 Thank you for checking out this no spoilers movie review. This is for the Dario Argento film from 1970 called The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. This is actually considered to be one of his best films. It's his first Directed film so as people say directorial debut for Dario Argento, although he had been writing scripts For a bunch of films prior to this none that were I was gonna say none that were J.L. I don't actually don't know that none that were Released in the United States. They're all only recognized as Italian films at this point So this is where he became known to the American market pretty much and directorial debut So you kind of it's interesting because I haven't seen this I had not seen this film until I'd seen a bunch of his other films that were obviously much later films of his So it's interesting to see what his aesthetic is Later and then go back and see this first film to see how his aesthetics started So there's some things that are not there and then there's some things that you kind of see and you're like Oh, he still does this or that so and I'll talk a little bit more about that kind of stuff as we go on So like I said it's from 1970. I ended up This is not available on any streaming service that I'm aware of except this is the thing so I got this out through Netflix DVD and Terrible terrible. I have to tell you this. I'm watching the film and the very end like the last like 10 minutes of the film which is the the pinnacle of what the film is where everything comes together It just stops and I tried messing with the DVD and everything there were the scratches were too bad too damaged I couldn't go on but then I figured out the whole movie is on YouTube so I just watched that last portion on YouTube and Honestly, it looks better on YouTube, which is ridiculous, but anyway So let me get into this. So like I said, this is the first Direct the directorial debut of Argento and it's cool to have seen that now This is actually credited for popularizing giallo In the United States at least So at least that's what I hear. So if I'm wrong on that, it's the people who told me who are wrong. Sorry This is the beginning of the animal trilogy. This is something that Argento did with his three Mothers trilogy, but this was the first trilogy and it's kind of interesting that the very first film He directs ends up being the first in a trilogy of films a lot of directors don't do that They just kind of like they do some films for a while and then maybe they'll be like, oh now I'm gonna do a trilogy So this is the animal trilogy. So it's the bird with the crystal plumage for 1970 then 1971 is cat o nine tails and then 1972 is four flies on gray velvet Which those two films I have not seen but I look forward to seeing them now I actually might make my next Argento film I might just do cat a nine tails because that's also available on YouTube apparently And four flies on gray velvet is not so I'm gonna have to Know where I'm gonna end up getting that because that's not available through Netflix DVD either But whatever so apparently the script for this film was borrowed heavily from a Novel written by a man named Frederick Brown and the fifth the the novel is called the screaming Mimi Which I assume is referring to The bird with the crystal plumage basically And that was originally made into a film in 1958 So this is based on a book that had a film made out of it That is now basically the bird with the crystal plumage is basically the second adaptation In a sense to that book So film adaptation So when it was released in the United States originally there were 20 minutes cut out of it But now what you get is the Unrated cut kind of the uncut version and it had a PG rating which Well the equivalent then of a PG rating PG as a rating didn't exist then in 1970 but It's the equivalent of PG now so Which is interesting because there is some blood There is some real violence to it so for it to have been PG is kind of weird It shows you how they how like those rating skills change over time So it wastes no time getting into things and letting you know that there's something terrible around the corner You as people know with giallo, there's always a gloved Usually trench-coated killer And we have to figure out throughout the course of the film who it is Which usually you can't actually figure out who it is until it's Said to you in the very end because it gets things get very convoluted. But um Yeah, I mean introduced immediately Just to get you into it and be like this is giallo. Here we go And you know something terrible is going to happen. Just wait for it. So I like that about it because it gets it it may it grabs you immediately. It's it's super awesome I really like that it's a much better way than just like kind of leisurely going into it and being like Here's some people here's what's going on and then oh now something's gonna happen It's just better when they're just like Danger immediately and then you see how that fits in this stuff Um, as with most Argento films the locations are beautiful and the shots of those locations are very interesting The cinematography in general is very very good in this film That's a hallmark of our all pretty much all Argento films But it's interesting because like I was saying it's interesting now to go back and see his first film having seen a bunch of his later films One of the things he's really well known for overall is using a lot of interesting lighting colors in the film And his lighting in general like how he chooses to use lighting. That's