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= = Battle = =
The American crossing had been seen by a local militia captain , who rushed to the British camp at Trois @-@ Rivières and reported to General Fraser . Thompson left 250 men to guard the landing and headed the rest towards Trois @-@ Rivières . Unfamiliar with the local terrain , he convinced Antoine Gautier , a local farmer , to guide the men to Trois @-@ Rivières . Gautier proceeded , apparently intentionally , to lead the American army into a swampy morass from which it took them hours to extricate themselves . In the meantime , the British , having been alerted to the American presence , proceeded to land troops from the fleet and formed battle lines on the road outside the village . Ships were also sent up to Pointe du Lac , where they drove the American guards there to flee across the river with most of the boats .
Some of the Americans , led by Thompson , made their way out of the swamp to be confronted by HMS Martin , which drove them back into the swamp with grapeshot . A column of men under Colonel Anthony Wayne fared only a little better , arriving out of the swamp only to face Fraser 's formation . A brief exchange of fire took place : but the Americans , clearly outmatched by Fraser 's forces , broke and ran , leaving arms and supplies behind . Portions of the American force retreated to the edge of the woods , which gave them some cover , and attempted to engage some of the British troops : but fire from those troops kept them off the road and fire from some of the ships in the river kept them from the shore . St. Clair and a number of men made it back to the landing site , only to find it occupied by the British troops . Only by returning to the swampy woods and continuing to flee upriver did these men escape capture at that time . Wayne eventually managed to form a rear guard of about 800 men , which attempted an attack on the British position ; but they were driven back into the woods . Wayne then led a staggered retreat , in which companies of men slipped away , with the woods giving cover to hide their true numbers .
General Carleton arrived in Trois @-@ Rivières late in the action . A detachment of British forces led by Major Grant had taken control of a bridge over the Rivière @-@ du @-@ Loup , a critical crossing for the Americans retreating along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence . Carleton ordered Grant to withdraw , allowing most of the Americans to escape , either because he did not want to deal with large numbers of prisoners or because he wanted to demoralize the Americans further . A significant number of Americans did not make it that far , and were captured . These included General Thompson and seventeen of his officers . It was not until June 13 that the British finished rounding up the stragglers . In all , 236 captives were taken . Brendan Morrissey says that about 30 Americans were killed in the battle , while Howard Peckham gives a figure of 50 Americans killed .
= = Aftermath = =
Scattered fragments of the American army made their way overland on the northern shore to Berthier , where they crossed over to Sorel . Some did not return until June 11 . Sullivan , who counted 2 @,@ 500 effective troops under his command , at first wanted to make a stand at Sorel , but smallpox , desertions , and word that the British fleet was again under sail to come upriver convinced him it was time to retreat . By June 17 , the Continental Army had left the province ; but not before it had attempted to burn Montreal , as well as destroying Fort Saint @-@ Jean and any boats of military value capable of navigating Lake Champlain .
Carleton ordered most of the British army to sail upriver toward Sorel on June 9 , but they did not actually leave until he joined them on June 13 . A detachment of 1200 men under Fraser marched up the northern shore toward Berthier and Montreal . The British fleet arrived at Sorel late on the 14th ; the Americans had left there just that morning . Elements of the British army entered Montreal on June 17 , and also arrived at Fort Saint @-@ Jean in time to see the last Americans ( the very last one reported to be Benedict Arnold ) push away from its burning remnants .
The captives were treated quite generously by Carleton . Although the conditions of their imprisonment were not always good , he provided them with clothing , and eventually had all but the officers transported to New York and released .
= = Legacy = =
A site near the Le Jeune bridge was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1920 in order to commemorate the battle .
There are three plaques in the city of Trois @-@ Rivières commemorating aspects of the battle . A plaque honouring the British participants was placed at the National Historic Site by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada . A plaque honouring the American dead was placed in the Parc Champlain by the Daughters of the American Revolution in August 1985 . The third plaque honours Antoine Gauthier for his role in misleading the American troops .
During the American retreat from Quebec , and in this battle , wounded soldiers were treated at the Ursuline convent in Trois @-@ Rivières . Congress never authorized payment for these services and the convent has retained the bill . A bill that was about £ 26 at the time is now estimated to be between ten and twenty million dollars . On July 4 , 2009 , during festivities marking the town 's 375th anniversary , American Consul @-@ General David Fetter symbolically repaid the debt to the <unk> with a payment of C $ 130 .
