InItalian cinema,giallo (Italian:[ˈdʒallo];pl.:gialli; fromgiallo,lit. 'yellow') is a genre ofmurder mystery fiction that often containsslasher,thriller,psychological horror,psychological thriller,sexploitation, and, less frequently,supernatural horror elements.[1]
This particular style of Italian-producedmurder mysteryhorror-thriller film usually blends the atmosphere and suspense ofthriller fiction with elements ofhorror fiction (such as slasher violence) anderoticism (similar to the Frenchfantastique genre), and often involves a mysterious killer whose identity is not revealed until the final act of the film. The genre developed in the mid-to-late 1960s, peaked in popularity during the 1970s, and subsequently declined in commercial mainstream filmmaking over the next few decades, though examples continue to be produced. It was a predecessor to, and had significant influence on, the laterslasher film genre.[2]
In the Italian language,giallo is a genre of novel including any literary genre involving crime and mystery, with all its sub-genres such as crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, or thriller-horror.[3]
The termgiallo ("yellow") derives from a series of crime-mysterypulp novels entitledIl Giallo Mondadori (Mondadori Yellow), published byMondadori from 1929 and taking its name from the trademark yellow cover background. The series consisted almost exclusively of Italian translations of mystery novels by British and American writers. These includedAgatha Christie,Ellery Queen,Edgar Wallace,Ed McBain,Rex Stout,Edgar Allan Poe, andRaymond Chandler.[4][5][6]
Published as cheap paperbacks, the success of thegiallo novels soon began attracting the attention of other Italian publishing houses. They published their own versions and mimicked the yellow covers. The popularity of these series eventually established the wordgiallo as a synonym in Italian for a mystery novel. In colloquial and media usage in Italy, it also applied to a mysterious or unsolved affair.[4]
The Italian film genre began as literal adaptations of the originalgiallo mystery novels (seeGiallo (1933 film)[7]). Directors soon began taking advantage of modern cinematic techniques to create a unique genre that retained themystery andcrime fiction elements ofgiallo novels but veered more closely into thepsychological thriller orpsychological horror genres. Many of the typical characteristics of these films were incorporated into the later Americanslasher genre.[2]
In the film context, for Italian audiencesgiallo refers to any kind of murder mystery or horror thriller, regardless of its national origin.[8]
Meanwhile, English-speaking audiences have used the termgiallo to refer specifically to a genre of Italian-produced thriller-horror films known to Italian audiences asgiallo all'italiana.[5]
In the English-speaking world, Italiangiallo films are also sometimes referred to asspaghetti thrillers orspaghettislashers, in a similar manner to how Italian Western films andpoliziotteschi films from the same period have been referred to asspaghetti Westerns and spaghetti crime films, respectively.[9]
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Most critics agree that thegiallo represents a distinct category with characteristic thematic and stylistic features, though various critics have proposed slightly different characteristics (which consequently creates some confusion over which films can be consideredgialli).[10][11][4][12]
Although they often involve crime and detective work,gialli should not be confused with the other popular Italian crime genre of the 1970s, thepoliziotteschi, which includes moreaction-oriented films about violentlaw enforcement officers (largely influenced by gritty American films such asBullitt,Dirty Harry,Death Wish,The Godfather,Serpico, andThe French Connection). Directors and actors often moved between both genres and there is some overlap between them. While mostpoliziotteschi dealt with organized crime and police responses to it, some early examples of the genre focused instead on murder investigations, and especially on cases where a woman had been murdered in sexual circumstances. These films were more psychological than action-driven, and borrowed various themes and motifs fromgialli. Examples includeInvestigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) andNo, the Case Is Happily Resolved (1973). Some films could even be considered under the banner of either genre, such asFernando Di Leo'sNaked Violence (1969) andMassimo Dallamano's 1974 filmLa polizia chiede aiuto (What Have They Done to Your Daughters?).[13]
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Giallo films are generally characterized as gruesome murder-mystery thrillers that combine the suspense elements ofdetective fiction with scenes of shockinghorror, featuring excessive bloodletting, stylish camerawork, and often jarring musical arrangements. Thearchetypalgiallo plot involves a mysterious, black-gloved psychopathic killer who stalks and butchers a series of beautiful women.[12] While mostgialli involve a human killer, some also feature asupernatural element.[14]
