Consolidated by the audience success of the Antonioni, Fellini, and Pasolini tributes, Cinecittà and the British Film Institute, the largest British film institution, are collaborating again to celebrate the Italian master of thrills, with a month of programming entitled Dario Argento: Doors into Darkness at the Southbank Institute from May 1 to 23.
For more than five decades, Dario Argento has given the world one of the most agonizingly complex perspectives on horror: from the lucid and stylish shockers of his acclaimed thrillers to the gothic kaleidoscope of his mysterious horrors. A number of encounters will retrace the master’s long and legendary career for London movie lovers: from a conversation with the director on May 12 to the introductions to the screenings and Q&As that will open and close the viewing of his most iconic pictures.
The retrospective offers the screening of 4K versions of 17 features by the filmmaker restored by the Cinecittà laboratories, all British premieres, including The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, his stunning 1970 directing debut, The Cat O’Nine Tails (1971), his masterpiece-manifesto Deep Red (1975), Suspiria (1977), the chilling meta-giallo Tenebrae (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 April 17 on 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 a tribute to his revolutionary work and welcome its creator. Terror has seldom looked so beautiful.”
“We are proud to present London with Dario Argento: Doors into Darkness, 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, “The creator of a genre that mixes psychological thriller, mystery and horror with splatter hints, Argento has created films in which the visionary power, aesthetic research and nearly obsessive attention to photography and sound have become hallmarks of his inimitable talent. Thanks to a meticulous restoration work, we are extremely happy to return 17 of the master’s films to the audience in their original splendor. It is an honor for Cinecittà to celebrate a contemporary author who continues to be honored and emulated by many fans around the world”.
Tickets for Dario Argento: Doors into Darkness are sold online starting April 6: www.bfi.org.uk