sex and style to the murder-mystery and kick-started Italy's 'giallo' genre.
Director: Dario Argento
Overview
Dario Argento's injection of high-style into the murder-mystery created a new genre (giallo) that was hugely successful and influential, inspiring American filmmakers such as Brian de Palma and Quentin Tarantino. Tony Musante stars as an American writer who witnesses a horrific murder, but is unable to glimpse the killer's face. As he becomes a target for the killer he decides to help the police with their investigation; all the time unable to pinpoint something unusual about the night of the murder that he can't recall.
Boasting gorgeous widescreen cinematography by Vittorio Storaro and Argento's flair for baroque set-pieces, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was an overnight sensation, earning the director the nickname of 'the Italian Hitchcock'. Now hailed as the first fully formed 'giallo' - a distinctly stylish and European take on the whodunnit thriller - the film's template in fact derives from Argento's clever fusing of two elements from the films of his mentor and Italian horror forerunner, Mario Bava. Taking the idea of an innocent embroiled in a murder case who attempts to solve the case himself from Bava's 1963 film The Girl Who Knew Too Much, and marrying it with the black-gloved murderer and stylish killings of Blood on Black Lace (1964), Argento established the formula for a genre that would become a cornerstone of Italian cinema through the 1970s and 80s.
Contains one scene of sexualised violence and moderate horror
Related
The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
Thriller 2006 94 mins Director: Thomas Clay
Thomas Clay’s unflinching story of teen drugs and violence scandalised the British film industry 20 years ago, but is arguably ripe for rehabilitation
Memories of Murder Memories of Murder
Detective drama 2003 131 mins Director: Bong Joon Ho
A pair of detectives clash trying to solve the brutal murder of two women, in Bong Joon Ho’s masterful blend of true crime and dark social satire.
Eat the Night Eat the Night
Thriller 2024 107 mins Director: Caroline Poggi and Johnathan Vinel
Siblings find passion and peril online and in the real world, in this visually electric French drama.
Bound Bound
Gangster 1996 109 mins Director: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski
A seductive neo-noir and cult classic centring on lesbian desire in dangerous circumstances.
Reawakening Reawakening
Thriller 2024 90 mins Director: Virginia Gilbert
BAFTA-winner Jared Harris stars as a father wrestling with uncertainty when his daughter reappears a decade after vanishing.
The Universal Theory The Universal Theory
Thriller 2023 118 mins Director: Timm Kröger
The spirits of Lynch, Lang and Hitchcock haunt this cold war mystery-thriller with an awesome Alpine backdrop.
Gone Too Far! Gone Too Far!
Comedy 2014 88 mins Director: Destiny Ekaragha
Riotous urban comedy adapted from the hit Royal Court play, about a Peckham teen affronted by the arrival of his long-lost Nigerian sibling.
The Black Panther The Black Panther
Drama 1977 97 mins Director: Ian Merrick
Gripping crime drama charts the killing spree which Donald Neilson, aka the Black Panther, perpetrated across England during the mid-70s.
Dogtooth Dogtooth
Drama 2009 93 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos' scary, witty tale of a dysfunctional Greek family is original, ingenious and sadly relevant as a study of parent-child relationships
Kinetta Kinetta
Comedy 2006 94 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
The first solo feature of acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, Dogtooth) follows the cryptic, bizarre activities of three inscrutable residents of a Greek holiday resort.
The Frightened Woman The Frightened Woman
Drama 1969 86 mins Director: Piero Schivazappa
A rich sadist kidnaps a woman to subject to his elaborate S&M games, but she soon turns the tables... Piero Schivazappa's erotic thriller explodes with eye-popping psychedelic production design.
Cinema Paradiso Cinema Paradiso
Drama 1988 124 mins Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
A boy strikes up a friendship with a projectionist in this timeless and charming love letter to cinema from Giuseppe Tornatore.
Suspiria Suspiria
Horror 1977 101 mins Director: Dario Argento
Dario Argento’s phantasmagoric gothic nightmare blends operatic violence, disorienting dream logic and hyper-real visuals to create a horror classic.
Last Exit to Brooklyn Last Exit to Brooklyn
Crime 1989 104 mins Director: Uli Edel
Jennifer Jason Leigh stars in the controversial drama about the underbelly of 1950s Brooklyn, from the pen of Hubert Selby Jr (Requiem for a Dream).
Four Mothers Four Mothers
Drama 2023 89 mins Director: Darren Thornton
Hilarious, uplifting tale of an Irish son juggling four very different mothers over one chaotic weekend in Dublin.
Of Horses and Men Of Horses and Men
Drama 2013 81 mins Director: Benedikt Erlingsson
Human romance and a passion for horses intertwine in this wildly beautiful, darkly funny equine tale from Iceland.
Blind Blind
Drama 2013 96 mins Director: Eskil Vogt
A woman’s blindness sharpens her capacity for imagination and fantasy in the Eskil Vogt’s inventive debut.
2073 2073
Documentary 2024 83 mins Director: Asif Kapadia
Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia's unsettling drama-documentary delivers a powerful commentary on the state of the world today… and tomorrow.
The People vs. Larry Flynt The People vs. Larry Flynt
Biopic 1996 130 mins Director: Milos Forman
Milos Forman’s provocative biopic starring Woody Harrelson as a notorious pornographer turned unlikely hero and champion of free speech.