= Tenebrae ( film ) =
Tenebrae ( also known as Tenebre ) is a 1982 Italian giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento . The film stars Anthony Franciosa as American author Peter Neal , who – while in Rome promoting his latest murder @-@ mystery novel – becomes embroiled in the search for a serial killer who may have been inspired to kill by the novel . John Saxon and Daria Nicolodi co @-@ star as Neal 's agent and assistant ; Giuliano Gemma and Carola <unk> appear as detectives investigating the murders . John Steiner , Veronica Lario and Mirella D 'Angelo also feature . The film has been described as exploring themes of dualism and sexual aberration , and has strong metafictional elements ; some commentators consider Tenebrae to be a direct reaction by Argento to criticism of his previous work , most especially his depictions of murders of beautiful women .
After Argento had experimented with pure supernatural horror with 1977 's Suspiria and 1980 's Inferno , Tenebrae represented the filmmaker 's return to the giallo horror subgenre , which he had helped popularize in the 1970s . Argento was inspired by a series of incidents which saw an obsessed fan telephone the director to criticise him for the damaging psychological effects of his previous work . The telephone calls culminated in death threats towards Argento , who channelled the experience into the writing of Tenebrae . The director also wanted to explore the senselessness of killings he had witnessed and heard about while staying in Los Angeles in 1980 , and his feeling at the time that true horror came from those who wanted " to kill for nothing " .
Shot on location in Rome and at Elios Studios , Tenebrae utilised mostly modern @-@ looking locations and sets to help Argento realise his intent that the film reflect a near @-@ future with a diminished population ; the director filmed none of the historical landmarks that usually featured in films set in Rome . Employing director of photography Luciano Tovoli , Argento also intended that the film simulate the stark , realistic lighting featured in television police shows at the time ; production designer Giuseppe Bassa created supporting environments that were cold and austere , with sharp angles and modernistic spaces . Several former members of Italian rock band Goblin provided Tenebrae 's music , a synth @-@ heavy score inspired by rock and disco music .
Tenebrae was a modest success in Italy ; it reached theatres with little controversy after Argento made cuts to one of the most violent scenes . However , in the United Kingdom , it was added to the infamous list of " video nasties " and banned from sale until 1999 . The film 's theatrical distribution in the United States was delayed until 1984 , when it was released in a heavily censored version under the title Unsane . In its cut form , Tenebrae received a mostly negative critical reception , but the original , fully restored version later became widely available for reappraisal ; it is considered by some to be one of Argento 's best thrillers . The film critic and author Maitland McDonagh said that it was " in many respects ... the finest film that Argento has ever made " .
= = Plot = =
Peter Neal , an American writer of violent horror novels , is in Italy to promote his latest work , Tenebrae . He is accompanied by his literary agent , Bullmer and his assistant , Anne . Neal is unaware that he has also been followed to Rome by his embittered ex @-@ wife , Jane . Just before Neal arrived in Rome , Elsa , a young female shoplifter , was murdered with a razor by an unseen assailant . The murderer sends Neal a letter informing him that his books have inspired him to go on a killing spree . Neal is soon contacted by the police in the form of Detective Giermani and his female partner , Inspector Altieri .
More killings take place . <unk> , a beautiful lesbian journalist , is murdered at her home along with her lover Marion . Maria , the young daughter of Neal 's landlord , is later hacked to death with a axe after discovering the killer 's lair . Neal notices that TV interviewer <unk> Berti has an unusually intense interest in his work . That night , Neal and his Italian assistant Gianni watch Berti 's house . Gianni approaches the house alone to get a better view and sees an assailant hack Berti to death with an axe . However , Gianni is unable to see the murderer 's face . He returns to Neal to find the novelist has been knocked unconscious on the lawn .
Giermani discovers that Berti was obsessed with Neal 's novels , and believes the killings will stop now that Berti is dead . However , Bullmer , who is having an affair with Jane , is stabbed to death while waiting for his lover in a public square . Gianni is haunted by the thought that he missed the importance of something he saw at Berti 's house . He returns to the house and suddenly remembers that he had heard Berti confessing to his attacker : " I killed them all , I killed them all ! " Before Gianni can share this detail with anyone , he is strangled to death from the back seat of his car .
