About

This screening of The Bird with the Crystal Plumage will screen from a 35mm film print.

An American author living in Rome witnesses the attack of a woman at an art gallery. Unable to prevent the bloody assault, he becomes obsessed with the perpetrator and begins to make some of his own investigations to assist the police. However, these enquiries only lead him further into the path of the deranged murderer at the centre of his search.

Dario Argento's debut feature film, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, is a stunning and lush thriller that immediately established the director's innate mastery of the stylings of giallo cinema. The director's lurid aesthetic is wonderfully cultivated and complemented by the luscious Technicolor cinematography of Vittorio Storaro (The Conformist 1970, Apocalypse Now 1979) and Ennio Morricone's off-kilter yet beguiling score. Despite being Argento's earliest directorial work, there is nothing hesitant about this film – this is a nerve-shredding Hitchcockian thriller that packs an almighty punch.

Censorship note: As this print is from the original American theatrical release, a few seconds from one of the murder scenes have been cut.

MA15+