The typicalgialloprotagonist is an outsider of some type, often a traveller, tourist, outcast, or even an alienated or disgracedprivate investigator, and frequently a young woman, often a young woman who is lonely or alone in a strange or foreign situation or environment (gialli rarely or less frequently featurelaw enforcement officers as chief protagonists, which would be more characteristic of thepoliziotteschi genre).[4][14] The protagonists are generally or often unconnected to the murders before they begin and are drawn to help find the killer through their role as awitness to one of the murders.[14] Author Michael Mackenzie has written thatgialli can be divided into the male-focusedm. gialli, which usually sees a male outsider witness a murder and become the target of the killer when he attempts to solve the crime; andf. gialli, which features a female protagonist who is embroiled in a more sexual and psychological story, typically focusing on her sexuality, psyche, and fragile mental state.[15]
The mystery is the identity of the killer, who is often revealed in theclimax to be another key character, who conceals his or her identity with a disguise (usually some combination of hat, mask, sunglasses, gloves, and trench coat).[16] Thus, the literarywhodunit element of thegiallo novels is retained, while being filtered through horror genre elements and Italy's long-standing tradition ofopera and stagedgrand guignol drama. The structure ofgiallo films is also sometimes reminiscent of the so-called "weird menace" pulp magazine horror mystery genre alongsideEdgar Allan Poe andAgatha Christie.[17]
It is important to note that while mostgialli feature elements of this basicnarrative structure, not all do. Some films (for exampleMario Bava's 1970Hatchet for the Honeymoon, which features the killer as the protagonist) may radically alter the traditional structure or abandon it altogether and still be consideredgialli due to stylistic or thematic tropes, rather than narrative ones.[14] A consistent element of the genre is an unusual lack of focus on coherent or logical narrative storytelling. While most have a nominal mystery structure, they may feature bizarre or seemingly nonsensical plot elements and a general disregard forrealism inacting,dialogue, and character motivation.[5][11][18] As Jon Abrams wrote, "Individually, each [giallo] is like an improv exercise in murder, with each filmmaker having access to a handful of shared props and themes. Black gloves, sexual ambiguity, and psychoanalytic trauma may be at the heart of each film, but the genre itself is without consistent narrative form."[14]
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While a shadowy killer and mystery narrative are common to mostgialli, the most consistent and notable shared trope in thegiallo tradition is the focus on grisly death sequences.[5][14] The murders are invariably violent and gory, featuring a variety of explicit and imaginative attacks. These scenes frequently evoke some degree ofvoyeurism, sometimes going so far as to present the murder from thefirst-person perspective of the killer, with the black-gloved hand holding a knife viewed from the killer'spoint of view.[19][20] The murders often occur when the victim is most vulnerable (showering, taking a bath, or scantily clad); as such,giallo films often include liberal amounts of nudity and sex, almost all of it featuring beautiful young women. Actresses associated with the genre includeEdwige Fenech,Barbara Bach,Daria Nicolodi,Mimsy Farmer,Barbara Bouchet,Suzy Kendall,Ida Galli, andAnita Strindberg.[21] Due to the titillating emphasis on explicit sex and violence,gialli are sometimes categorized asexploitation cinema.[22][23] The association of female sexuality and brutal violence has led some commentators to accuse the genre ofmisogyny.[5][11][24]
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Gialli are noted for psychological themes of madness, alienation, sexuality, andparanoia.[12] The protagonist is usually a witness to a gruesome crime but frequently finds theirtestimony subject toskepticism from authority figures, leading to a questioning of their ownperception and authority. This ambiguity of memory and perception can escalate todelusion,hallucination, or delirious paranoia. Sincegialli protagonists are typically female, this can lead to what writer Gary Needham calls, "...thegiallo's inherent pathologising of femininity and fascination with "sick" women".[4] The killer is likely to be mentally-ill as well;giallo killers are almost always motivated by insanity caused by some past psychological trauma, often of a sexual nature (and sometimes depicted in flashbacks).[12][14] The emphasis on madness and subjective perception has roots in thegiallo novels (for example,Sergio Martino'sYour Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key was based onEdgar Allan Poe's short story "The Black Cat", which deals with a psychologically unstable narrator) but also finds expression in the tools of cinema. Writer Mikel J. Koven posits thatgialli reflect an ambivalence over the social upheaval modernity brought to Italian culture in the 1960s.
