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Occhiali neri

Dark Glasses
Berlinale Special Gala 2022
© 2021 Urania Pictures – GetAway Films
In an almost deserted, summery Rome in the midst of a hypnotic solar eclipse, a mysterious serial killer starts targeting high-end prostitutes. Diana is one of them. In a desperate attempt to escape him, she becomes the victim of a serious car accident that leaves her blind. After a long period of rehabilitation, Diana learns that the only other survivor of the crash is a now-orphaned child of Chinese descent named Chin, and she decides to take care of him. Coming from different cultural backgrounds, the two connect via a special bond that allows them to defend themselves from the serial killer’s thirst for revenge.
Dario Argento returns to directing after a ten-year hiatus with a film that mixes the mood of Italian “giallo” pulp fiction in his early work with his legendary touch of horror, albeit this time with a dose of sharp irony thrown into the mix. Occhiali neri is a headlong dash between city and countryside that explores the social conflict between rich neighbourhoods and Rome’s so-called Chinatown. The maestro’s gaze transforms this nightmare into pure geometry, and the class war into the kind of metaphysical architecture reminiscent of Antonioni.
by Dario Argento
with Ilenia Pastorelli, Asia Argento, Andrea Gherpelli, Mario Pirrello, Maria Rosaria Russo, Gennaro Iaccarino, Xinyu Zhang, Paola Sambo, Ivan Alovisio, Giuseppe Cometa Italy / France 2021 Italian 90' Colour World premiere

With

  • Ilenia Pastorelli (Diana)
  • Asia Argento (Rita)
  • Andrea Gherpelli (Matteo)
  • Mario Pirrello (Chief Inspector Aleardi)
  • Maria Rosaria Russo (Inspector Bajani)
  • Gennaro Iaccarino (Inspector Baldacci)
  • Xinyu Zhang (Chin)
  • Paola Sambo (Nun in Orphanage)
  • Ivan Alovisio (Doctor)
  • Giuseppe Cometa (Child in Orphanage)

Crew

Written and Directed by Dario Argento
Cinematography Matteo Cocco
Editing Flora Volpeliere
Music Arnaud Rebotini
Sound Design Bruno Ventura
Sound Daniele Maraniello
Production Design Marcello di Carlo
Costumes Luigi Bonanno
Make-Up Filomena Conte
Assistant Director David Maria Putortì
Casting Stefania Rodà
Production Manager Gabriele Pacitto
Producer Concepcion Airoldi
Co-Producer Noemie Devide
Co-Production Getaway Films Paris

World Sales

Wild Bunch International

Produced by

Urania Pictures

Photos

Press Conference

Dario Argento

© @info@uraniapictures.com

The director and screenwriter has been instrumental in shaping the Italian “giallo” thriller genre since he began making films in the 1970s. He rose to international prominence with Deep Red, recognised by many critics as the best giallo of all time. Since the 1990s, his daughter Asia Argento has starred in several of his films, including The Stendhal Syndrome, the first Italian film to use CGI and for which Argento remains the only director to date to receive permission to shoot in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Filmography

1970 L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) 1971 Il gatto a nove code (The Cat o’ Nine Tails) · 4 mosche di velluto grigio (Four Flies on Grey Velvet) 1973 Le cinque giornate (The Five Days of Milan) 1975 Profondo rosso (Deep Red) 1977 Suspiria 1980 Inferno 1982 Tenebre (Tenebrae) 1985 Il mondo dell’orrore di Dario Argento (Dario Argento’s World of Horror) · Phenomena 1987 Opera 1990 Due occhi diabolici (Two Evil Eyes) 1991 Dario Argento: Master of Horror 1993 Trauma 1996 La sindrome di Stendhal (The Stendhal Syndrome) 1997 Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror 1998 Il fantasma dell’opera (The Phantom of the Opera) 2001 Non ho sonno (Sleepless) 2004 Il cartaio (The Card Player) 2005 Ti piace Hitchcock? (Do You Like Hitchcock?) 2007 La terza madre (Mother of Tears) 2009 Giallo 2012 Dracula 3D 2021 Vortex · Occhiali neri (Dark Glasses)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2022