not on display in his first film I guess that's something he came to later and as I go through more of his films It'll be interesting to see if I can pinpoint What film that started with uh and by the way if you know if you're watching this and you know Put a comment down there because I would be interested to to see if anyone out there knows that but It was interesting because that's something I know about Argento is Those colors so I was I was really looking for that colored lighting To be used and it just was not there But the cinematography style and the the cool locations still there it's it's there throughout which I really love That's one of the greatest things like aesthetically I love watching Argento films for the aesthetics for the locations Just the directing is great and cinematography. So they are overall stylish and well directed overall stylish well directed Cinematography is great. Like I said Um, everything just looks good like and it's not just that like the set design looks really nice the The characters costuming looks appropriate and interesting Uh, there's a correlation in this film between humans Putting animal death on display because it's kind of like how things start behind glass And overall there's like a big integration of glass in general you see glass used in different ways throughout the film Uh, and that's kind of something that Argento tends to do He'll kind of like pick one aspect of something and it repeats throughout the film And so in this film it's glass glass comes up a lot in different ways and there's kind of a focus on The display of animal death within glass and then that translates over to humans as well And I wonder if that's kind of trying to say Hey, and humans are animals too and just like that can happen with animals It can happen with humans as well because they are also animals There's also an overall theme of animals and people trapped Like cage somehow whether it's glass or it's some other type of cage It's confining humans confining animals And I find that very interesting because it really does carry throughout the film And that's what I appreciate a lot with directors Is when they have a theme like that that just carries throughout the film So you can just continually recognize it and be like oh, there's that theme There's that theme. There's that theme instead of doing it once or twice Um, I just I don't know. I just really enjoy that and Argento is good at that very good at that Uh, there's a hilarious line in this have to point this out where they're doing like a criminal lineup And and the detective said bring in the perverts. He's just like bring in the perverts It's it just seems like such an odd line. Like why would you have it in there? But it's really funny. So I just needed to mention that Once again comments down there if you've already seen this film What were your thoughts when they said bring in the perverts? It's just weird It's crazy to see the really old gigantic pewter computers in this And it makes you realize that that actually wasn't that long ago It's like these giant iniac style computers where like It's multiples Put together and each one is like the size of a of a giant metal filing cabinet It's nuts. It's just nuts because like you get ingrained in your current culture And how technology is that you just kind of forget these things until you go back and you watch an older film like this From like the 1970s and you're just like Oh, yeah, computers used to be like that And then you think and you're like that actually wasn't that long ago So the the pace at which technology moves is insane So that's another reason I just like watching older horror films because you pick up on those types of things And also like societal norms like what was going on in society at this point like one of the things with this film is there's some kind of Like homophobia in it and like anti gay Gays to the to the film which would definitely not Not happen nowadays, but it was very common back then and was just like, oh, yeah, that's just you know That's what it is. So it's just kind of interesting In a sense, it's like a time capsule all these films are time capsules to show you what societal norms are and how people were and What they wore and What the themes were because that's another thing with horror in general Is it throughout the decades each decade kind of has their focus of what's most scary? And it's usually very much tied into social anxieties. So You know, that's a thing Uh, so there are a bunch of really quirky characters that are introduced in the film Which two things about that one, I love quirky characters in film It's it always gives you something, you know an additional interesting something And in combination with the really cool locations that our jento picks Um, I just love it. It just keeps you engaged and and it's fun but also It adds a lot of potential killers to the pool for the filmgoer to watch So, you know, when you're watching it, you're kind of trying to figure out the mystery along with whoever's trying to solve it Usually there's an actual detective involved and then some random person who was involved somehow Um, so when they keep introducing these characters and especially when they're quirky you keep being like Oh, well, it could be this person could be this person could be this person And a lot of times it's not those people the real quirky ones It's someone here. You're like, oh no, they seem so normal, but There's something in their past. It's you know, that that happens a lot with the giallo films But I like