Strengthened by the full public success of the tributes to Antonioni, Fellini and Pasolini, Cinecittà and the British Film Institute – the largest British film institution – are collaborating again, this time to celebrate the Italian master of thrills, with a month of programming dedicated to him by title Dario Argento: Doors into Darkness, on the bill at the Southbank institute from 1 to 23 May.
For more than five decades Argento has given the world one of the most agonizingly complex perspectives on horror: from the lucid, stylish shockers of his acclaimed thrillers to the gothic kaleidoscope of his mystery horrors. The London public will be able to retrace the master’s long and legendary career on several occasions: during a conversation with spectators that will see Argento as the protagonist, on May 12, and with introductions to the screenings and Q&As that will open and close the viewing of his most iconic films.
The retrospective offers programming of the Cinecittà laboratories’ restored 4K versions of 17 of the filmmaker’s films, all of them British premieres, including The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, the stunning 1970 debut, The Cat O’Nine Tails ( 1971), the masterpiece-manifesto Profondo rosso (1975), Suspiria (1977), the chilling meta-giallo Tenebre (1982), Trauma and many others.
A selection of these titles will also be available to subscribers of the BFI Player streaming platform together with a video essay introducing the retrospective, ‘Strange Phenomena’, online from 17 April on the BFI’s YouTube channel.
“Argento is undoubtedly one of the most influential names in the history of horror cinema, no other director has been able to create worlds with such a precise style and dreamlike foreboding as him – says Michael Blyth curator of the retrospective and senior film programmer at the BFI – It is a pleasure to collaborate with Cinecittà on the tribute of a revolutionary work and to be able to welcome its creator. Terror has seldom looked so beautiful.”
“We are proud to present Dario Argento: Doors into Darkness in London, a tribute to one of the cult directors of Italian cinema, made possible thanks to the fruitful collaboration with the BFI – commented Camilla Cormanni and Paola Ruggiero, curators of the retrospective for Cinecittà -. Creator of a genre that mixes psychological thriller, mystery and horror with splatter hints, Argento has created films in which visionary power, aesthetic research and almost obsessive attention to photography and sound have become hallmarks of his inimitable talent. Thanks to meticulous restoration work, we are very happy to be able to return 17 of the master’s films to the public in their original splendour. It is an honor for Cinecittà to celebrate a contemporary author who continues to be honored and emulated by many fans around the world“.