Italy in the '70s: Style

I've failed to write a post for two months, so bear with me. Fashion, hair, and make-up were the reasons I was initially drawn to italian cinema. My fondest childhood moments were spent watching 1970s Indian films. When Ryan introduced me to non-new wave Italian cinema, I noticed elements of   1970s Bollywood style and current trends in fashion. So I continued watching. 

The '70s was a time for great hair. "Cold Eyes of Fear" is a giallo set in "swinging" London but the look is irrefutably italian. The mullet has popped up as a trend in the past 10 years. Though it has disappeared in most respects, all-womens' colleges the world-over continue to adopt this super-styled mullet. Here are his and her mullets:

Make up is a hard subject to discuss, because I don't know how to use it. But I know what looks good when I see it.

Here are some examples of excellence in face painting:

This screenshot is from Dario Argento's "Inferno." This incredibly attractive female engages the camera for a few minutes with her bewitching good looks and her cat. What adds to her allure is her smokey eye make-up and smoldering tinted lips, without which she would just be some girl in a classroom with a cat. This changes the scene from weird to seductively engaging.

This photo is a still from "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion," which prominently features women with intricately painted faces and bourgeois outfits. The film is more of a mystery than a typical giallo. This photo features a look from the 1970s that will likely never be revived: the curled piece of sideburn that juts into the face. I've noticed many women in Italian and Indian cinema during this time with hair shorn to sideburns to achieve the look. 

In addition to being reviewed on Whip Zooms and Stinger Chords, "The Perfume of the Lady in Black" should be praised for its use of neutral clothing to turn Mimsy Farmer into an ethereal pixie-ish beauty. Note: All of her outfits are repeatedly re-designed for wear today by major labels and chain retail stores alike. 

Here her angelic and menacing beauty is juxtaposed with her lanky friend's "dated" 70s look. 

Note: Many people would not dress like the lady to the right today. The author is not included in this category of people.

This entry on fashion would be incomplete without the inclusion of Daria Nicolodi. She is not only a brilliant writer and actress, but she has a strong sense of style. Her style mixes menswear and silky fabrics in a way entirely inspirational. Designers today often try to seek this balance in masculine-feminine apparel, but few women can carry it off like Ms. Nicolodi. 

Please excuse the shallowness of this post.

--Sana

Cats of Giallo

Cats are prominent images in a plethora of giallo films of the 1970s. This list is not exhaustive, but there are some moments of animals acting as feline omens or scary tricksters.

There are two major trends; when cats appear at climactic moments and when cats appear at moments of quiet which allude to the horrors about to come.

Cold Eyes of Fear (1971)

This orange cat appears during a climactic moment of horror. The male protagonist is searching the premises for the killer he believes is present. A booby trap is placed at the door to catch the killer exiting a room, but this cat trips the chord instead.

The Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)

This cat appears at the patio door of this couple's apartment at a moment of quiet when thingsjust start getting weird. The couple then stops what they are doing, goes to the door and lets the cat enter. For several moments, the camera focuses on the cat's eyes--so as to allude to the common belief that cats (or domestic animals) can sense danger.

Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye (1973)

Aside from what is given in the title, this cat plays an important interpretive role in this movie. The cat is entombed with the body of a murdered woman (supposedly an enchantress), but comes back to creep through. Voyeuristically, from its view we see the drama unfold. Not only does the cat ominously creep around in the background, but it attacks and interacts with the characters strangely.

Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974)

I previously reviewed this movie for the blog, but failed to mention the creepy leering cats. First, there is a cat that attacks Silvia (Mimsy Farmer) which belongs to an old female neighbor. Throughout the film, the old woman carries around the cat; and in a later scene repeatedly asks Silvia is she knows of the cat's whereabouts. If you remember, I mentioned that several of the people with whom Silvia associated were in on some fake "African voodoo" plan to coerce Silvia's actions. This moment further drives his paranoia.

Additionally, a male elder neighbor whom she regarded as father-like figure, feeds his cats the remains of her young friend who lives in the building. Here are these casts feasting on her fingers

Inferno (1980)

Dario Argento makes the image of a witch with her cat look scary. In this film, Mark, the male protagonist sits in a lecture hall amongst several students wearing headphones and reading sheet music. An enchanting young woman with lustful eyes and an open pandering mouth sits diagonally from him, petting her cat and staring bewitchingly in his direction. Wind and light aim themselves at her as she bewitches him in this manner. After this scene, Mark begins his discovery of the Three Sisters' legacy in a most horrifying manner.

-Sana

The Perfume of the Lady in Black

The Perfume of the Lady in Black is incorrectly labeled as a giallo film, though it is more of a psychological thriller a la Polanski's Apartment Trilogy (Repulsion, the Tenant, and Rosemary's Baby).

This movie took some of the more awesome elements of the Apartment Trilogy and made them more italian. The film centers around a socially and emotionally awkward pretty blond (Mimsy Farmer) who has flashbacks and hallucinations related to a lady in black—her mother.

After she encounters a black man (no, I'm not the racist one), who talks to her about “African” witchcraft in his garden (which looks exactly like a jungle), she begins her descent into madness. Not only is she really disturbed by him, but she begins to hallucinate about her past. Ultimately, it is revealed that she killed her mother, though she does nothing to recognize this act other than continue to kill people. You never see her internalize what she did, which I found interesting. She begins to regress into her childhood self, the character Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. At the point of absolution in this form, she throws herself off of her building while dressed her mother's black dress—much the way she pushed her mother off of their building years ago. You see no moment of regret or pain as a result of the murder- only as a result of other incidences, like seeing a man other than her father have sex with her mother. So, when the moment of absolution happens, you don't really know what she really resolving.

What's interesting is that her paranoia was quite reasonable-unlike in Repulsion or the Tenant, when the characters' paranoia is self-inflicted and unfounded. It appears that the neighbors, acquaintances and shopkeepers are really in on this witchery that relates back to the Black Man. What strikes me is that, in the end, all of the people she killed or encountered stab and eat her lifeless body. This confuses the shit out of me, as I assumed they were all actually dead.

Best parts of the film: 
1. Seeing Mimsy Farmer's really black pubes contrasting with her really blonde hair
2. The final feast.

-Sana