it. Uh, the soundtrack is weird in this it's kind of odd But when you think about it, you're like, oh, it was in the 1970s. You're kind of like, okay, that makes sense But then there was something that occurred to me in that there were some Moments where the the soundtrack is very sexual in nature. Like it's a woman kind of like Uh, uh, uh, but it just sounds like very breathy and and like light and sexual and sensual and so I Don't know if it was it was an intentional thing where Where he was trying Argento was trying to kind of like blur the lines between like sexuality and violence Because he has kind of messed with that type of stuff in other films But I don't know if he was trying to go for that this early But it kind of presented to me like that could have been an intentional thing or maybe he was just like Oh, that sounds good at this time. I don't know Argento has a fixation with animals as you can tell by doing an animal trilogy the focus on The bird with crystal plumage then cat and nine tails house flies four flies on gray velvet fixation on animals he always has Just animals in the films pretty much, you know, like opera. It was like crows Um, I think it was crows. They're supposed to be ravens. I can't remember I think crows Um inferno, there's cats and rats Um, just a bunch of films. He's just like throwing animals in here and there in this one He has birds and he has cats, which you know, it makes sense because like cats are going after birds and There's a tie in there theme wise thematically of you know, the killer and prey Cat and mouse, you know, and the detective and the killer and you know So that theme is it works in this film But it's weird because he just always has these fixations with bringing animals in and you can tell throughout Argento's films that he hates cats And there's a tie in in this film where you're just like Okay, yeah, he definitely hates cats, but you also really get that in inferno Uh a good deal This is weird. It's a little weird, but everyone's got their thing. Whatever Uh, it's interesting and it's an interesting and complicated ending Which is a pretty good payoff to be honest But also when you really think about it like Applying it to real life, you're like, yeah, that's not very realistic But it works within the context of the film like they explain it and they show it in a way that you're just like Yeah, okay within the film sure and it's fun It's a really interesting twist and there are a few twists in it and I like that so it is a good payoff at the end um and But based but leading up to that there are actually moments where it kind of drags I do feel like it would have been nice if it's cut down a little bit to kind of move the pacing a little bit better But at the same time this is kind of You know a 2019 type thing where people Need films to be kind of like tight back then that wasn't as much the case people felt more leisurely They were more apt to just Take movies as they were and if they were moving kind of slow they're moving kind of slow and that's fine So You know take it for what it is and then the last thing I wanted to say this is kind of funny to me Someone gets karate chopped in it And literally when I was watching I was watching it with my wife like it happens and I was just like Did that was that just a karate chop and she was like, yeah, and I was like that Who does that like first of all it doesn't make sense second of all The way the karate chop happened in the film it would not have Done what it did And if you've seen this film, you know what i'm talking about put it in the comments down there What did you think when the karate chop happened? It just it was funny to me. It was very laughable. I was just like Seriously, someone just karate chopped like weird Okay, but you know it kind of adds to the quirk and the the interest of the film Just like bringing it bring out the perverts You know, there's always interesting things getting thrown in especially with Argento. He's an interesting dude So that's my review overall of the bird with a crystal plumage Enjoyed this film. I'm actually doing a list Of my top giallo films. I haven't seen a ton of giallo, but I'm trying to watch a bunch So you'll see more reviews of giallo on here I wouldn't put the bird with the crystal plumage at the top for myself I liked Blood and black lace by mario bava more. I also like deep red by dario argento more and I actually liked tenebrae By dario argento argento more as well Um, all those movies. I just mentioned I have reviewed on my channel So if you want to see reviews for those just look for them And I think i'm actually going to make a playlist on my youtube channel that has One for all giallo and one I think for all argento because I've done Um, I've done a bunch of argento giallo, but then I also did inferno And then eventually i'm going to do suspiri and a bunch of other ones. So Those playlists will be Will be good people seem to like when I review argento, but anyway, thank you for checking this out You could really help me out though by hitting that subscribe. Uh, that's your way to pay me back It's totally painless takes you like a second. I don't make money on this doing it for fun throwing it out there So please help me out hit that subscribe And put comments down there. I just want to talk about these things I really be interested to find out what people's Takes on this movie are because obviously mine Is my own take and you may have a very unique take on it. So let me know But thanks so much for checking this out and until next time keep it brutal