The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (In honour of Dario Argento's 77th birthday today)

Today is Dario Argento’s 77^th birthday and I received in the mail, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage that I ordered a week ago! In honor of Dario’s birthday, I will write a review of it.

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is a giallo film, and it was released in 1970, making it the directorial debut of Argento. It is part of his Animal Trilogy (that also includes Cat o’ Nine Tails (1971) and Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1972). The story of Bird with the Crystal Plumage concerns a man named Sam (played by Tony Musante) who is in Italy, trying to get over his writer’s block with his girlfriend (played by Suzi Kendall). He witnesses a murder of a woman (played by Eva Renzi) in an art gallery, and gets sucked into a web of mystery and violence involving the woman and a serial murderer.

Unlike Argento’s later work, this one has very little blood in it; though that does not detract from the use of suspense and terror to keep the story moving. In fact, there is an element of Hitchcock in that you see a lot of the murders through the eyes of the killer or you get this air of anticipation with everywhere that Sam goes, playing detective. The sets are sparse and in many instances dark, which adds to that mood.

The soundtrack is done by Ennio Morricone and it gives it a suspenseful feel however it does seem out of place in a lot of scenes. Luckily, it is used sparingly.

It is an interesting start to Argento’s film career I will say because it conveys so much without having so much gore and really makes you want to know what the hell is going on. It does not confuse like many giallos do (at least for me) and has really great pacing to keep you riveted. Like Sam, you want to solve the murder to with every new clue.

Overall, this is a great Argento film to begin with if you have not seen an Argento film and really showcases where he began and where he will be going with his future films.