Jane sits at her kitchen table with a pistol when a figure leaps through her window and hacks off one of her arms . The wound sprays blood over the kitchen walls before Jane falls to the floor . The killer continues to hack at her until she is dead , at which point Neal is revealed to be the murderer . Upon learning the details of Berti 's sadistic murder spree , Neal recovered a previously repressed memory involving his murder of a girl who had sexually humiliated him when he was a youth in Rhode Island . The memory torments Neal and <unk> his previously repressed lust for blood , driving him insane .
Inspector Altieri arrives at the house and Neal kills her . Giermani and Anne arrive soon afterwards ; when Neal sees that he cannot escape , he slits his throat in front of them . Finding the telephone out of order , Giermani and Anne go outside to report the incident from the car radio . Giermani returns to the house and is murdered by Neal , who had faked his own death . Neal waits inside for Anne to return , but when she opens the door , she accidentally knocks over a metal sculpture that impales and kills Neal . The horror @-@ stricken Anne stands in the rain and screams repeatedly .
= = Analysis = =
= = = Themes = = =
Critics have identified various major themes in Tenebrae . In interviews conducted during the film 's production , the usually somewhat reticent Argento offered his own views as to the thematic content of the film . As biographer Maitland McDonagh noted in Broken Mirrors / Broken Minds : The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento , " ... Argento has never been more articulate and / or analytical than he was on the subject of Tenebrae . " Film scholar William Hope identifies that the film is devoid of classical narrative progression , and writes that the characters " lack a narrative function or purpose , existing only to be killed in a spectacular fashion , their death hardly moving the narrative on at all . Traditional cause and effect are seemingly forgotten or actively ignored " . According to James Gracey , author of a book about Argento 's work , with Tenebrae " explores some of his most reoccurring themes and preoccupations , such as Freudian psychology , sexual deviancy , repressed trauma , voyeurism , audience spectatorship and the fetishisation of violence and death . " Water is linked constantly with Neal ; in almost every scene his appearance is followed or accompanied by a shot of water in some way . Later , this device is used over and over as a clue to the ultimate killer 's identity – Neal himself .
= = = Dark doubles = = =
According to Argento expert Thomas Rostock , Tenebrae is filled with rhyming imagery that relates to the film 's exploration of " the dual nature of [ the ] two active murderers " using doubles , inversions , reflections and " re @-@ reflections " . Every major character has at least one double , and the theme extends to objects , locations , actions and events – major and minor . The doubling or mirroring of incidents and objects includes telephone booths , aircraft , homeless men , otherwise @-@ meaningless public brawls in the background , car accidents , typewriters ( literally side @-@ by @-@ side ) , keys , handkerchief , hands caught in doors and the characters themselves . Rostock cites several scenes where characters are set up in frame with their doppelgängers – one such is the first meeting of Peter Neal and Anne with Detectives Giermani and Altieri . McDonagh notes that Argento emphasizes the doubling between Neal and Giermani : " Giermani ... is made to reflect Neal even as Neal appropriates his role as investigator ... the detective / writer and the writer / detective each belittles his other half , as though by being demeaned this inverted reflection could be made to go away . " McDonagh also observes that , in what is arguably the film 's most potent shock , Neal at one point really does make Giermani " go away " , virtually replacing him on screen " in a shot that is as schematically logical as it is logically outrageous . " Earlier , Neal killed a woman who – to his and the audience 's surprise – was not Anne , but Altieri . Tenebrae itself is split almost exactly into two parts . The first half belongs to the murders of Berti ; the second to those of Neal . The two are set up as mirrors of one another . Berti 's killings with a razor are clinical , with " lingering sexualised aggressiveness " , whereas Neal 's ( with an axe ) are crimes of passion committed for personal reasons or out of necessity ; they are swift and to the point .