The changes within Italian culture... can be seen throughout thegiallo film as something to be discussed and debated – issues pertaining to identity, sexuality, increasing levels of violence, women's control over their own lives and bodies, history, the state – all abstract ideas, which are all portrayed situationally as human stories in thegiallo film.[25]
Gialli have been noted for their strong cinematic technique, with critics praising theirediting,production design,music, and visual style even in the marked absence of other facets usually associated with critical admiration (asgialli frequently lackcharacterization, believable dialogue, realistic performances and logical coherence in the narrative).[5][11][18] Alexia Kannas wrote of 1968'sLa morte ha fatto l'uovo (Death Laid an Egg) that "While the film has garnered a reputation for its supreme narrative difficulty (just as many art films have), its aesthetic brilliance is irrefutable", while Leon Hunt wrote that frequentgialli directorDario Argento's work "vacillate[s] between strategies of art cinema and exploitation".[18][22]
Gialli are frequently associated with strong technicalcinematography and stylish visuals. Critic Maitland McDonagh describes the visuals ofProfondo rosso (Deep Red) as "vivid colors and bizarre camera angles, dizzying pans and flamboyant tracking shots, disorienting framing and composition, fetishistic close-ups of quivering eyes and weird objects (knives, dolls, marbles, braided scraps of wool)...".[26] Critic Roberto Curti describes the visual style ofgialli in relation to thecounterculture era as, "a pop delirium filled with psychedelic paraphernalia".[27] In addition to the iconic images of shadowy black-gloved killers and gruesome violence,gialli also frequently employ strongly stylized and even occasionallysurreal uses of color. DirectorsDario Argento and Mario Bava are particularly known for their impressionistic imagery and use of lurid colors, though othergiallo directors (notablyLucio Fulci) employed more sedate, realistic styles as well.[21] Due to their typical 1970s milieu, some commentators have also noted their potential for visualcamp, especially in terms offashion anddecor.[4][12]
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Music has been cited as a key to the genre's unique character;[12] critic Maitland McDonagh describesProfondo rosso (Deep Red) as an "overwhelming visceral experience ... equal parts visual ... and aural".[26] WriterAnne Billson explains, "The Giallo Sound is typically an intoxicating mix of groovy lounge music, nerve-jangling discord, and the sort of soothing lyricism that belies the fact that it's actually accompanying, say, a slow motion decapitation", (she cites as an exampleEnnio Morricone's score for 1971'sFour Flies on Grey Velvet).[12] Many notablegiallo soundtracks feature instrumentalist,Alessandro Alessandroni, his vocal group,I Cantori Moderni and wordless female vocals, usually performed byEdda Dell'Orso,[28][29] orNora Orlandi,[30] includingBruno Nicolai's score forAll the Colors of the Dark.[31]Composers of note include Morricone, Nicolai, and the Italian bandGoblin. Other important composers known for their work ongiallo films includePiero Umiliani (composer forFive Dolls for an August Moon),Riz Ortolani (The Pyjama Girl Case), Nora Orlandi (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh),Stelvio Cipriani (The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire), andFabio Frizzi (Sette note in nero a.k.a.The Psychic).[32]
Gialli often feature lurid orBaroque titles, frequently employing animal references or the use of numbers.[12] Examples of the former trend includeSette scialli di seta gialla (Crimes of the Black Cat),Non si sevizia un paperino (Don't Torture a Duckling),La morte negli occhi del gatto (Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye), andLa tarantola dal ventre nero (Black Belly of the Tarantula); while instances of the latter includeSette note in nero (Seven Notes in Black) andThe Fifth Cord.[33]
