- Born
- Nicknames
- Master of Horror
- Visconti of Violence
- Italian Hitchcock
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Dario Argento was born in Rome, Italy on September 7 1940. He is the son of producer Salvatore Argento. He began his career as a movie critic for the Rome daily newspaper "Paese Sera". A professional screenwriter by the tender age of 20, he joined Bernardo Bertolucci to write the screenplay for Sergio Leone's epic western "Once Upon A Time In The West" in 1967. Many screenplays later, Argento was signed up by Goffredo Lombardo, head of an Italian film company (Titanus) and made his directing debut in 1970 with "The Bird With The Crystal Plumage". His father Salvatore was the producer on all his films up until "Deep Red" when Claudio Argento took over. He has always taken a great interest in all aspects of film making to ensure that the end results of his films are as near to his original vision as possible. One of the first directors to see the possibilities of the steady cam and the 'luma' crane, he used them npth to their full potential. He even helped compose the music for "Suspiria". Many of his films are considered to be `giallo'. Giallo meaning yellow, which in turn came from the yellow covers of the penny-dreadful horror/thriller paperbacks that were sold in Italy. He has directed 15 films - `The Bird with the Crystal Plumage', 'The Cat O Nine Tails', 'Five Days In Milan', 'Four Flies on Grey Velvet', 'Profondo Rosso', 'Suspiria', `Inferno', 'Tenebrae', 'Phenomena', 'Opera', 'Two Evil Eyes', 'Trauma', 'The Stendhal Syndrome', 'Phantom of the Opera' and 'Non ho sonno'. He has also been involved in producing/writing films for others such as his protege Michele Soavi. Argento has also worked on three series for Italian television. In 1972, 'The Door of Darkness', in 1987 'Giallo' and 'Turno di notte' in 1988. There are also three documentaries on Argento and his films, 'Dario Argento's World of Horror', 'Dario Argento: Master of Horror (Dario Argento's World of Horror 2)' and 'The World of Dario Argento 3'.
- IMDb mini biography by: thewholebrevitything
- SpouseMarisa Casale(1968 - 1972) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- ParentsElda Luxardo
- RelativesClaudio Argento(Sibling)
- Closeups of eyes, frequently that of the killer. Main character is usually involved in an "artistic" profession, like writing or music.
- All narration in his films is his own voice
- In his movies, whenever a male murderer's hands only are shown (especially in scenes killing women) Dario Argento uses his own hands.
- The closing credits of all his films begin with the caption "You have been watching" followed by the movie's title.
- His protagonists are usually American or English foreigners somewhere in Europe who witness a violent crime at the beginning of the film and proceed to be threatened by and try to foil the villains.
- Opened up a store and museum in Rome called "Profondo Rosso". It is similar to Forbidden Planet in London, and has memorabilia from many horror, sci-fi and fantasy movies. In the basement of the store there are special effect pieces from some of his films.
- His favorite director and a source of inspiration is Ingmar Bergman.
- Has a twenty year old black cat named Liebe.
- Long-term partner was Daria Nicolodi; they were never married, though this has been reported in several sources.
- In November of 1997 he made a run for political office in Rome.
- I like women, especially beautiful ones. If they have a good face and figure, I would much prefer to watch them being murdered than an ugly girl or man. I certainly don't have to justify myself to anyone about this. I don't care what anyone thinks or reads into it. I have often had journalists walk out of interviews when I say what I feel about this subject.
- The sound, it looks wonderful
- We had many good directors - John Carpenter, Brian De Palma - but things have become polluted by business, money and bad relationships. The success of the horror genre has led to its downfall.
- [Phenomena (1985)] was inspired by something I heard about insects being used to solve crimes, and because insects have always fascinated me I began to make a story around this idea. You know, it's a terrible thing, but there are many insects that are disappearing. Becoming extinct. But most people only want to kill them. You know, insects have souls, too; they're telepathic . . . amazing. People want to save the whales and dolphins, but nobody wants to save the insects. I'm a vegetarian, because I don't want to kill things to eat.
- Horror is the future. And you cannot be afraid. You must push everything to the absolute limit or else life will be boring. People will be boring. Horror is like a serpent; always shedding its skin, always changing. And it will always come back. It can't be hidden away like the guilty secrets we try to keep in our subconscious.
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