Dario Argento
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Birthdate: 07 Sep 1940 Birthplace: Rome, Italy Born in 1943, Dario Argento, the son of Italian film producer Salvatore Argento, segued from his early career as a film critic to assistant to Italian shockmeister Mario Bava to full-time screenwriter. He has since parlayed his phobias into a directorial career that marks him as the Italian cinema's reigning king of terror. Argento's filmmaking is skewed at best and full of contradictions. Horror-film characters have always been apt to run foolishly into dark attics or cellars often with known killers or monsters lurking about. But Argento's characters are ten times as likely to commit such foolish acts, and much else, to propel the plots of his pictures from one shock scene to the next. Argento the film festival guest professes to love animals but Argento the director kills them off on-screen with alarming frequency. Nineteenth-century criminology and pounding synthesizer scores often inhabit the same film. He usually keeps his chillers cold, distancing viewers from his characters emotionally, while using his fluid camera style to bring audiences and characters together physically�in some cases by taking the viewer right into the victim's eyeball or brain pan. Popular and critical reaction to Argento's work is likewise divided. Some people, witnessing Argento's creeping camera, garish lighting, and convoluted story lines, accuse him of placing style over substance. Others rationalize his excesses as attempts to choreograph nightmares. Extreme reactions dismiss him as a no-talent hack or over praise him as "the Italian Hitchcock." Argento may have his flaws, but provoking lukewarm reaction is not one of them. |
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| 2001 | Non ho sonno |  |
| 1998 | Il Fantasma dell'opera | |
| 1996 | La Sindrome di Stendhal |  |
| 1992 | Trauma | |
| 1990 | Two Evil Eyes | |
| 1987 | Opera | |
| 1984 | Phenomena | |
| 1982 | Tenebre | |
| 1980 | Inferno | |
| 1977 | Suspiria | |
| 1975 | Profondo rosso | |
| 1973 | Le Cinque giornate | |
| 1972 | Testimone oculare |  |
| 1972 | Il Tram | |
| 1971 | 4 mosche di velluto grigio |  |
| 1970 | Il Gatto a nove code | |
| 1969 | L' Uccello dalle piume di cristallo | |
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GENERAL AUDIENCES: All ages admitted. |
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PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED: Some material may not be suitable for children. |
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PARENTS STRONGLY CAUTIONED: Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. |
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RESTRICTED: Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. |
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NO ONE 17 YEARS OR YOUNGER ADMITTED. |
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NOT RATED: The film has not been rated by the MPAA. |
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TO BE ANNOUNCED: The film is currently in production or planning. |
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TV SERIES or MOVIE: Project made for TV. Individual episode titles (if known) will be given in blue. |
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STUDENT FILM: The film was a project in college/film school and is not available to the public. |
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