I recently came across David Sodergren's work and decided to give it a try. His book Dead Girl Blues caught my eye quickly because the cover was yellow. I knew immediately that it was a reference to the Italian Giallo film genre (more on that later).
In Sodergren's book, a stripper named Willow encounters a dying girl on the street. Little does she realise at the time that the girl slips her phone into Willow's pocket. Willow realises that the video on the phone is a snuff film and is drawn into a string of brutal murders with her as the killer's new focus.
The book is good overall. Visceral and suspenseful, there's a solid balance on both ends. There's obviously a strong sexual angle to the story because Sodergren openly acknowledges that Giallo films by the likes of Bava and Argento inspired him, therefore, if you can't handle intense violence, it's best to leave this one alone. Also, much like a Giallo, there's a couple of points in which the story is short on logic. It was a gripping and harrowing read, but a little too intense for me. If Richard Laymon is your kind of writer, then Dead Girl Blues is just right for you. Overall, I give it a B+. Not fully my taste, but then again, I like Sodergren's voice. It has personality, pizzazz, and it's Scottish. I'm definitely checking out more of his work but with the hopes that the sexualized violence is toned down.
Giallo equally fascinates me and puts me off. For anyone who is unfamiliar, Giallo largely refers to Italian horror/mystery/thriller films. It got it's term (Giallo means yellow in Italian) from the Giallo Mondadori series of mystery novels published in Italy, which largely consists of translations of English language crime writers such as Ed McBain, Fredric Brown, Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Donald Westlake, John Dickson Carr, Arthur Conan Doyle,and many others. Starting in the 60s, Italian filmmakers, starting with Mario Bava, started making plot-driven crime thrillers that became colloquially regarded as Giallo. These movies had a emphasis on violence, sex, sleaze, as well as a lush color palette for its visuals.
Some of my favorites include Blood and Black Lace, The Evil Eye, the Bird with the Crystal Plummage, Deep Red, Suspiria, Inferno, Phenomena, and Opera. With that in mind, I should probably write something on Argento's films.
My problem with Giallo is the over-emphasis on sex. I understand that sex sells, a lot people want to or don't mind seeing it, and it is a universal theme in fiction. On the other end, there is an undefined line where it becomes pornography and that is my limit. When I see violence on screen, I know it's fake. I can usually shrug off or laugh away foul language, unless it comes out with every fifth word. Nudity is something that filmmakers don't need to fake or conceal. Some conceal it tastefully, some don't bother, and some want to jam as much as possible in there. I remember Argento's film Tenebre. There was a scene where one of the characters, an impossibly beautiful goddess of a brunette, is walking around topless. I understand if it was just a moment, but it seemed to keep going on and on and on. What was the point of the towel she was wearing? It wasn't to dry herself, that's for sure.There are scenes to titillate and there are ones that are simply excessive.
To me, there is a point where nudity in a film makes me feel like a voyeur and I know that if I'm not careful, then it becomes a fixation. It can become an addiction, and a very unhealthy one. I don't need it, especially since I'm married and it feels like cheating.
Another gripe, albeit a minor one, are the plot holes. In even good gialli, there are plot holes that are sizeable enough for me to notice. It happened in Tenebre, it even happened in Inferno, which to me is Argento's masterpiece. The power of Giallo is to keep you wrapped up in the thrill of the moment, which thankfully the good ones do. As a storyteller, I wish some of those holes would have been sewn up for the sake of the craft.
Aside from their high entertainment value, a collection of Giallo films would be an excellent time capsule entry representing pop culture's fascination with sex and violence. Why do they go together so well and why is this trope done so frequently? Is it just to sell tickets or is there something more? I'm not wholly qualified to answer because it is a sociological question, but I'm sure it's both. The viewer's attraction to sex and death is primal. The sex for the endorphins. The death could be out of fascination with the unknown. Combine the two and you get a Jungian cornucopia for analysis. I'm sure studies have been done, but that's as far as I'll go.
