All The Colors Of Giallo

Last night I saw a 2019 documentary about the giallo field: 

At least this will inspire me to make a Blu-ray purchase in the future... via Shudder I saw this documentary about a genre I enjoy and should watch more of. It was made by Severin as a few years ago they released a 2 disc and 1 CD set of the same name which has this, over 100 giallo trailers (which has to be an awesome experience), krimi trailers (those German thrillers that were an inspiration to this genre is something I've seen precious little of but that's something I need to do a deep dive on) and the CD is of tracks from various films. That should be a purchase worthwhile for me.

For now, I'll discuss how this was pretty good, yet something that was more for casual fans or those like me that know a few things about it, not hardcore genre buffs. The presentation was straightforward: various talking heads explain the details of giallo while some people involved in the production of same (actors, directors, and screenwriters) provide details either specific or in general. It doesn't go into granular details; instead the basics are mentioned... such as Mario Bava's The Girl Who Knew Too Much being the first giallo, or Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage changing the genre. Just note that the documentary ends rather abruptly; someone tying a bow on it and delivering a logical conclusion would've been more ideal, but alas...

The highlight for me was hearing & seeing the different people interviewed. This includes Argento, Lamberto Bava, George Hilton, Edwige Fenech, Lenzi, Sergio Martino, Daria Nicolodi and an audio archival interview w/ Fulci; personally, I need to look into why Fulci and Argento did not get along w/ each other... the former trashed the latter. It was nice to hear the various stories new to me, at least, and in general it was nice for the important figures to be spotlighted. For those that are novices in the genre & wish to learn more, this would be a fine place to start even if-as the opening of this noted-some films had their plot spoiled. From hearsay I understand that there's never been a definite giallo documentary made. With any luck that will happen one day; for the sake of input from those that made them, hopefully such a project would start soon.