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Released by: Arrow Video
Released on: 3/23/2010
Director: Dario Argento
Cast: Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, Coralina Cataldi Tassoni, Barbara Cupisti, Cristina Marsillach
Year: 1987
The Movie:
At the end of her performance of MacBeth, opera singer Mara Cecova is hit by a car meaning that her understudy, Betty (Cristina Marsillach), will now get her time in the spotlight. She's ready for it, however, and after her first night goes off without a hitch, it's obvious that she'll do well. What she doesn't realize is that there's someone up in the top box seat watching her, a lunatic who kills an innocent usher who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Later that night, while hanging out with her boyfriend, Stefan, Betty is abducted by an assailant who binds her to a chair and tapes needles under her eyes so that she has to watch as he knifes Stefan and then unties her and takes off. Betty tries to find out who this killer is and what he's after before he strikes again.
Opera is a pretty fine film, moving along quite nicely as it does to an odd mix of Claudio Simonetti's instrumental score, operatic sequences and some (sadly, dated) heavy metal. The pacing is stronger than in many of his other pictures and the violent set pieces with which he's made a name for himself are some of the most creative and sadistic in all of Argento's cannon. There are logic gaps that are hard to overlook (frequent and common with giallo films) and the ending remains a loopy one, but Opera more often than not shows Argento firing on with all cylinders.
On a visual level, however, Opera is pretty much flawless. Argento's use of steadicam shots gives the film a truly sweeping and epic feel that much of his earlier work either wasn't able to capture or didn't call for. Here, the opera house where much of the film takes place is presented with a great amount of care and Argento's flair for capturing the beauty of classic architecture is given ample opportunity to flex. There are moments here where the camera movements are so perfect that you can't help but let yourself get swept up in the melodrama of it all and this makes it very easy to forgive Opera for its shortcomings.
Ultimately this is one of those films that lets Argento do what Argento does best and which earned him his fan base to begin with, which is to combine those gorgeous visuals with some memorable music and fantastic camerawork and creative violence for a sort of cinematic freefall, it's never quite out of control but you can't quite say for sure how it's going to end.
Arrow's two disc set contains both the uncut international version of the film alongside the trimmed U.S. edit of the movie which runs roughly twelve minutes shorter. It's not missing any of the violence, surprisingly, but it does cut short various shots and character interchanges that occur throughout the movie. The uncut version is the better film, but the shorter cut does run at a faster pace and will certainly be of interest to Argentophiles.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Aside from some periodic spots where blacks look closer to dark grey, Arrow's 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen progressive scan transfer is a very strong one. Color reproduction looks great and only the tiniest instances of print damage are noticeable. Skin tones look lifelike and realistic and detail is fairly strong throughout.
The International Version contains English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks as well as an Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track with optional English subtitles. The English tracks are different - the 5.1 is the redubbed version while the 2.0 track is the infamous Cannes track and it doesn't sound quite as good. Sound quality is quite good regardless of which option you use. There are times where the 5.1 track sounds a bit forced and times where the Cannes track suffers from some bad dubbing but in terms of clarity there aren't really any major issues here at all. The U.S. Edit features the Cannes track as well as a re-dubbed 2.0 Stereo track and, again, there aren't any problems to report here.
Aside from the two different cuts of the film, Arrow has supplied a few other extras, all of which are included on the first disc. The Dario Argento trailer reel that's also been included on the Card Player and Stendhal Syndrome discs Arrow has released on the same day is here along with two of the film's theatrical trailer. There's also a short biography for Argento that appears alongside a filmography of his directorial efforts, a Top Six Gore Scenes clip reel that plays like the horror movie equivalent of a cum shot recap, a still gallery and a Daemonia music video.
Inside the attractive packaging is a reversible cover sleeve, a two sided poster, and a solid collection of liner notes from Alan Jones who writes about the time he has spent with Argento over the years and about the director's reaction to the film while also providing some contextual and biographical information for a few of the other participants.
The Final Word:
Opera holds up well, weird ending and all, more than two decades since it debuted. There are moments here that absolutely rank as high as anything else Argento has done before or since and the setting really lets the director cut loose with some interesting ideas and set pieces. Arrow's DVD isn't as extra-laden as the Anchor Bay release from a few years ago but it does include both cuts of the film and some very impressive packaging.