Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Italian theatrical release poster
Directed by Dario Argento
Luigi Cozzi (asst. dir.)
Produced by Salvatore Argento
Screenplay by Dario Argento
Story by Dario Argento
Luigi Cozzi
Mario Foglietti
Starring Michael Brandon
Mimsy Farmer
Jean-Pierre Marielle
Music by Ennio Morricone
Cinematography Franco Di Giacomo
Edited by Franco Fraticelli
Production
company
Marianne Productions
Seda Spettacoli
Universal Productions France
Cinema International Corporation
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • December 17, 1971 (1971-12-17)
Running time
 104 min.
Country Italy
France
Language Italian
Box office ₤1,231,000,000 (Italy)

Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Italian: 4 mosche di velluto grigio) is a 1971 Italian giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento, from a story idea by Luigi Cozzi. The film is the third in director Argento's "Animal Trilogy", which started with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and The Cat o' Nine Tails.

Plot

Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) plays the drums for a local rock and roll band when, at various times, he sees a man in dark sunglasses wearing a suit and tie, watching him. After the session, Roberto follows the man through the dark streets to an apparently abandoned opera house where he confronts the man and asks him why he's been following him for the past several weeks. The man declines to elaborate and pulls a knife on Roberto when the drummer gets too close. In the struggle, the man is accidentally stabbed and he falls from the stage to the lower level. Suddenly a spotlight is turned onto Roberto and a masked person on the balcony snaps some photos of Roberto holding the bloody knife.

Roberto returns home and lies in bed awake as his wife Nina (Mimsy Farmer) lies beside him. The next day, Roberto reads the newspaper describing the dead man and he receives a letter containing the identification of a certain Carlo Marosi, the man who Roberto stabbed. That evening at a get-together of several band members and friends at his house, one of the guests talks about a beheading execution in Saudi Arabia, and Roberto looks through some record albums and sees the photos of the incident. Amelia (Maria Fabbri), the maid, sees him and the photos, but does not tell him that she knows. That night, Roberto has a disturbing dream about a man being beheaded in a coliseum in Saudi Arabia when he wakes up after hearing a noise. Roberto looks around and a cord is wrapped around his neck. The masked person tells Roberto he could kill him now, but will not for he is not finished with him, and knocks him out before running away. Nina walks in and asks her husband what is wrong and he finally admits to the accidental stabbing and subsequent harassment, and says that they cannot go to the police.

Roberto goes to see Godfrey (Bud Spencer) (whom Roberto's annoys by nicknaming him 'God'). Godfrey is a beatnick artist living in a shack outside Rome with his colleague, a con-artist known only as the Professor (Oreste Lionello). Roberto confides in them about his problem and Godfrey suggests having the Professor keep an eye on him.

Meanwhile, Amelia calls someone and says that she knows what the person is doing to Roberto. She wants blackmail money or she'll go to the police. The unseen person has a flashback episode of being committed to a lunatic asylum and being tied down on a bed.

Amelia goes to a local park and waits on a bench. As night falls, the park crowd dissipates, and she goes to leave when she hears a person say her name. When Amelia discovers that she is locked inside the park, she runs along the high wall and cries out for help. A couple on the other side hear her, but the man is unable to scale the stone wall. Before he can get to the gate entrance, Amelia screams and is killed by the unseen person who slashes her throat with a straight razor.

That same evening, Nina arrives at a train station where she picks up her cousin Dalia (Francine Racette) and she joins Roberto's group for another get-together in the house of playing music, smoking dope, and political discussions. Roberto is the only person who does not seem to want Dalia there. Mikro, Roberto's band mate, asks why Roberto did not show up for rehearsals that day. Then Nina gets a phone call and learns that Amelia has been murdered. Roberto later has the same dream of being decapitated again and he wakes up when a noise is heard. He investigates but only hears his pet cat hissing. The next morning there is a note from the killer, and Nina is frightened.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that Carlo Marosi is alive and well, and eating at a local restaurant. Carlo calls someone and asks them to meet at his place. At Carlo's small apartment, he tells the unseen person that what they agreed to in harassing Roberto and mentions the "toy" (a knife with a trick blade). Carlo had been approached by the unseen killer to set this whole thing up, but now Carlo wants to back out. The killer picks up a blunt object and hits Carlo on the head. The unseen killer gets a wire and twists around the man's neck, decapitating him. The killer then disposes of the dead Carlo to make sure he is not found.

Elsewhere, the Professor tells Roberto that he saw someone last night in his back garden, with his cat wrapped in a blanket. He tried to stop the person, but got hit on the head. The Professor tells Roberto that he may seek outside help to learn who is harassing him and also informs him that he will not be watching his house anymore out of fear for his own safety.

