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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jun 22, 2010 15:30:48 GMT
Just the other day I received the following recommendation from Amazon.de, having bought THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE FROG from them. It is one of the strangest yet.
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Post by ramseycampbell on Jun 24, 2010 11:57:40 GMT
In horror film parlance, though, 'giallo' does indeed refer to those Italian films doesn't it? My theory is that Tim Lucas is to blame for introducing this unfortunate terminology. It seems to me that if you want to talk about a specifically Italian film genre, you should do so in terms that make sense to also to Italians---not least because primary research on the topic necessarily involves interviewing Italians about it. Ask an Italian director about his "giallo" films and he will think you mean crime films in general---because he will have little concept that some people outside Italy have defined "giallo" to mean an Italian thriller that follows certain "rules," has a black-gloved killer in it, etc. The current usage just indicates that very little primary research has actually taken place. They may not use that term specifically in Italy but it's commonly accepted elsewhere Well, we are working on changing that. It looks as if Argento's working the other way... |
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Jun 24, 2010 15:06:43 GMT
It looks as if Argento's working the other way... Not really. I assume you are referring to his recent film GIALLO. It is a crime thriller, so it fits the Italian understanding of the term. On the other hand, I have no doubt that Argento understands what his foreign fans think it means, so he is also having his little joke with them. Here is a simple test that almost anyone can perform: find an actual Italian and ask him or her to give examples of "giallo" films. Things like THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS will be mentioned. Would you feel comfortable "correcting" your Italian on his or her usage of their own language? |
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Post by ramseycampbell on Jun 25, 2010 11:07:29 GMT
Well, I think the term is being used in English to mean something different. Languages do exchange words and transform them, and I don't think that's bad in itself. I found this analysis of the usage interesting: www.kinoeye.org/02/11/needham11.phpIt sounds as if the English usage is as capacious as my definition of horror fiction. |
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