Neo-giallo is still a relatively new style of international genre films that is related to the Italian crime-dramas of the late 60s and early 70s. The classic giallo films, like Mario Bava’s REAZIONE A CATENA or Dario Argento’s PROFONDO ROSSO, were actually seedy crime/detective stories, but full of stylistic elements like swish pans, extrme close-ups, lighting using primary colours, split screens, fast zooms, unusual camera movements, fast cuts, different perspectives and idiosyncratic fetishes. And thus the films always devolved into nightmarish forms. Argento ended up making a horror films rather than follow the plot of crime detective stories.
Since AMER (2009) Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani have made a name for themselves as the avantgarde of neo-giallo filmmakers. Their films are extremely stylized with little emphasis on narrative. In THE STRANGE COLOUR OF YOUR BODIES TEARS the plot dissolves completely into retro style – a man is obsessively looking for his wife after he discovers she has disappeared. The lounge-pop and psychedelic rock soundtrack accompanies the viewer through the beautiful Art Nouveau building whose walls are covered in erotic paintings. Dreams and reality merge and every image is spectacularly composed, every cut is meant to visually shock the viewer. THE STRANGE COLOUR is like a LSD trip that can sometimes become a nightmare. It’s not for everyone but a highly original production.

Tom Dorow