Roberto goes to meet with Arrosio (Jean-Pierre Marielle), an eccentric and flamboyantly gay private investigator. After the drummer tells the P.I. his story, Arrosio admits to never having solved a case, but is optimistic that his bad record will be broken. During a drive with Roberto, Arrosio asks him questions about his life and about Nina; when they met and how long they were married. Roberto mentions Nina received a big inheritance. After dropping off Arrosio at his apartment, Roberto returns to his house where Nina is leaving with police officers about the Amelia murder. She tells Roberto that she does not want to stay in the house anymore with someone stalking them. But Roberto decides to stay and invites Dalia over to spend time with him.

That evening Roberto takes a bath when Dalia walks in and admits that she has had romantic feelings for him and the two of them make love. Afterwards, Arrosio arrives and is a little surprised to see Roberto with Dalia and that Nina has left. Roberto gives Arrosio some photos of his past and his family as well as Nina's and Dalia's. They all find Roberto's pet cat's severed head and wrapped in plastic. That night, Roberto has his nightmare again about the decapitation execution, and wakes up in a cold sweat. Dalia comforts him.

Meanwhile, Arrosio is in his office looking at photos of Roberto's family and friends, as well as some old papers and financial records. He is getting frustrated at not making any progress until something catches his eye. He begins looking through more old papers of Roberto's past. A little later that same night, Arrosio phones Roberto and tells him that he's found a "strange physical resemblance" in one photo, but tells him that it may only be a red herring. Arrosio tells Roberto that he's found the name "Villa Rapidi" and asks if anyone ever mentioned it, but Roberto claims to have never heard it before.

The next day, Arrosio arrives at the Villa Rapidi Psychiatric Clinic where a doctor tells the private investigator about a patient that Arrosio is inquiring about (the name and gender is not mentioned) who stayed there for three years as a teenager, whom was diagnosed as a homicidal maniac. When the father who committed the teenager died from a sudden heart attack and the news was relayed to the patient, the mental symptoms disappeared overnight and the patient was deemed cured and released. The doctor also suspects that the man who committed the teenager was not the patient's real biological father.

Arrosio talks to various people around Rome looking for the nameless ex-patient from Villa Rapidi. He later visits an estate-turned-boarding-house where he talks (and flirts) with the landlord about the patient he is looking for. The boarding house is the residence of the killer. Arrosio follows the unseen person from the estate and onto a Rome Metro subway train. He follows the unseen person off the train to a restroom where the unseen killer attacks him in a stall, and stabs him in the chest with a syringe of a glowing blue poison. The killer flees, as Arrosio lies dying on the restroom floor. But with a smile on his face and with his last breath, Arrosio mumbles, "I was right..."

Roberto learns of Arrosio's murder and meets with Godfrey and the Professor at a convention hall where coffins are being sold. Roberto tells them about his nightmares and Godfrey thinks that it might be a premonition of something to come. Godfrey suggests that someone with a grudge against Roberto is trying to drive him crazy and wants him to leave Rome at once. But Roberto refuses, determined to find the killer on his own.

A few days later, Dalia calls the studio asking for Roberto, but he is busy recording music with his band. As Dalia packs her suitcase to leave, she notices a strange similarity between a recent photo of Roberto and Nina with some unseen person in another photo. Just then, Dalia hears a noise and is frightened. Dalia slips off her shoes and sneaks up to the attic where she arms herself with a knife and waits as she hears the intruder looking for her. She hides behind a door with the knife when the killer comes inside, then leaves. When Dalia thinks the killer is gone, she steps out of the doorway and a knife hits her on her forehead. Dalia stumbles down the attic stairs and is stabbed to death by the unseen killer.

After finding the body, Roberto calls the police and they tell him about a test they will do on Dalia. By removing one of her eyes and shooting a laser through it, they will be able to see the last image that Dalia had seen for the image is retained on the retina for several hours after death. On a computer screen, they see only four dark smudges against a gray background which looks like, as the technician puts it, "four flies on gray velvet." The test (known as optography) is declared inconclusive.

That night, Roberto loads a gun and sits in his dark home, waiting for the killer to make his move. He nods off and begins dreaming again, and his dream goes all the way with the gory beheading of a criminal in Saudi Arabia. Roberto is woken up when the phone rings and it is Godfrey asking if the drummer is okay. Roberto says that he is, and then the line goes dead. A few minutes later, Nina arrives home from her long getaway and Roberto almost shoots her as she walks through the front door. Roberto puts down the gun and tells her to leave and tries to push her out the front door, when Nina's necklace (a fly enclosed in glass) swings... giving the appearance of more than one fly, and Roberto pulls her back inside and hits her. Roberto confronts Nina and accuses her of killing Amelia, Arrosio, and Dalia, and the one who terrorized him. Nina grabs Roberto's gun and shoots him in the shoulder.

