Opera (1987 film)

Opera (also known and released as Terror at the Opera) is a 1987 Italian giallo directed and co-written by Dario Argento and starring Cristina Marsillach, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, and Ian Charleson. The film's plot focuses on a young soprano (Marsillach) who becomes involved in a series of murders being committed inside an opera house by a masked assailant. The film features music composed and performed by Brian Eno, Claudio Simonetti, and Bill Wyman.

Plot
When Mara Cecova, the star of an avant-garde production of Verdi's Macbeth at the Parma Opera House, is injured after getting hit by a car outside the theater during an argument with the director, Cecova's young understudy, Betty, is given the role of Lady Macbeth. Despite her initial apprehension, Betty's performance proves a success. However, an anonymous figure finds his way into the opera house on the opening night, watching Betty's performance from an empty box. When a stagehand finds him, the figure murders him against a coat hook.

While at her boyfriend Stefano's apartment, the unseen assailant breaks in and overpowers Betty. He gags her with tape, ties her to a pillar, and forces her to watch him kill Stefano, taping a row of needles beneath her eyes to ensure she sees his death. Afterwards, the masked killer unties Betty and flees. Disturbed by a childhood recollection of the same figure murdering her mother, Betty chooses to confide in her director, Marco, that the killer may know her. She refuses police intervention.

The next day, Inspector Alan Santini questions the opera house staff about Stefano's murder, as well as an attack on the production's pet ravens, three of which were found dead after the show. Later that day, Betty meets with the wardrobe seamstress, Giulia, in order to restore her slashed costume. On said costume, Giulia spots a gold bracelet with an anniversary date. The killer soon intervenes, restraining Betty again in the same manner. He stabs Giulia, who swallows the bracelet, prompting him to cut her throat open to retrieve it. The assailant unties Betty and flees.

At her apartment, Santini promises to send a detective, Inspector Soavi, over. On arrival, Betty lets the man in despite her unclear vision (from eyedrops). Later, Betty's agent Mira arrives and tells Betty that she talked with a man in the lobby claiming to be Soavi. Horrified and unsure of whom is the impostor, Betty and Mira hide while the figure claiming to be Soavi receives a phone call and leaves. Mira answers a knock at the door and, while looking through the door's peephole to find out and demand his identity, she is fatally shot. After the killer breaks in and Betty comes across a mortally wounded Soavi, Betty escapes through a ventilation shaft with the help of a girl living in a neighbouring apartment.

Betty returns to the opera house and meets with Marco, who tells her he has a plan to identify the killer. The following night, Betty again takes the stage as Lady Macbeth. During the performance, Marco unleashes a flock of ravens into the audience. Recognizing the face of their attacker from the previous night, the birds swoop down on him, gouging out one of his eyes. The murderer, revealed to be Santini, attempts to shoot at Betty. Santini evades capture and abducts Betty from her dressing room, dragging her to another room.

Santini reveals that he was once the teenage lover of Betty's mother and murdered young women at her behest, but killed the mother due to her escalating demands; Betty witnessed the murder from behind a partly open door. Now, years later, Santini's desire to kill has been rekindled by Betty's appearance, which he sees as her mother's reincarnation. Blindfolding Betty and tying her to a chair, Santini stages his own death by setting fire to the room and apparently himself. Betty breaks free and escapes.

Betty and Marco leave Rome, traveling to Marco's house in the Swiss Alps. However, when Marco hears a television broadcast that the man thought to have been burned alive was not Santini but a clothed mannequin, he yells for Betty to flee. Betty runs into the nearby woods, with Santini in pursuit. Marco tackles him, only to be stabbed to death. Betty distracts Santini long enough to bash him on the head with a rock, after which the police arrive to take him away. Betty wanders through an empty meadow. Finding a lizard trapped in the grass, Betty frees it and tells it to "go free."

