(Now, that‘s just fucked up…)
CAST: Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, Coraline-Cataldi-Tassoni, William McNamara, Antonella Vitale, Barbara Cupisti.
DIRECTOR: Dario Argento
WARNING: Some SPOILERS and some pretty strong arguments against ever going to the opera - straight ahead.
That Dario Argento is one sick motherfucker. Don’t get me wrong - I love the guy as if he were an eccentric (really, really eccentric) Italian uncle. He’s given me (and a lot of other bizarros) many moments of sheer cinematic exhilaration with horror classics like SUSPIRIA, PHENOMENA, DEEP RED, TENEBRAE, and THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. But once in a while, our boy Dario foists something on us that even I am at a loss to explain. That would be our first Cinema Italiano review: the 1987 horror semi-classic OPERA.
Remember the 1993 murder-and-voyeurism thriller SLIVER? Remember its borderline-dirty poster tagline that asked: “You Like To Watch, Don’t You?” Well, if OPERA had an alternate tagline it would be this: “You Have No Choice But To Fucking Watch, Bitch.” You see, OPERA is Dario Argento’s modern (and very twisted) take on the Gaston LeRoux classic “The Phantom of the Opera.” We basically have a psychotic killer who is also a fan of a talented opera singer, and he kills everyone around her. That would be a bad enough thing, but the nutjob also forces her to watch the slayings - by tying her up and taping pins under her eyes to keep from blinking or closing them.
Like I said - sick motherfucker.
Fortunately, Argento is also a talented motherfucker, so even with the disturbing modus operandi outlined above, he still manages to take us for an entertaining ride. Our heroine is Betty (Cristina Marsillach), an operatta (read: upcoming opera singer) and understudy who gets her big break when the bitchy star of their latest production of “MacBeth” gets a big break of her own - right around the femur bone of her left leg courtesy of an oncoming taxi. Incapacitated with a broken limb, the star has no choice to bow out of the role - which opens the path for Betty to pull an ALL ABOUT EVE-style bushwhack.
This delights the following people: (1) Mira (Daria Nicolodi), Betty’s agent and confidante who has been waiting for this moment for-fucking-ever and can barely contain her glee that it has now arrived; (2) Marco (Ian Charleson), brooding director of the production who has a serious woody for Betty even though he’s dating a nuclear-hot supermodel named Marion (Antonella Vitale); (3) Giulia (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni), spastic wardrobe director who always seems one tweak away from spinning her head around and puking green bile in every direction; (4) Inspector Santini (Urbano Barberini), smokin’ hot cop who also has a serious woody for Betty; (5) Stefano (William McNamara), stage manager who has yet another serious woody for Betty; and (6) Mr. Masked Psycho Killer (unknown), who probably has the biggest woody of them all for Betty - and doesn’t mind killing everyone around her to prove it.
Before you know it, people around Betty start getting carved up - and every single time she is forced to, ahem, watch the whole thing because of the aforementioned needles-taped-under-the-eyes number that Mr. Masked Psycho Killer seems to carry conveniently around. Each time, she manages to escape at the last minute and does what anyone of us would do in a similar situation: wander around aimlessly like nothing fucking happened. All together now: HUH???!??!
Meanwhile, Mr. Masked Psycho Killer is ramping up his attacks. Will he finally make Betty the centerpiece of his next crime? Or will she outwit his somehow? What the hell does this nutjob want, anyway? What secret from Betty’s past might solve this killing spree in the present? Who is the killer? Marco? Santini? Marion? Mira? Giulia? Stefano? Or is it… someone else? Is it - gasp! - Silvio Berlusconi?
I heard he likes opera and hot chicks, so it’s not too farfetched. Not in my book anyway…
BUT, SERIOUSLY: If there was ever a director who polarized audiences to stark degrees, it’s Italian auteur Dario Argento, whose string of successful and stylish “giallos” (super-surreal and colorful Italian horror/thrillers) in the 70s and 80s led him to be branded “The Italian Hitchcock”. Mario Bava may have set the stage for the “Giallo” genre with THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and SEI DONNE PER L’ASSASSINO (SIX WOMEN FOR THE KILLER - our next review), but it is Argento’s films that cemented the formula which would be much imitated all the way to recent hit franchises like the SCREAM films. Bottom line: Argento was very influential - more so than people realize.