The firstgiallo novel to be adapted for film wasJames M. Cain'sThe Postman Always Rings Twice, adapted in 1943 byLuchino Visconti asOssessione.[4] Though the film was technically the first ofMondadori'sgiallo series to be adapted, itsneo-realist style was markedly different from the stylized, violent character which subsequent adaptations would acquire. Condemned by the fascist government,Ossessione was eventually hailed as a landmark of neo-realist cinema, but it did not provoke any furthergiallo adaptations for almost 20 years.[23]
In addition to the literarygiallo tradition, earlygialli were also influenced by the German "krimi" films of the early 1960s.[16] Produced by Danish/German studioRialto Film, these black-and-white crime movies based onEdgar Wallace stories typically featured whodunit mystery plots with a masked killer, anticipating several key components of thegiallo movement by several years. Despite their link togiallo author Wallace, they featured little of the excessive stylization and gore which would define Italiangialli.[34]
The Swedish directorArne Mattsson has also been pointed to as a possible influence, in particular his 1958 filmMannequin in Red. Though the film shares stylistic and narrative similarities with latergiallo films (particularly its use of color and its multiple murder plot), there is no direct evidence that subsequent Italian directors had seen it.[35][36]
The first "true"giallo film is usually considered to be Mario Bava'sThe Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963).[4][21] Its title alludes toAlfred Hitchcock's classicThe Man Who Knew Too Much (1934, remade by Hitchcock in 1956), highlighting the early link betweengialli and Anglo-American crime stories. Though shot in black and white and lacking the lurid violence and sexuality which would define latergialli, the film has been credited with establishing the essential structure of the genre: in it, a young American tourist in Rome witnesses a murder, finds her testimony dismissed by the authorities, and must attempt to uncover the killer's identity herself. Bava drew on the krimi tradition as well as the Hitchcockian style referenced in the title, and the film's structure served as a basic template for many of thegialli that would follow.[16]
Bava followedThe Girl Who Knew Too Much the next year with the stylish and influentialBlood and Black Lace (1964). It introduced a number of elements that became emblematic of the genre: a masked stalker with a shiny weapon in his black-gloved hand who brutally murders a series of glamorous fashion models.[39] Though the movie was not a financial success at the time, the tropes it introduced (particularly its black-gloved killer, provocative sexuality, and bold use of color) would become iconic of the genre.[16][40]
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Several similarly themed crime/thriller movies followed in the next few years, including early efforts from directorsAntonio Margheriti (Nude... si muore [Naked You Die] in 1968),Romolo Girolami (Il dolce corpo di Deborah [The Sweet Body of Deborah] in 1968),Umberto Lenzi (Orgasmo in 1969,Paranoia [A Quiet Place to Kill] andCosì dolce... così perversa [So Sweet... So Perverse] in 1969),Riccardo Freda (A doppia faccia [Double Face] in 1969), andLucio Fulci (Una sull'altra [One on Top of the Other] in 1969), all of whom would go on to become major creative forces in the burgeoning genre. But it wasDario Argento's first feature, in 1970, that turned thegiallo into a major cultural phenomenon. That film,The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, was greatly influenced byBlood and Black Lace, and introduced a new level of stylish violence and suspense that helped redefine the genre. The film was a box office smash and was widely imitated.[41] Its success provoked a frenzy of Italian films with stylish, violent, and sexually provocative murder plots (Argento alone made three more in the next five years) essentially cementing the genre in the public consciousness. In 1996, directorMichele Soavi wrote, "There's no doubt that it was Mario Bava who started the 'spaghetti thrillers' [but] Argento gave them a great boost, a turning point, a new style...'new clothes'. Mario had grown old and Dario made it his own genre... this had repercussions on genre cinema, which, thanks to Dario, was given a new lease on life."[42] The success ofThe Bird with the Crystal Plumage provoked a decade which saw multiplegialli produced every year. In English-language film circles, the termgiallo gradually became synonymous with a heavy, theatrical and stylized visual element.[43]
