Blu-ray Review: Opera

Opera is an absolutely delicious, intriguing and beautifully shot horror-thriller from writer and director Dario Argento. Released theatrically in 1987, it now is getting a special Blu-ray release. The film tells the tale of a young opera singer who suddenly gets her big break, finding herself in the role of Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s opera.  But before she can enjoy her success, people around her begin getting murdered, and she is made to watch.

The film opens with the final rehearsal for an unusual production of Verdi’s Macbeth, but the woman playing Lady Macbeth is upset by the presence of a raven on stage. This scene is presented in an interesting way. We hear the actor complaining about the production, about how the bird hates her and is deliberately ruining her performance, but we see the theatre and the action from her perspective. So the other actors and musicians and crew members are looking directly at us. It’s unsettling and effective, almost aligning us with this unseen character, while also distancing us from her, since she remains just a voice. An interesting effect is created because we don’t want to be aligned with her; we want to escape from her perspective, just as she wants to get away from the production. Then, as she rushes out of the theatre, we see her hit by a car. But it’s done in a wide shot from a distance, so we never really get a good look at her.

That leads to Betty (Cristina Marsillach), the understudy for the role, getting a call from a mysterious man who tells her tonight she’ll make her debut as Lady Macbeth. When her agent enters to confirm the news, Betty protests that she’s too young for the part and is afraid she won’t be able to reach some of the notes required. And she says, “Macbeth brings bad luck.” This film does play with that idea of the curse of Macbeth, something that will be familiar to all theatre people. On opening night, one of the theatre employees is killed, causing a stage light to fall and interrupt the performance. The director then tells Betty, “I know we’ve had some trouble, but you know it’s got nothing to do with Macbeth.” Whether it has to do with the choice of play or not, the trouble has just begun. There are some intense scenes, like when Betty is tied up, the killer using a terrifying little contraption to hold her eyes open so she is forced to watch him murder her lover. And the scene with her agent in Betty’s apartment is likewise intense.

The film is full of intriguing shots, camera movements and unusual perspectives, all of which work to keep us on edge and make us unsure of whom to trust. In addition to the actor’s perspective in the opening scene, we get the killer’s perspective, and even a bird’s perspective, the latter in a wild shot as the bird flies around inside the theatre. The birds play an unusual and important role in the story, at one point unlocking their own cage and attacking an intruder who enters the props and costumes storage area of the theatre. There is also a somewhat humorous shot of the woman who was to play Lady Macbeth watching the live broadcast of the performance from home. All we see of her is her leg in a cast, as a man tells her not to be childish. And at times we get glimpses of erotic images, such as a woman’s hands being tied, she seemingly a willing participant as she holds her hands still for him rather than struggling. These add to the strange, beautiful, dreamlike quality of the movie. But it all fits together.

Music also plays an important role in this film. Obviously, we get portions of the music from the opera. But another moment I love is the sudden contrast in music when the stage manager is murdered. A loud rock song plays, in jarring contrast to the music that’s come before and the beautiful, ethereal music that plays afterward. This is an excellent and enjoyable film, one of Argento’s best.

Special Features

The Blu-ray contains a couple of special features. The first, Blood Red Curtain, is an interview with Dario Argento about the film. He begins by saying, “It is a film that I love, and I put it first place among my favorite films.” Argento is a fan of opera, and actually was able to stage Verdi’s Macbeth years after this film (and this special feature treats us to a couple of still images from that production). He talks about the troubles of working with ravens, including that one bit him in the face. He also talks about some of the camera moves, as well as the music. This feature is approximately twenty-two minutes.

The second special feature is an interview with actor William McNamara, who tells the story about getting the role in the film, and about working on two projects at once. He talks about his death scene. But the most interesting anecdote he tells is in regards to that opening scene, offering the explanation for why it was shot the way it was. Wild! This feature is approximately seventeen minutes.

There are also three trailers for the film, the first of which has the film titled Terror At The Opera.

Opera is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray on January 23, 2018 through Scorpion Releasing.

DVD Review: Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes For Lizards

I know very little about fashion, and care even less, and yet I was absolutely delighted with the documentary Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes For Lizards. There is something playful about this film right from the beginning – something playful about its subject, something playful about its approach – that got me on board immediately. The film’s subject is Manolo Blahnik, one of the world’s most famous shoe designers, someone who comes across as absolutely endearing, as well as interesting and unusual. At the beginning, he says, “The truth is I used to make shoes for lizards.” He is speaking of his childhood, then tells us he didn’t think about shoes again until much later.

Manolo, through a series of interviews, is allowed to tell his own story and to present himself as honestly as anyone can. Through him we get biographical information on his childhood and so on. (There are also some recreations of his childhood, but those feel unnecessary.) He was sent to school in Geneva at the age of 14. His parents wanted him to work at the United Nations. “I didn’t like it,” Manolo says. “I was bored to tears.” And just the way he says this had me laughing aloud. Even though I am generally disinterested in footwear, because of his character Manolo could have made me interested in any subject.

The film tells his story chronologically. There is some material on the demonstrations in Paris in 1968, which Manolo saw as entertainment. “I didn’t have any – I still don’t – any political belief. I never liked violence or marches. I can’t stand crowds.” He moved to London in 1971, an interesting time in general, not just in the fashion world. He tells a funny story about his first showing, which he considers a disaster. And there is material on his first shop, and about the start of his New York store in the 1980s. He has also worked in film, designing shoes for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.

In addition to the interviews with Manolo, this film includes interviews with other designers, models, fashion journalists and magazine editors. One of my favorite interviews, however, is with Rupert Everett, who talks about going to Manolo’s shop and buying a pair of shoes. He offers this observation: “His men’s shoes, well, they’re just kind of slightly more feminine versions of the women’s shoes.”