Cast

 * Cristina Marsillach as Betty
 * Ian Charleson as Marco
 * Urbano Barberini as Inspector Alan Santini
 * Daria Nicolodi as Mira
 * Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni as Giulia
 * Antonella Vitale as Marion
 * William McNamara as Stefano Brini
 * Barbara Cupisti as Signora Albertini
 * Michele Soavi as Inspector Daniele Soavi (uncredited)

Production
In early 1985, director Dario Argento was entrusted to Sferisterio di Macerata to put on Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, which was to be Argento's debut as an opera director. Argento's version would have included horrific overtones and gimmicks such as the seats in the theatre being hooked up to seats which would release voltage during thunderstorm scenes. The theatre did not approve of Argento's ideas, leading him to eventually back out of the project. Further problems for Argento occurred when he and Daria Nicolodi were arrested for drug possession after police had found hashish in their home. According to Michele Soavi, Argento spent two years working on the script to Opera, noting that early drafts "went beyond the limitations of gore which any country, apart from Japan, would have found unacceptable" and that early drafts of the film were "far too long and rather incomplete in certain areas." During pre-production, Argento learned of his father's death on April 19th after he had been suffering from a long illness.

Development of Opera was announced in mid-1986. Argento announced that the film would initially be shot at Teatro Carignano and star Giuliana De Sio, who was at the peak of her popularity in Italy following the release of Let's Hope It's a Girl. Neither materialized, with the film being shot at Teatro Regio in Parma and the lead being cast by the Spanish actress Cristina Marsillach. Aregento had initially wanted Jennifer Connelly to play the role of Betty in the film, but changed his mind as he didn't want comparisons between this film as Phenomena (1985). He then attempted to cast Mia Sara, the star of Legend (1985) but cancelled this when fashion designer Giorgio Armani suggested Marsillach. Much of the cast had previously worked with Argento, such as Barberini and Zinny appearing Argento's productions of Demons, Tassoni in Demons 2, and Mirella D'Angelo starring in Tenebrae. Filming began in April 1987. The film was Argento's most expensive to date, initially budgeted at 10 billion lire, but was later reduced to seven billion. The scene shot from the ravens point of view around the theatre cost 1 billion lire on its own. Initially, the film was to be produced by Goffredo Lombardo, the head of Titanus Distribution Company. A corporate split between Titanus away from distribution side lead to split in interest in backing the film. Backed by the production company from Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori, the brothers link with Italy's major television studio RAI for a presale allowed Argento a larger budget than usual. Additional filming took place in Lugano, Switzerland with interiors shot at De Paolis Studios in Rome. Argento had written the role of Mara Cecova for Vanessa Redgrave, but actress had dropped out shortly before production began, leading to the character's role in the film being severely reduced. On set, Alan Jones reported that Opera had been an "ardusous 15 week shoot". Marsillach stated she received real burns from the multiple takes she needed during the scene where she is tied to a chair in a burning room.

Release
Opera was released in Italy on December 19, 1987. Film critic and historian Roberto Curti wrote that the film was a box-office success in Italy, with 706,000 spectators 4,737 million lire grossed. The film was initially going to be released in the United States by Orion Pictures, with plans to remove the film's ending in the Swiss Alps.

Opera was released on home video in Australia, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom as Terror at the Opera.

Critical reception
Curti wrote that the film was critically well received in Italy.

From retrospective reviews, Adrian Luther-Smith in his book Blood and Black Lace echoed the film as an "exceptional visual experience" and referred to it as a return to form for Argento after the release of Phenomena. Luther-Smith only lamented the use of heavy metal music and what a "weak ending" to the film.

Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine awarded the film a score of four out of four stars, calling it Argento's "last full-fledged masterpiece" and praising the "operatic attention to death and the way in which the film's killer forces Betty's gaze" as "genius".

Patrick Legare of AllMovie awarded the film two-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "a decent, fairly typical Argento film that is worth watching primarily for its above-average murder sequences."

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Opera has an approval rating of 91% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 7.07/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "The Opera house location gives plenty to work with for director Dario Argento, who hits his decadently bloody high notes here."