Thegiallo genre had its heyday from 1968 through 1978. The most prolific period, however, was the five-year timespan between 1971 and 1975, during which time over 100 differentgialli were produced (seeList ofgiallo films). Directors like Bava, Argento, Fulci, Lenzi, Freda and Margheriti continued to producegialli throughout the 70s and beyond, and were soon joined by other notable directors includingSergio Martino,Paolo Cavara,Armando Crispino,Ruggero Deodato, and Bava's sonLamberto Bava. The genre also spread to Spain by the early 70s, resulting in films likeLa residencia (The House That Screamed) (1969) andLos Ojos Azules de la Muñeca Rota (Blue Eyes Of The Broken Doll) (1973), which had unmistakablegiallo characteristics, but featured Spanish casts and production talent. Though they preceded the firstgiallo by a few years, German krimi films continued to be made contemporaneously with earlygialli, and were also influenced by their success. As the popularity of krimis declined in Germany,Rialto Film began increasingly pairing with Italian production companies and filmmakers (such as composer Ennio Morricone and director, cinematographerJoe D'Amato, who worked on later krimi films following their successes in Italy). The overlap between the two movements is extensive enough that one of Rialto's final krimi films,Cosa avete fatto a Solange? (What Have You Done to Solange?), features an Italian director and crew and has been called agiallo in its own right.[44][45]
Gialli continued to be produced throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but gradually their popularity diminished and film budgets and production values began shrinking.[46] DirectorPupi Avati satirized the genre in 1977 with a slapstickgiallo titledTutti defunti... tranne i morti.[47]
Though thegiallo cycle waned in the 1990s and saw few entries in the 2000s, they continue to be produced, notably by Argento (who in 2009 released a film actually titledGiallo, somewhat in homage to his long career in the genre) and co-directorsHélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, whoseAmer (which uses music from oldergialli, including tracks by Morricone and Nicolai) received a positive critical reception upon its release in 2009.[21] To a large degree, the genre's influence lives on in theslasher films which became enormously popular during the 1980s and drew heavily on tropes developed by earliergialli.[2]
Thegiallo cycle has had a lasting effect on horror films and murder mysteries made outside Italy since the late 1960s as this cinematic style and unflinching content is also at the root of the goryslasher andsplatter films that became widely popular in the early 1980s. In particular, two violent shockers from Mario Bava,Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970) andTwitch of the Death Nerve (1971) were especially influential.[43]
Early examples of thegiallo effect can be seen in the British filmBerserk! (1967) and such American mystery-thrillers asNo Way to Treat a Lady (1968), the Oscar-winningKlute (1971),[48]Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971, based on an Italian novel),Alfred Hitchcock'sFrenzy (1972), Vincent Price'sMadhouse (1974),Eyes of Laura Mars (1978),[49] andBrian De Palma'sDressed to Kill (1980).[50][51]Berberian Sound Studio (2012) offers an affectionate tribute to the genre.[52][53]
DirectorEli Roth has called thegiallo "one of my favorite, favorite subgenres of film",[54] and specifically cited Sergio Martino'sTorso (I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale) (along with the Spanish horror filmWho Can Kill a Child?) as influential on his 2005 filmHostel, writing, "...these seventies Italian giallos start off with a group of students that are in Rome, lots of scenes in piazzas with telephoto lenses, and you get the feeling they're being watched. There's this real ominous creepy feeling. The girls are always going on some trip somewhere and they're all very smart. They all make decisions the audience would make."[55]
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Sources:[56][57][58][59][60][61][62]
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