Don't take my remarks as judgement. I have my preferences and you have yours. That's all for now.
Written by Nicholas Montelongo
In Sodergren's book, a stripper named Willow encounters a dying girl on the street. Little does she realise at the time that the girl slips her phone into Willow's pocket. Willow realises that the video on the phone is a snuff film and is drawn into a string of brutal murders with her as the killer's new focus.
The book is good overall. Visceral and suspenseful, there's a solid balance on both ends. There's obviously a strong sexual angle to the story because Sodergren openly acknowledges that Giallo films by the likes of Bava and Argento inspired him, therefore, if you can't handle intense violence, it's best to leave this one alone. Also, much like a Giallo, there's a couple of points in which the story is short on logic. It was a gripping and harrowing read, but a little too intense for me. If Richard Laymon is your kind of writer, then Dead Girl Blues is just right for you. Overall, I give it a B+. Not fully my taste, but then again, I like Sodergren's voice. It has personality, pizzazz, and it's Scottish. I'm definitely checking out more of his work but with the hopes that the sexualized violence is toned down.Giallo equally fascinates me and puts me off. For anyone who is unfamiliar, Giallo largely refers to Italian horror/mystery/thriller films. It got it's term (Giallo means yellow in Italian) from the Giallo Mondadori series of mystery novels published in Italy, which largely consists of translations of English language crime writers such as Ed McBain, Fredric Brown, Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Donald Westlake, John Dickson Carr, Arthur Conan Doyle,and many others. Starting in the 60s, Italian filmmakers, starting with Mario Bava, started making plot-driven crime thrillers that became colloquially regarded as Giallo. These movies had a emphasis on violence, sex, sleaze, as well as a lush color palette for its visuals.
Some of my favorites include Blood and Black Lace, The Evil Eye, the Bird with the Crystal Plummage, Deep Red, Suspiria, Inferno, Phenomena, and Opera. With that in mind, I should probably write something on Argento's films.
My problem with Giallo is the over-emphasis on sex. I understand that sex sells, a lot people want to or don't mind seeing it, and it is a universal theme in fiction. On the other end, there is an undefined line where it becomes pornography and that is my limit. When I see violence on screen, I know it's fake. I can usually shrug off or laugh away foul language, unless it comes out with every fifth word. Nudity is something that filmmakers don't need to fake or conceal. Some conceal it tastefully, some don't bother, and some want to jam as much as possible in there. I remember Argento's film Tenebre. There was a scene where one of the characters, an impossibly beautiful goddess of a brunette, is walking around topless. I understand if it was just a moment, but it seemed to keep going on and on and on. What was the point of the towel she was wearing? It wasn't to dry herself, that's for sure.There are scenes to titillate and there are ones that are simply excessive.
To me, there is a point where nudity in a film makes me feel like a voyeur and I know that if I'm not careful, then it becomes a fixation. It can become an addiction, and a very unhealthy one. I don't need it, especially since I'm married and it feels like cheating.
Another gripe, albeit a minor one, are the plot holes. In even good gialli, there are plot holes that are sizeable enough for me to notice. It happened in Tenebre, it even happened in Inferno, which to me is Argento's masterpiece. The power of Giallo is to keep you wrapped up in the thrill of the moment, which thankfully the good ones do. As a storyteller, I wish some of those holes would have been sewn up for the sake of the craft.
Aside from their high entertainment value, a collection of Giallo films would be an excellent time capsule entry representing pop culture's fascination with sex and violence. Why do they go together so well and why is this trope done so frequently? Is it just to sell tickets or is there something more? I'm not wholly qualified to answer because it is a sociological question, but I'm sure it's both. The viewer's attraction to sex and death is primal. The sex for the endorphins. The death could be out of fascination with the unknown. Combine the two and you get a Jungian cornucopia for analysis. I'm sure studies have been done, but that's as far as I'll go.
Don't take my remarks as judgement. I have my preferences and you have yours. That's all for now.
Written by Nicholas Montelongo
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