Another World Entertainment Deep Red DVD - the second disc and the summing up

The second disc of Another World Entertainment's Deep Red set contains the alternate international, English-language cut of the film, presented in 2.0 and 5.1 mixes, and an array of supplemental materials.

Again presented with optional Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Danish subtitles, the differences between the cuts of the film are immediately evident, with the credits sequence having a different structure and the narrative then beginning with the parapsychology conference.

With the interplay between Marcus and Gianna being cut down in particular – there is no after-funeral discussion of Gianna's not having a boyfriend at the moment and Marc's parapraxic remark that he does not have either – the film has a faster pace to it, albeit at the expense of a bit less humour, social comment on feminism and, most important, adumbrations of images to come.


The disc

The extras encompass the 2001 British documentary Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror; well-writen biographies and filmographies for Argento, Nicolodi and Hemmings; a trivia section, and an extensive gallery of stills, posters and pressbooks including some material from Ecuador of all places (apologies in advance to any Ecuadorian readers).

In sum, a highly impressive presentation of the film, compromised only slightly for the English speaking viewer by the absence of an Italian language / English subtitle option – an omission likely explicable in terms of the vagaries of international film rights and one that the enterprising fan community might well be able to get round with a bit of subtitle extraction and re-timing from another disc, not that I would condone such borderline illegal activity, except for personal use...

Another World Entertainment Deep Red DVD - the commentary track

The disc also features an informative, insightful and thought-provoking commentary from Thomas Rostock that picks up on all manner of seemingly innocuous details to demonstrate their meaningfulness in relation to Deep Red as a whole and strikes a good balance between the personal, the specific details of the film and its wider place in Argento’s career and ouevre.

Thus, for example, we are encouraged to think about exactly why the seemingly absent minded – or forgetful – Marta should offer Marc a coke rather than an espresso or a whisky (J&B naturally). The answer offered – and it is one I would agree with – is that it accords with his emasculated status, his reduction to the position of a boy rather than a man. It also further expresses Marta's (s)mothering approach towards her son, Carlo, whom she has failed to permit to follow his ‘natural’ trajectory towards normative heterosexual adulthood.

Similarly, we learn that co-screenwriter Bernardino Zapponi had authored a book on Roman ghosts, much like Amanda Righetti within the diegesis.

If the commentary sounds somewhat dry, this may be attributable to the Rostock's speaking in today's lingua franca, English, rather than his own native tongue. I highly doubt that many English-language Argento experts – many of whom Rostock graciously cites – could have done a better job in any case.

Profondo Rosso / Deep Red - Another World Entertainment DVD

The obvious question many giallo and / or Argento fans are likely to ask when confronted with this new DVD release of Deep Red from Another World Entertainment is whether it is really necessary: aren't there already perfectly adequate releases out there?

Well, besides that choice is a good thing in itself, there are a number of reasons for getting this disc.

The first, for those in Europe and elsewhere whose players support the format is that the film is presented in PAL rather than NTSC format and, as such, represents both a subjective and objective improvement on the likes of the old Anchor Bay release, fine though it was in its day, in visual quality.

The second, for those in the Scandinavian countries, is that the release allows the opportunity to watch the film in the original Italian with subtitles in their language and, beyond this, to generally support the indigenous DVD industry.

The third, for the fan who wants the most authentic version of the film, is that this Deep Red corrects a couple of issue in the presentation of some previous releases.

While perhaps not as significant as the correction in Another World's release of Fulci's The New York Ripper – where a scene previously included as a coda on the Anchor Bay disc was correctly re-inserted into the main body of the narrative with the effect of making a character into more of a suspect / red herring as the filmmakers had intended – in being confined to the start and end of Deep Red, they are nevertheless very welcome.

The first, more minor correction, is the use of the original typeface for the opening credits. It is thinner than the one used by Anchor Bay, which now seems like a retrospective post-Suspiria creation. As such, it establishes Deep Red as less a predecessor to Suspiria than a successor to the Animal Trilogy or a film very much in its own right. A minor semiotic point, some may say, but a stimulating one that could be taken further nonetheless.

The second, which will likely provoke more discussion in fan circles, is that the closing credits no longer entail a false freeze-framing of the image and instead see a character continuing the gaze actively into a pool of blood. If some critics may say “so what” here, I can only reply that for fans, long used to suffering through cut and otherwise compromised versions during the days of video and even into the DVD era, this is somewhat equivalent to having a version of Truffaut's The 400 Blows which for some reason did not end on the famous freeze frame of Antoine Donael replaced by one which does, to preserve its author's intentions, however unfashionable these may be as a mode of analysis that may be in certain circles.

If I haven't yet had time to get onto the extras yet, it should already be clear that even if you have Deep Red already, you really need this new DVD as well...