The Bird With the Crystal Plumage
Movie · Mystery · Thriller

In 1970, young first-time director Dario Argento (Deep Red, Suspiria) made his indelible mark on Italian cinema with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - a film which redefined the 'giallo' genre of murder-mystery thrillers and catapulted him to international stardom. Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante, We Own the Night), an American writer living in Rome, inadvertently witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (Eva Renzi, Funeral in Berlin) in a modern art gallery. Powerless to help, he grows increasingly obsessed with the incident. Convinced that something he saw that night holds the key to identifying the maniac terrorizing Rome, he launches his own investigation parallel to that of the police, heedless of the danger to both himself and his girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall, Spasmo)... A staggeringly assured debut, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage establishes the key traits that would define Argento's filmography, including lavish visuals and a flare for wildly inventive, brutal scenes of violence. With sumptuous cinematography by Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) and a seductive score by legendary composer Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West).

1971 · 1h 27m
  • 85%
Starring Enrico Maria Salerno, Tony Musante, Eva Renzi
Director Dario Argento

Trailers

  • The Bird With the Crystal Plumage
    Mystery

Related

Cast & Crew

  • E‌M
    Enrico Maria Salerno
    Inspector Morosini
  • Tony Musante
    Sam Dalmas
  • Eva Renzi
    Monica Ranieri
  • Mario Adorf
    Berto Consalvi
  • Suzy Kendall
    Giulia Movita
  • U‌R
    Umberto Raho
    Alberto Ranieri
  • Dario Argento
    Director
  • S‌A
    Salvatore Argento
    Producer

About

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage

Mystery

In 1970, young first-time director Dario Argento (Deep Red, Suspiria) made his indelible mark on Italian cinema with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage - a film which redefined the 'giallo' genre of murder-mystery thrillers and catapulted him to international stardom. Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante, We Own the Night), an American writer living in Rome, inadvertently witnesses a brutal attack on a woman (Eva Renzi, Funeral in Berlin) in a modern art gallery. Powerless to help, he grows increasingly obsessed with the incident. Convinced that something he saw that night holds the key to identifying the maniac terrorizing Rome, he launches his own investigation parallel to that of the police, heedless of the danger to both himself and his girlfriend Giulia (Suzy Kendall, Spasmo)... A staggeringly assured debut, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage establishes the key traits that would define Argento's filmography, including lavish visuals and a flare for wildly inventive, brutal scenes of violence. With sumptuous cinematography by Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now) and a seductive score by legendary composer Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in the West).

85%

TOMATOMETER
Average 7.5
Reviews 39
Fresh 33
Rotten 6

Information

Studio
Arrow Films
Released
1971
Run Time
1 hr 27 min
Rated
Unrated
Regions of Origin
Italy, Germany
© 2021 Arrow Films

Languages

Original Audio
Italian, Italian (Italy), English
Audio

English (AAC)

Subtitles

English (CC)

Accessibility

Closed captions refer to subtitles in available languages with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.
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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
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  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
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  • Egypt
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  • India
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