And yes, there are plenty of images of shoes, some of which are incredible. They are works of art, truly. I particularly like the images of his shoes among flowers, looking strangely like a natural part of the garden, showing us some of his inspiration. These are striking images. And he does talk of his interest in gardens, though – as those images show – it seems that everything in his life is somehow related to his shoe designs. And Manolo actually goes to his factory, creating the sample shoes himself, which is interesting. Doing that is something he loves. And his passion gets us interested in the subject. I had never really looked at shoes with anything approaching pleasure, but this documentary gave me a new appreciation for the aesthetic value of certain shoes (though I was also pleased to hear from several of the women interviewed that comfort was equally important in Manolo’s designs). There is maybe a bit too much footage of him signing books, but this documentary is thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable, as well as informative.

Special Features

The DVD includes a five-minute promotional piece about the designer and the film, which includes short snippets from the documentary. There are also two photo galleries, highlighting Manolo’s shoe designs. The film’s trailer is also included.

Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes For Lizards was written and directed by Michael Roberts, and was released on DVD on December 12, 2017 through Music Box Films.

DVD Review: Earthrise

Earthrise is a strange and intriguing science fiction suspense film in which three people travel from Mars to Earth to take part in a somewhat mysterious operation to rehabilitate the planet. Dawn (Meaghin Burke), Vivian (Casey Dillard) and Marshall (Greg Earnest) have been chosen to take part in the Revive Project and are on their way to Earth when the film opens. But things begin to turn weird aboard the ship, and the three people begin to question whether they can trust each other.

When the film opens, Marshall is running down a corridor of the ship, bleeding from his head, and chased by two people. As he collapses on the ground, we hear one of them calling out, “Where are you, Marshall?” It’s an interesting opening, interesting enough to perhaps make us forgive the low-budget sets. The film then takes us back to earlier in the trip, with the three people in what appears to be an art gallery, talking about what is traveling with them in the cargo hold. It is a strange set, a bright, rather spacious room with paintings on the walls, giving the impression that they’re not aboard a ship at all. In fact, for a long time, I believed that the mission might be entirely in their minds, and they might be locked up somewhere and monitored. After all, why such a big ship for only three people? And why only three people? And it doesn’t seem that these three have any knowledge of how to fly the spacecraft. They don’t seem like astronauts, or even scientists. The ship is apparently flying itself on automatic. Again, all this adds to an unsettling sense that this isn’t quite real.

Also adding to that uneasy vibe is the way the film plays with chronology. It is no straight line back to the opening scene. And there are some teases. For example, at times we see Marshall with a bandage on his head, leading us to believe these scenes occur after the opening scene. They do not. Marshall bangs his head twice, the poor bugger. And in different early scenes, two characters will be talking about how to deal with the third, making us wonder if any of these people is okay. The film does provide flashbacks to the three characters being interviewed for the project, and these actually serve to isolate them further, for we never see the person conducting the interviews. The camera remains on each of those three characters. So, again, we are left wondering what this is really all about. Plus, they are asked questions like “Do you consider yourself to be stable?” and “Would you say you’re psychologically sound?” And each of the three suffers from hallucinations. Honestly, it wasn’t until the first exterior shot of the spaceship that I believed they were actually aboard a craft.

Little by little, we’re given information about the mission and about these characters, as well as a bit about the state of humanity on Mars. Interestingly, we’re never told what went wrong on Earth, what led to the initial – and seemingly necessary – colonization of the red planet. What we do know is that people live under a dome, and the trees and animals that are there have been replicated in some way. There are hints that life is not all that good on Mars. Also, only a few trips to Earth are scheduled each year. It’s not clear why that is. After all, the trip only takes seven days. That’s one of the problems with this film. It feels like such a short time for things to unravel the way they do. And we’re not given an idea of how big the population is on Mars. Or on Earth, for that matter.

This movie did keep me guessing. And there are interesting details. For example, Marshall looks at photographs of his wife – actual physical photographs, not digital images. And Vivian reads an actual book, rather than a text on a computer or something. It leads me to wonder if these three are the norm, or the exception. Plus, the mission itself doesn’t seem entirely clear to them. They three discuss rumors they’ve heard of people being used as test subjects. And at one point they settle in front of a screen to learn more about the project. At this point, we do see the screen that they’re watching, so we know it’s not in their heads. The man  on screen who provides some details about the mission comes across as a sort of combination of religious cult leader and salesman. He tells them: “We are all very proud of you for your commitment to the Revive Project. Out of the ashes of many, you have risen. Now that you have begun your voyage to Earth, you are privy to new information.”  Weird, creepy shit, right? This Revive Spokesman also tells them that any letters they send to loved ones back on Earth will be screened, which is also creepy. So what is it they’re getting involved in?

Unfortunately, the film provides no real pay-off. It sets up this delightfully uneasy tone, keeps us guessing about what the Revive Project really is, and about what’s happening to these people, but then doesn’t really deliver. Yes, the source of the hallucinations is revealed, but it’s lame. And when the film ends, it’s with a question. It’s a shame, because I definitely was intrigued throughout the film, and even though the acting is uneven, I became interested in the characters.

Special Features

The DVD includes a commentary track by writer/director Glenn Payne and cast member Casey Dillard. Glenn Payne says the budget for the film was approximately ten thousand dollars, which is nothing. It was shot in approximately fourteen days. They shot in a warehouse in Mississippi. They mention that the biggest problem was outside noise leaking in while they were shooting. Glenn does talk a bit about the art hanging in that main room.

The film’s trailer is also included.

Earthrise was written and directed by Glenn Payne, and was released on DVD on April 19, 2016 through MVD Visual.