770 Dressed to Kill

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
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nitin
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 6:49 am

Re: Dressed to Kill (Brian de Palma, 1980)

#101 Post by nitin » Tue Oct 29, 2019 6:33 am

Mr Sausage, that’s interesting because everything I have read aboug Dressed to Kill is that the influence was vice versa (Argento and other gialli influenced De Palma/Dressed to Kill).

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Dressed to Kill (Brian de Palma, 1980)

#102 Post by knives » Tue Oct 29, 2019 12:57 pm

nitin wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2019 6:03 pm
How can you say that when it probably has his best set piece in the museum scene? That’s about as perfect a 10 minutes in cinema as there is.
I honestly had to google it to show how much staying power it has for me in context. Even something simple like the tracking shot in Raising Caine has more effect and remembrance for me.

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Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: Dressed to Kill (Brian de Palma, 1980)

#103 Post by Big Ben » Tue Oct 29, 2019 5:53 pm

And the stuff discussed herein is essentially my main issue with the film. Caine's character's violent criminality comes not from real legitimate means (As legitimate from a psych perspective as they can be) but from the trans identity itself. Combine that with other lackluster elements of the film and you've got a really uneven thriller that relies on a really transphobic twist.

Nw_jahrles
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Dressed to Kill (Brian de Palma, 1980)

#104 Post by Nw_jahrles » Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:06 am

I don't have too much to add that hasn't already been expressed. For me, I was really enjoying the movie up until Angie Dickenson's murder in the elevator. I found the film goes downhill from there, since I found Nancy Allen's character and performance less enjoyable than Angie Dickenson's. Once it became obvious that De Palma was doing a Pyshco pastiche, the murder mystery element and twist became boring and predictable. Combine that with the transphobia discussed in this thread and the other one linked by Domino and you have a disappointing film.

I often find myself hit-and-miss with De Palma. I enjoy his visual style, but as a fan of both giallo and Hitchcock, I find that when he is constructing stories that are assembled bits from Hitchcock/Argento movies, I'd rather watch something by either of those two directors.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Dressed to Kill (Brian de Palma, 1980)

#105 Post by domino harvey » Wed Oct 30, 2019 11:07 am

Do you think in a couple decades an Argento descendant will make Do You Like De Palma?

Nw_jahrles
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Dressed to Kill (Brian de Palma, 1980)

#106 Post by Nw_jahrles » Wed Oct 30, 2019 4:12 pm

If Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani lurk on these forums, I think they may have found their next project.

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