<p>This study is a conscious attempt at opening up the discussion on the Italian giallo film of the 1960’s & 1970’s. Part of its mission is examine views and writings currently available on the giallo and using these to analyse the body of films known as the giallo. It is also an attempt at the generic definition seeing the giallo as a series of thriller films according to Tzvetan Todorov’s model and in depth discussing the influence of the horror story and the whodunit. Beyond that it is a close look upon the form and devices of giallo narration, with focus upon the role of the eyewitness, focalization and point of view as first person narration. The study also traces the giallo’s influences interdisciplinary including placing it in the cultural context of the Italian adult comics known as fumetti neri. The study also includes a close look upon the idea of the eroticised violent set piece tracing it to the French theatre of horror – the Grand Guignol. Furthermore the study addresses the concept of seriality as understood in reference to the giallo. Finally the study examines the role of the giallo hero and suggests that the giallo is posing existential questions, and can be understood as existential suspense thrillers. The findings are exemplified through a wide scope of films including brief references and longer analytic examples elaborating on topical discussions in this developing field of study.</p>

This study is a conscious attempt at opening up the discussion on the Italian giallo film of the 1960’s &amp; 1970’s. Part of its mission is examine views and writings currently available on the giallo and using these to analyse the body of films known as the giallo. It is also an attempt at the generic definition seeing the giallo as a series of thriller films according to Tzvetan Todorov’s model and in depth discussing the influence of the horror story and the whodunit. Beyond that it is a close look upon the form and devices of giallo narration, with focus upon the role of the eyewitness, focalization and point of view as first person narration. The study also traces the giallo’s influences interdisciplinary including placing it in the cultural context of the Italian adult comics known as fumetti neri. The study also includes a close look upon the idea of the eroticised violent set piece tracing it to the French theatre of horror – the Grand Guignol. Furthermore the study addresses the concept of seriality as understood in reference to the giallo. Finally the study examines the role of the giallo hero and suggests that the giallo is posing existential questions, and can be understood as existential suspense thrillers. The findings are exemplified through a wide scope of films including brief references and longer analytic examples elaborating on topical discussions in this developing field of study.

This thesis aims to explore the influences and references, with a particular focus from occultism and western esotericism, found in the film trilogy of The Three Mothers directed by Dario Argento. The trilogy composed of Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears was produced in a timeframe of thirty years from 1977 to 2007, so it embeds three decades, it also reflects the willingness from the director to disconnect himself from the usual representation of supernatural and horror films of witches and power. The three films Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears, present an innovative point of view, first of all, the representation of power in the context of horror and secondly, for the nature of references distributed throughout the trilogy. This thesis presents a film analysis of Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears investigating the semiotics behind the symbols, storytelling, characters, and technical aspects of film production. This work concludes that the deep desk research conducted by Argento on occultism and western esotericism before engaging into the production has deeply influenced it. The references to occultism, western esoteric schools, Steiner and alchemic influences are several, Christianity is also present in the trilogy with a dystopic lent. There is also a gender aspect analysed in the trilogy connected with the representation of feminine power, as the mothers in the trilogy represent witches, a supreme independent source of truth and power disconnected from any Christian and/or masculine representation. Suspiria, Inferno and The Mother of Tears can be then interpreted as a way to challenge the patriarchate power. This thesis is opening with the relevance of references from occultism to be found in several expressions of popular culture in our contemporary society. However, this aspect has not been investigated further than that. It has been utilized to serve the purpose of highlighting the elements in common between Argento’s trilogy and those expressions of popular culture (i.e. horror and supernatural TV series). If this research will be one day extended, the next step would be to find, in other expressions of popular culture (films, manga, graphic novels…), references in line with the ones traced in the trilogy. This would lead to investigate further the way occultism has influenced expressions of art and culture. Another point that is kept for a potential future research, would be to investigate which other examples of horror and supernatural films will be produced (or had been produced), where power and feminine representation breaks the traditional tendency of connecting power either with a Christian notion of evil or with a patriarchal form of power. In this regard, I am sure expressions from Artificial intelligence will come to play a role, but this is due maybe for the future, and maybe for another research to connect these dots.

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Cette étude porte sur un type de cinéma italien appelé giallo. Ayant connu une forte popularité au tournant des années 1970 auprès d’un public dit vernaculaire, ces thrillers horrifiques sont encore aujourd’hui réputés pour leurs scènes de meurtre sanglantes et spectaculaires mettant à l’honneur un assassin ganté. Ce mémoire se propose de faire le point sur ces séquences de meurtre et surtout d’expliquer la façon particulière avec laquelle elles sont mises en scène. Pour bien y parvenir, nous en fournissons tout au long des exemples et les soumettons à une analyse détaillée. Notre approche analytique se veut essentiellement formaliste. Il s’agit de déconstruire ces scènes violentes afin d’en révéler certains des rouages. Dans un premier temps, nous rappelons quelques notions fondamentales du cinéma gore et nous penchons sur la problématique que pose invariablement la représentation de la mort au grand écran. Ceci nous permet ensuite d’observer plus amplement comment les réalisateurs du giallo traitent ces scènes d’homicide sur un mode excessif et poétique. Enfin, le rapport érotique à la violence entretenu dans ces scènes est considéré. Cela nous donne notamment l’occasion de nous intéresser à la figure du mannequin (vivant et non vivant) et de voir de quelles manières les cinéastes peuvent par son entremise transmettre un sentiment d’inquiétante étrangeté. / This study aims to explore giallo, a specific type of Italian cinema. Very popular with a vernacular audience at the turn of the 1970s, these horrific thrillers remain notorious for their bloody and spectacular murder scenes showcasing a gloved killer. With this thesis, we seek to review these murder sequences with a focus on explaining the particular way in which they are staged, shot and edited. To fully achieve this, we provide examples from these scenes and submit them to a detailed analysis. Our analytical approach is essentially formalist. We wish to deconstruct these violent scenes and reveal some of their inner workings. At first, we recall some basic notions of gore cinema and look at the problems that the depiction of death on the silver screen invariably raises. This allows us to see how giallo filmmakers treat these murder scenes in an excessive and poetic mode. Lastly, the erotic aspect of violence presented in these scenes is considered. This gives us the opportunity to focus on the figure of the model/mannequin (living and non-living) and see how filmmakers can use it to transmit an uncanny feeling.