“Dark Glasses” A return to the origins of giallo, full of Argento-esque chords

see/be seen

The moon overlaps with the sun, and the city is completely enveloped in darkness. ``Dark Glasses'' begins with such a disturbing solar eclipse scene. According to Dario Argento, this is a homage to Michelangelo Antonioni 's L'eclisse (1962) (*1). Indeed, Antonioni must have been a very important figure to him, an extroverted cinephile who wrote movie reviews for magazines as a teenager. The switch from the world of light to the world of darkness also serves as a "foreshadowing" that the main character Diana (Ylenia Pastorelli) will lose her eyesight.

(*1) “Dark Glasses” Interview with director Dario Argento

However, to me, this solar eclipse looks like a giant "eye." The eyes of God look down on humans from far above the sky. If you think about it, Dario Argento is a filmmaker who has impressively inserted shots of wide-open eyes. For example, in `` Shadow '' (1982), cuts to the eyes are subliminally used every time a murder occurs.

To begin with, movies are a medium that is built on the relationship of ``seeing/being seen.'' The ``viewing audience'' is the subject, and the ``viewing movie'' is the object. Through the screen, we can watch Diana's every move like a god. Furthermore, in the case of a suspense movie, the relationship could be reduced to the ``perpetrator seen'' and the ``victim seen''.

“Dark Glasses” Copyright 2021 © URANIA PICTURES SRL e GETAWAY FILMS SAS

The original title of this work is "Occhiali neri". Black glasses...just Dark Glasses(sunglasses). Diana continues to wear sunglasses throughout the movie, perhaps as a subtle resistance to being seen. By covering his eyes, he may be trying to avoid the killer's gaze. When I look at Argento's works, I can't help but think about the medium's characteristics of ``seeing/being seen.''

A bright red blouse, bright red lipstick, and bright red blood. In this work, a shocking crimson color covers the screen. This use of primary colors is typical of Dario Argento. However, towards the end of the film, night falls and the film loses its color. A monochrome image reminiscent of old film noir. That's exactly what the world looks like through sunglasses. With his skillful hands, the old director carefully complements ``seeing/being seen'' visually. No, it's amazing.

blind hero