Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento [Paperback]

Maitland McDonagh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

Italian filmmaker Dario Argento’s horror films have been described as a blend of Alfred Hitchcock and George Romero—psychologically rich, colorful, and at times garish, excelling at taking the best elements of the splatter and exploitation genres and laying them over a dark undercurrent of human emotions and psyches. Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds, which dissects such Argento cult films as Two Evil Eyes, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Suspiria, and Deep Red, includes a new introduction discussing Argento’s most recent films, from The Stendahl Syndrome to Mother of Tears; an updated filmography; and an interview with Argento.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Virtually unknown to mainstream moviegoers in the U.S. and even to most connoisseurs of foreign films, Italian director Dario Argento is highly esteemed among aficionados of the cinematic extremities. He's been called the Italian Hitchcock, but his work--11 films in the horror and thriller genres during the last 25 years--is far more lurid and violent than Hitchcock's. Argento often dispenses with such niceties as character development and narrative coherence in favor of the over-the-top effects his fans love; for example, in one film, a killer's madness is illustrated by shots of his pulsating brain. Most of Argento's American following consists of "psychotronic" types who disdain the scholarly critical approach, but for its verve, individualism, and technical virtuosity, Argento's work warrants such treatment. McDonagh strikes an effective balance between intellectuality and enthusiasm, offering film-by-film commentary enlivened by a generous helping of poster and production-still reproductions and topping everything off with a recent interview with Argento in which he admits, "I like when people are disgusted, because it means you've made an impression on them. A deep impression." Gordon Flagg

About the Author

Maitland McDonagh is a film critic and TV commentator who maintains her own Web site, MissFlickChick.com. She was the senior movies editor of TVGuide.com from 1995 to 2008.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Citadel Pr; 1st Carol Pub. Group ed edition (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806515147
• ISBN-13: 978-0806515144
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,375,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in New York City, Maitland McDonagh misspent her youth prowling Times Square grind houses in search of horror, exploitation and mondo movies, and has been writing about them ever since. She has appeared in documentaries ranging from Sky Television's "Illuminations" series (2000) to "100 Scariest Movie Moments" (2004). As the senior movies editor of TVGuide.com, a position she held for 13 years, reviewed hundreds of new releases every year and contributed weekly columns to both the online and print magazines.

Maitland earned an MFA in Film History/Theory/Criticism from Columbia University, has taught film at the City University of New York and is the author of Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento (1990, Sun Tavern Fields), Filmmaking on the Fringe: The Good, the Bad and the Deviant Directors (1995, Citadel Press), The 50 Most Erotic Films of All Time and Movie Lust: Recommended Viewing for Every Mood, Moment and Reason (Sasquatch Books). She has contributed essays to Zombie (Stray Cat Publishing, 1999), The Time Out Book of New York Walks (Penguin, 2000), Fantasy Females (Stray Cat Publishing, 2001) and The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood 1967-1976 (Amsterdam University Press, 2004), I Love TV () and Exile Cinema (). She has written for dozens of publications in the United States and Europe, ranging from Film Comment and Dance Now to Fangoria.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I just want to thank everyone who took the time to write about my book..., July 5, 2009

By 

Maitland McDonagh "MM" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento (Paperback)

...because it was a labor of love that has taken on a life of its own. (Please excuse the fact that I had to provide a star rating in order for my comment to be published and know that I went with four stars only because I didn't want to artificially drag down the rating of my own book just because my English mother raised me to believe that modesty is next to godliness).

To this day, I'm not sure how I got the topic approved for my master's thesis at Columbia University's GSAS (I'm reminded of something someone once said about Paul Bartel's films, the gist of which was that they weren't release; they escaped), but I'm eternally grateful to Anthony Blampied, who published the first edition; Kevin McDonough (no relation, really), of the now-defunct Citadel Press, who acquired it for US distribution; and everyone who read it and cared enough to spread the word. And that includes all of you who had reservations about various parts of my analyses/interpretations: Great movies, of which Argento has made several, are slippery things that can support multiple (sometimes wildly contradictory) readings.

And just FYI, there's a new edition of the book coming out in 2010 from University of Minnesota Press. New cover, some new images and new text that discusses Argento's films since Trauma, the most recent title I was able to get into the Citadel edition (oh, and thank you Clive Barker for the great endorsement you gave me for that edition).

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look at the Gialli Rancher, September 23, 2001

By 

C. Fletcher (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento (Paperback)

This is a great book. If you're a fan of Dario Argento, the Italian maestro of horror, or if you're just a fan of well-made, artistically-minded horror films, you should read this book (and should take a closer look at the films of Dario Argento).

"Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds" is out of print, but you can buy a used copy through Amazon.com (as I did) for a cheaper price. But then you must prepare yourself for a whirl-wind.

This book discusses in intimate detail the films of the great Dario Argento. The introduction gives us some context of who he is (ex-film critic, master of the beautiful and profane), where he came from (an Italian movie-making family and the tutelage of spaghetti-western-maker Sergio Leone), what he does (makes a particular style of thriller called a giallo and often draws on the broken imagery of dreams for his most effective material).

Then we're off on a film-by-film analysis of Argento's career. We study the films he's made, the choices he's made within those films, and gain an appreciation, if we don't already have one, of why this Argento is such a unique, talented film-maker.

"Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds" often reads like the film school thesis which it is. Words and phrases like "diegetic," "filmic," and the old favorite "mise-en-scene" abound. But you shouldn't let that deter you, even if you aren't of the overly critical, or analytical stock. There is a lot of fascinating stuff in this book, and you're sure to walk away from it with a bigger, more profound appreciation for the films and career of one of the greats in the horror field, Dario Argento. And if you haven't seen all of Argento's films, or if it's been a while, reading this book is a great excuse to catch up on them.

What surprised me most about this book was that it was written by a woman. I didn't realize until I turned the last page of the book and read the "about the author" section that Maitland McDonagh has two X chromosomes. I guess I assumed because of the subject matter--the deliriously violent, at times arguably woman-unfriendly world of Dario Argento's deep red "filmic" nightmares--that a man must have written the book. But what a great perspective is given from the eyes and mind of a woman writing intelligently about horror films. You must go get this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing work on an interesting filmmaker, February 10, 2002

By 

Steven Grogan (Troy, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento (Paperback)

Maitland has written a very admirable study of one of the world's most interesting horror filmmakers. She even goes to the trouble of defending the more nonsensical moments of Arengto's films. For example, the scene in Suspiria where a murder victim stumbles across a room full of barbed wire makes no logical sense, but after you read Maitland explain how Argento works (kind of like surrealists, he uses a technique called "Automatic writing" which involves very little, if any, editing) you begin to understand that maybe Argento isn't neccesarily TRYING to make sense. At any rate she does a fine job of defending him, as well as delving into recurring themes. One of the better books on a director you will ever read.