Occhiali neri

Nov 22

So here we have Dario Argentos latest film, with the english title of "Dark Glasses".

I has seen all the average reviews, so was pleasantly surprised to find it pretty decent and definitely above average.

Dario would of been 81/82 years old making this, and he has still got it, and hopefully will continue to make more.

I must confess i knew Asia Argento was in it, but it took me awhile to spot her.

Of course it isnt upto his great giallos of the 70s and 80s, but its worthy in this day and age.

I cant see me watching 40 or 50 times but i will watch it again.

Deserves a much better IMDB score.

7.5 from me.

I have seen Occhiali neri last night at FEST - International Film Festival, Belgrade . It's a very strange Iittle thriller, very bizarre and very low budget. The plot is extremely silly, with water snakes and other over-the-top decisions, but that's Argento for you. We don't expect logic in his films. Do we? There is warmth in it as well, it's very character driven. It feels rushed in places and acting is so-so, but overall you should definitely see if you're Argento fan. It's his best since Nonhosonno, fast paced and never boring. And yes... it's very gory. The third act reminded me of the begining of Rob Zombie's Halloween 2, because it's basically a long chase scene in the countryside. The OST is great.

I've already seen this movie twice in a 3 days time.

The first time i mostly noticed what was NOT there:

• many choreographed murders
• the surprise/shock of finding out who the killer is
• the close ups of gloved hands and weapons to kill the victims

And in a Dario Argento's movie, for anyone familiar with his style, that is A LOT missing.

But the second view made me appreciate more the film in its own right to "exist".

I recognized in it the same sort of empathy towards the main character that i felt in Phenomena, Opera, Trauma.

Technically thumbs up for the score and cinematography.

Good performance from Asia Argento.

It's safe to say this is far from argento's best work but certainly not his worst. One or two good kills and some decent cinematography. Plus the soundtrack is a good listen. Overall no classic but worth tracking down.

'Dark Glasses' is the latest project from legendary filmmaker Dario Argento that showed up as a Shudder original with little to no fanfare. The 82 year old director is best known for the films he made from 1970 into the late 80's and for helping to popularize the Italian genre of the "giallo" thriller. His fame mostly comes from his extremely inventive choices and daring camera work. Very much an artist who valued style over substance, he made some great movies ('Suspiria,' Deep Red'), some bad ('Inferno,' 'Mother of Tears') and a few truely bizarre ones ('Phenomena'). After 1987's 'Opera' many argue that his career went downhill fast. It's true that going into the 90's the quality of his output greatly decreases. There are a couple of projects that aren't terrible ('The Stendhal Syndrome,' 'Trauma') but that's about it.

'Dark Glasses,' his first movie in ten years, does mean that his last film won't end up being 'Dracula' - which was pathetic and embarrassing on every single level. That's the good news, however his latest is hardly a spectacular comeback. The story is very "giallo-esque" in nature featuring a mysterious killer who targets prostitutes. Our main character Diana (Ilenia Pastorelli), a lady of the night, crosses paths with said killer resulting in a car accident that takes her eyesight. It also results in an unlikely friendship with a young boy named Chin (Andrea Zhang). She is also helped during her recovery process by a professional blind person therapist (?) played by Asia Argento. So the scene is set for a 'Wait Until Dark' type thriller as the maniac remembers that he wants to kill her and then kind of tries to do that sometimes..

The film isn't really concerned with the mystery aspect of the story, it only gives you one red herring so it's pretty easy to figure out who the killer is. Much of the run time is dedicated to Diana's relationship with Chin, creating a certain amount of heart that's usually absent in this type of film. It's kind of touching in spots although mostly forgotten as everybody starts running away from the murderer because they don't want to get murdered. Once the movie settles into the thriller aspects it loses steam, becoming pretty routine. There are some trademark lapses in logic as well, like why the killer doesn't try try to finish the job during Diana's weeks (or months, possibly years?) of rehabilitation where she's vulnerable and alone much of the time, only striking when there's lots of police officers hanging around.

Some of the positives: The performances are pretty good, they use practical effects instead of CGI for most of gags and the musical score captures past Goblin vibes fairly well. The main problem with 'Dark Glasses' is that it's so average. There are some Argento touches like the tracking shot along a wall lit by primary colors panning down to actors running down an ally, or a brief shot from a dog's point of view but there's nothing much here to remind us of the great talent behind the camera. It's good to see him back with this, as well as his recent lead performance in Gasper Noe's 'Vortex.' Hopefully we're experiencing a late career renaissance for Argento, I also hope his next picture is a true return to form. 5/10.