As Roberto lies wounded on the floor, Nina breaks character and she tells Roberto about her abusive stepfather who placed her in a lunatic asylum when she was little. When her stepfather died, her mental condition was cured. But when Nina met Roberto many years later, he reminded her of her late stepfather. So, Nina married Roberto and planned this murder/blackmail scheme as part of her twisted way of getting back at her stepfather by using Roberto as a surrogate because Roberto is the dead-splitting image of Nina's late stepfather. Nina shoots Roberto a few more times in his arm and both legs, when Godfrey runs in and Roberto knocks the gun out of Nina's hands. Nina runs to Roberto's car and speeds away. But in a twist of fate, she doesn't look where she is going and rams into the back of a truck. Nina is decapitated by the truck's rear bumper as it smashes, in slow-motion, through her car windshield. The car then explodes in a mass of flames.

Cast

Production

Some of the earlier cast considerations for the main role Roberto Tobias were Terence Stamp, Michael York and even some members of The Beatles. Argento did not want to use the "image caught in the retina" plot device since it was too fantastic [1] for the giallo genre. But once Carlo Rambaldi showed him how the effect would look in the finished film, he soon changed his mind. This was originally intended to be Argento's swan song to the giallo genre. This would later change once The Five Days did poorly at the box-office.

Technology

A high-speed camera equipment (capable of producing 1000 frames a second) was used [1] to shoot possibly the first known instance (in feature films) of following a bullet's trajectory with high-speed cameras.

To film a car crash and a motion bullet in its flight, a camera that could produce a triple digit number of frames per second and twelve cars were used to get the effect shown in the film.[1]

Music

Deep Purple was considered for the score, but because of scheduling difficulties with the band the film was instead scored by world famous composer Ennio Morricone, who had previously worked on Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. Morricone had a major argument with Argento over some tracks Argento did not want in the film. As a result, the director and Morricone would not work together again until 1996 with The Stendhal Syndrome, and the rock group Goblin would eventually become Argento's regular composers.

Release

Critical reception

Four Flies on Grey Velvet received a mixed response from critics.

Howard Thompson, in his review for The New York Times, praised the film for its "striking, imaginative color photography and deep-freeze pacing and atmosphere" and high-lighted the sequence where Amelia is trapped in the park as "spine-tingling", "superb" and "Argento at his chilling best". However, he criticized the plot as "not only old but farfetched" and the dialogue as "banal", and went on to say that "[a]ll that circuitous teasing and those red herrings don't produce a shred of real evidence to nibble on. You're on your own, in pure hit-or-miss speculation."[2]

Roger Ebert gave the film a negative review, deeming it a "badly dubbed and incoherent murder thriller" with "a conclusion that's so arbitrary we feel tricked." He did, however, give praise to Mimsy Farmer and said of her that she "deserves to get some of those Mia Farrow roles."[3]

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide gave the film two stars and opined it was an "[u]nabsorbing psychological murder-mystery with performers who walk through their roles in a very disinterested fashion."[4]

AllMovie gave the film a positive review, calling it "an unfortunately overlooked and hard-to-find choice nugget in his [Argento's] oeuvre".[5]

Home video

It was not until early 2009 that the film was made available to home video audiences in a legitimate version, both domestically or internationally, with the exception of the long out-of-print obscure French VHS. The rights to this film (at least in America) are owned by Paramount Pictures, who had chosen not to release it.

MYA Communication released a region 1 DVD of Four Flies on Grey Velvet on 24 February 2009. The disc contains an uncut, completely remastered print of this "lost" film, featuring theatrical trailers, the English language opening and ending credits and an extensive photo gallery. However, this release omits 30–40 seconds of footage due to print damage.[6]

To celebrate the film's 40th anniversary and to mark 20 years since it was thought to be lost, Shameless Screen Entertainment released it on Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on 30 January 2012. This release includes the following special features:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Alan Jones: Dario Argento The Man, The Myths & The Magic, ISBN 978-1-903254-70-7
  2. ↑ Thompson, Howard (5 August 1972). "'4 Flies on Grey Velvet,' Suspense Film". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Ebert, Roger (18 October 1972). "Four Flies on Grey Velvet". Sun-Times. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (2014). "Four Flies on Grey Velvet". Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2015. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-698-18361-2.
  5. ↑ Buening, Michael. "Quattro Mosche di Velluto Grigio - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Boer, Michael Den (24 January 2009). "Four Flies on Grey Velvet (Mya Communication) – 10,000 Bullets". 10kbullets.com. Retrieved 3 August 2012.

External links


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