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DREAMS ON THE SCREEN: AN EXPLORATION OF DARIO ARGENTO’S GREATEST NIGHTMARES by Matthew Bleacher A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of the Arts in Italian Studies Summer 2020 © 2020 Matthew Bleacher All Rights Reserved DREAMS ON THE SCREEN: AN EXPLORATION OF DARIO ARGENTO’S GREATEST NIGHTMARES by Matthew Bleacher Approved: __________________________________________________________ Giorgio Melloni, Ph.D. Co-Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: __________________________________________________________ Laura Salsini, Ph.D. Co-Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: __________________________________________________________ Meredith K. Ray, Ph.D. Interim Chair of the Department of the Languages, Literatures and Cultures Approved: __________________________________________________________ John Pelesko, Ph.D. Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Approved: __________________________________________________________ Douglas J. Doren, Ph.D. Interim Vice Provost for Graduate and Professional Education and Dean of the Graduate College ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to start by thanking the entire Italian Department at the University of Delaware and professors Laura Salsini and Giorgio Melloni in particular. Laura Salsini acted as editor in chief, kept me organized throughout the thesis writing process, and believed in me when I did not. Giorgio Melloni offered invaluable insights into Italian cinema, and I am especially grateful to him for stepping out of his comfort zone to watch and discuss horror films. I would also like to thank Meredith Ray for encouraging me to undertake this endeavor, which has been the highlight of my academic career. Thanks also to my family and friends for their various forms of support. I would like to thank Elizabeth Bleacher for her help with brainstorming and editing, Elizabeth Webb for her constant words of encouragement, and Mallory Lynch for her willingness to watch and discuss any film with me, no matter how strange. Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank Dario Argento for creating such inspiring and entertaining films. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. vi Chapter 1 SETTING THE STAGE: DARIO ARGENTO’S ARRIVAL ON THE SCENE ............................................................................................................... 1 2 GIALLO AND GENDER: VISIONS OF VIOLENCE IN DARIO ARGENTO’S ANIMAL TRILOGY ................................................................ 10 3 EXAMINING SOCIAL DEVIANCE AND OTHERNESS: FACETS OF AGE, GENDER, SEXUALITY IN DARIO ARGENTO’S DEEP RED ......... 27 4 WOMEN AND WITCHES OF POWER: AN EXAMINATION OF THE MATERNAL IN DARIO ARGENTO’S MOTHER TRILOGY ..................... 44 5 CURTAIN CALL: DARIO ARGENTO’S CONTINUING IMPACT ON CONTEMPORARY CINEMA ........................................................................ 62 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 69 v ABSTRACT The work of Dario Argento, one of Italy’s leading film directors, has been misinterpreted for decades by audiences and critics who wrongly associate his work with the exploitative slasher genre. Reducing his cinematic production to a simplistic category, one that has traditionally garnered scant critical approval, ignores, however, the profound ways Argento has contributed to an understanding of gender roles in Italy. This text examines how his most popular films, The Animal Trilogy, Deep Red, and The Three Mothers Trilogy, reflect the social anxieties regarding gender and sexuality of the1970s and 1980s. By building an auteur level formula to his films, Argento uses his expressive settings, various camera techniques, and subversive characters to challenge stereotypical views of masculinity and femininity. With these films, Argento not only shaped the landscape of Italian horror by inspiring his contemporaries, but also continues to influence the way directors make their films today. vi Chapter 1 SETTING THE STAGE: DARIO ARGENTO’S ARRIVAL ON THE SCENE The internationally famous director Dario Argento began his career in one of the most complex, intricate genres of cinema, the Giallo. A blend of horror and thriller elements forming social commentary, the Giallo is a distinctly Italian genre with deep roots in literature. The term Giallo comes from the yellow covers of the imported murder-mystery novellas of England and America. In 1929, Mondadori, a popular Milanese publishing house, invested heavily in foreign fiction that introduced the aloof, level-headed detective and explored macabre plots with an elevated, if not forced, sort of logic. Suddenly, the world was consumed with the new and exciting “whodunit” trope and the morbid and semi-fantastical storytelling of Giallo narratives. The notion of a gritty detective as the driving force of a tale, not merely a convenient part of the adventure, charmed Italians and Giallo stories continued to rise in popularity throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Mussolini stalled the rise of the genre in the 1930s when he banned publication of American crime dramas claiming they glamorized deviant behavior and corrupted the population. But Italian writers found their way around this ban by writing their own stories following the British and American models (Needham, 2001). However, soon after the war, Italians started to move away from the foreign template and began to cultivate distinctly Italian narratives within the Giallo genre. It is this transition into an Italian sensibility that bridges the gap between literature and cinema. While the leap to cinema, with its emphasis on visual, does shift the notion of Giallo and its associated tropes, there are still lingering connections to its literary roots. Above all, both mediums 1 work to represent and “interpretare la tempesta emotiva che il fenomeno ‘paura’ scatena nell’uomo, sia a livello fisico che a livello psichico” (Zecchi, 57). Much in the same way literary Giallo was influenced by events and fads of popular culture, its cinematic counterpart was also affected by the historical context of its production. The 1960s was a time of tension between the industrialized north and more rural south due to the political and economic disruptions that came to define the era. While Italian cinema enjoyed its golden age, the country shifted and reformed under the stress of constant and oppressive political power grabs and economic restructuring. This perpetual tension lent itself to the birth of the Giallo genre as it is defined and understood in contemporary terms. Mario Bava and other directors of the genre released the first films of their careers during this period, and, as noted by Gabriela Scalesa, “erano, le loro, pellicole importante ad altro proposito da quello di documentare la situazione italiana o la ripresa economica di quegli anni” (Scalesa, 1). While there are a few earlier outliers, most point to Mario Bava’s 1963 film, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, as the first true example of a Giallo film. Three years prior to making The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Bava released a film called Black Sunday. The film was similar to Roger Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe films in plot and use of supernatural elements and was a commercial success. These films, introduced in America at the beginning of the 1960s, brought the stories of Poe to life. While Corman’s films served as a template for Bava’s Gothic horror Black Sunday, Bava would branch off from these supernatural tales to ground the Giallo genre in reality with his film The Girl Who Knew Too Much. Though it lacks some of the aspects that have come to define the genre, like dramatic use of color and lighting, The Girl Who Knew Too Much introduces many elements that are now considered to be cornerstones of the Giallo. 2 Like many subsequent Gialli, The Girl Who Knew Too Much features a foreigner who witnesses a crime and, because she is ignored by the police, must investigate it herself. In a significant departure from the popular poliziotteschi of the times that emphasized police procedurals, Bava chose to focus on the murderers and their victims. This change in perspective was something new to audiences, and it introduced an unfamiliar blend of the detective film and more traditional horror. Another critical Giallo trait introduced with The Girl Who Knew Too Much is the use of dramatic zooms and intense close ups to manipulate the audience’s perspective and experience. Bava’s use of zoom is an integral part of the Giallo viewing experience because it keeps the audience unsettled and allows the director to fully control the experience of the audience. Similarly, Bava’s use of close ups creates a forced intimacy between the characters and the audience. This closeness allows for the facial expressions of the actors to project their emotions more immediately to the audience. This intimacy and immediacy requires the audience to participate in the emotional context of the film. This shared emotional experience is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. Later the same year, Bava released Black Sabbath as a clear continuation of his departure from the mainstream poliziotteschi and western films dominating Italy into something far darker and complicated. In a choice that will be familiar to fans of Argento, Bava focuses