But, as I mentioned above, he often divided his audiences. Those of us who love his work often cite pluses like gripping set-pieces and artful direction that turn the films into hallucinatory journeys through disturbing dream worlds. Those who despise his oeuvre often cite the usual suspects: bad dubbing, awful acting, illogical plots, too much style over substance, clunky and silly dialogue. And even us Argento fans have to agree that the nay-sayers have a legitimate gripe. Argento has never been a careful plotter, being more concerned with the visual and emotional impact of his stories - not the intellectual.
A prime example of this is his 1987 hit OPERA, which would mark the end of his Golden Era - a time that began with his first film THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE back in 1970. OPERA is Argento’s last film that effectively combines his strengths to the point that they almost make up for the weaknesses. This film is regarded highly among Argento circles because of the sleek and scary way it transfers a “Giallo” set-up to the world of OPERA, and by how it updates the classic “Phantom of the Opera” plotline for modern audiences.
How do I feel about it? Well, it is certainly above average for Argento... But is it as good as other Argento fans think? In my humble opinion? Not really. Unlike SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, and PHENOMENA, which all had somewhat cohesive plotlines with protagonists who behaved more or less like reasonable human beings, OPERA suffers from having a protagonist who doesn’t react properly to the mayhem unfolding around her. Betty as essayed by Cristina Marsillach is just too detached and calm considering the trauma the killer repeatedly subjects her to. I’m a pretty stoic and calm person, but if I was forced to watch three of my friends be murdered in front of me, I can assure you I would not be as unfazed as Betty seems to be. I suspect this has less to do with Marsillach’s performance as it does with Argento’s typically lazy writing and characterization.
Another plot weakness is the flimsy police procedural thread, which gives us some of the dumbest cops this side of Keystone. These guys seems just as unconcerned about the maniac loose in their midst as Betty is. How are we supposed to feel a sense of danger if no one even seems worried? You didn’t feel this way about the events in SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, and PHENOMENA, which all had constantly-rising tension. OPERA had the potential to match or even overtake these films and became a classic in its own right, but Argento shoots himself in the foot with his lackadaisical plotting.
So… why then does OPERA rate a *** (above average)? Easy: because of some truly stellar set-pieces and sequences. Most Argento films have at least two of these, and they are often enough to save or even distinguish them. SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, TENEBRAE, and PHENOMENA were all distinguished by their respective set-pieces because they had fairly solid narratives to begin with. OPERA, on the other hand, is merely saved by its remarkable sequences because of its rather flimsy set-up. Still, that’s enough.
Some great scenes to look out for: (1) Betty’s opening debut, (2) the killer coming after her and Mira in her cavernous apartment, (3) Mira’s shocking death scene (you’ll think twice before peeking through peephole ever again) (3) Marco releasing the ravens to ferret out the killer during a show, and (4) the final cat-and-mouse chase between the killer and Betty in Switzerland after we think everything is over with. Argento is in top form during these inspired moments, and they elevate OPERA above the average mark for an Argento movie. Thank goodness, too, because the cast - with the exception of Ian Charleson as Marco - play their roles a little too over-the-top and histrionic. This is a weakness for a lot of Argento’s films, but never more than here. Fortunately, Argento does such a good job of juxtaposing scenes of pure beauty with jarring violence that we are constantly pulled back into the action. This dichotomy echoes the same vibe he gave SUSPIRIA - without question his most successful film to date.
In the end, OPERA is falls in the middle area of the Argento canon. It’s a stylish, beautifully-filmed, but uneven horror/thriller that would’ve been as good as SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, and PHENOMENA had the script been given a couple more careful rewrites and strengthened. But, fortunately, it’s not the worst of Argento’s movies. Like its American distant cousin SLIVER, OPERA is an interesting misfire.
