1970, dir. Dario Argento
With Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, and Enrico Maria Salerno.
89 min, 35mm
Dario made his debut as a film director with the first installment of Animal Trilogy: “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.” Right before the novelist Sam Dalmas (Musante) is slated to leave Rome and return to the US, he witnesses the murder of a young woman in an art gallery. Detained by the police, Sam is plagued by the idea that he has forgotten one crucial detail from the crime, and he plunges himself into the investigation. Sleek, sophisticated, and tense, “Bird with the Crystal Plumage” displays Dario’s innovative filming techniques, most notably in a scene in which he dropped a camera out a window in order to tape a deadly fall.
