“Deep Red” is more fantasy than logic. Mystery dyed deep red

“Deep Red” synopsis

At the European Parapsychological Society held in Rome, Helga, who has supernatural powers, suddenly becomes deranged and declares that a person who previously committed a brutal murder is in the venue. Later, when Helga returns to her room, she is brutally murdered by someone. Mark, an Irish pianist, happens to witness this moment and sees the man in the coat running away. Janna, a female reporter interested in the case, approaches Mark. The two work together to solve the mystery of the incident.

Index

• Argento returns to the world of giallo
• “Fresh pain that the audience can relate to”
• First collaboration with Goblin
• Pursuit of pure cinematic expression, strong sense of color

Argento returns to the world of giallo

It is a well-known story, but ``Deep Red'' (1975) is not a sequel to `` Suspiria '' (1977). The original title is ``Profondo Rosso,'' which means ``crimson,'' which is completely different from the title itself. It had not been released theatrically in Japan, but after the success of ``Suspiria,'' the distributor decided that ``if we marketed it as a sequel, we would be able to attract more customers.'' In 1978, three years after its release in its home country of Italy, it was released under the title ``Deep Red''. Rather, ``Suspiria'' is the first work in the ``Witch Trilogy,'' which includes `` Inferno '' (1980) and `` Suspiria: The Last Witch '' (2007). In the sense of a sequel, ``Inferno'' is more appropriate (oh, that's confusing).

``Deep Red'' has been treated poorly in Japan, but this work is a masterpiece that leaves no questions asked. It is without a doubt one of Dario Argento's masterpieces. One of the reasons for this is probably because ``Deep Red'' was a ``return to the roots'' work for him.

“Deep Red” preview

Since his debut as a film director with `` The Fang of Joy '' (1970), `` I Am a Witness '' (1971), and `` The Four Flies '' (1971), Dario Argento has been known as a master of suspense films called giallo. (I mention Giallo in my article ``Suspiria(77): Bloody Snow White Colored in the Three Primary Colors of Light' ', so if you are interested, please read this).

However, Argento changed direction with his fourth film, The Big Five Days (1973). In a departure from his previous work, he directed a comedy film set in 19th century Milan. Argento wanted to test his abilities in a new field different from thrillers.

But the results were dismal. No audience attended, and critics completely ignored it. Furthermore, because the subject matter was too local, it was not distributed overseas and was only released in Italy. Next time, I must return to Notorious. After the box office failure of The Big Five, Argento decided to return to the world of giallo. ``Deep Red'' was the work that brought him back to life.

When you find yourself in a difficult situation, the important thing is to return to your starting point. Sir Alfred Hitchcock also had the experience of making the famous masterpiece `` The Stranger Strangers on a Train '' (1951) after receiving harsh reviews for ``Stage Fright'' (1950). / Truffaut ,” he said these words:

``The golden rule of returning to a certain point and starting over (ru for cover) worked.''