Kevin Lyon observes , " The plot revolves around the audacious and quite unexpected transference of guilt from the maniacal killer ( about whom we learn very little , itself unusual for Argento ) to the eminently likeable hero , surely the film 's boldest stroke . " While noting that the device is " striking " , McDonagh comments that this guilt transmission / transfer occurs between two dark doubles who are seriously warped individuals . She suggests that " Neal and Berti ... act as mirrors to one another , each twisting the reflection into a warped parody of the other . " Berti 's obsession with Neal 's fiction compels him to commit murder in homage to the writer , while Neal seems to think that his own violent acts are simply part of some kind of " elaborate fiction " . When the bloody Neal is confronted by Giermani immediately after having killed numerous people , Neal screams at him , " It was like a book ... a book ! "
= = = Metafiction = = =
The moment at which the first half becomes the second is punctuated by the rising score and pan to an otherwise meaningless point of reflected light on an ornament . According to Rostock , the meaning is clear : it marks the spot when Berti 's spree ends and Neal 's rampage begins . Argento uses the shift in focus to comment on the shaping of the film itself , until that moment a typical , " clichéd and remote " giallo . Neal , previously passive , begins to control what happens in his own story , which is more personal with " weight and meaning " . According to Rostock , this structure allows Argento equal scope to play with the narrative while commenting upon it , all without having to deviate from the advancement of plot . According to Kim Newman , the use of a sculpture as a weapon makes literal one of the themes of the film : " art that kills people " . Rostock agreed , saying that as the film is a commentary on art , the only weapon that can end the narrative is art itself .
According to Gracey , a number of critics have compared Argento with the character of Peter Neal , speculating that he serves as an alter @-@ ego of the director . Gracey refers to Tenebrae as a " reflexive commentary on [ the director 's ] earlier work . " The director himself saw the film in the same light , claiming it was a reaction to accusations that " Dario Argento was a misogynist ... a criminal ... a murderer . " Argento resolved to include all of these aspects of his previous films into Tenebrae . A scene in which a woman criticises the lead character 's books as " sexist " , featuring " women as victims , <unk> , male heroes [ and ] macho bullshit " echoes criticisms of Argento 's own work . Kim Newman calls the confrontation scene " essentially autobiographical " , and refuting these accusations Argento said that his films were instead an attempt to tackle his dark side , to " let it speak " . With Tenebrae in particular , he felt he was making a joke or playing a game with his critics , creating a front or mystique about himself . Rostock also believes Argento is having fun and sending up this perception . Newman agrees that Argento used Tenebrae to address his own public image , the notion that someone who creates art as " sick and twisted " as his , must himself be sick and twisted . With Tenebrae 's reveal that the author is the killer , Newman argues that Argento is saying , " What if I were ? "
= = = " <unk> " sexuality = = =
As in many of Argento 's films , which tend to <unk> the murder of beautiful women , gender , sexuality and power are major issues foregrounded by the film . The fictional novel within the film is described as being " about human perversion and its effects on society " . Male and female sexual deviancy are a central theme , with the victims being sexually liberated women who the first killer – conservative TV presenter Cristiano Berti – refers to as " filthy , slimy perverts " . The first victim is a sexually promiscuous shoplifter , and his next two are the lesbian reporter and her bisexual lover . Berti murders the comparatively normal Maria only because she inadvertently discovers his twisted compulsion . His " moral crusade " is inspired by – and in his mind given credibility by – Neal 's novel . Neal 's own motivations for becoming a killer are revealed in " Freudian flashbacks " . As summarised by <unk> these flashbacks " expose how the misogyny evident in his books actually stems from being sexually humiliated by a beautiful woman in his youth . " McDonagh also notes that Tenebrae expands on the themes of sexuality and <unk> found in Argento 's earlier films , The Bird with the Crystal Plumage , The Cat o ' Nine Tails , Four Flies on Grey Velvet ( 1972 ) , and Deep Red ( 1975 ) , but believes that Tenebrae 's " overall sensuality sets it apart from Argento 's other gialli . " She says that the film 's sexual content and abundant nudity make it " the first of Argento 's films to have an overtly erotic aspect " , and further notes that " Tenebrae is fraught with free @-@ floating anxiety that is specifically sexual in nature . " Gracey notes that in several scenes the victims gaze directly into the camera , which demonstrates Argento 's " preoccupation with voyeurism and spectacle " .
McDonagh noted that two sexually charged flashbacks are key to understanding Tenebrae . These distinct but strongly related memory fragments are introduced repeatedly throughout the film , usually immediately following a murder sequence . Although the flashbacks are never fully explained , the first reveals a beautiful young woman 's sexual humiliation ( though oral rape ) of a teenage boy , presumed to be Peter Neal . The young woman is mostly topless during this first sequence , and she humiliates the young man by jamming the heel of one of her shiny red shoes into his mouth while he is held down by a group of gleeful boys on a pale @-@ white beach . The second flashback shows the vicious revenge @-@ murder of the woman some time later . McDonagh notes that all of the fetishistic imagery of these flashbacks , combined with the sadistic details of the murder sequences in the main narrative , " set the parameters of Tenebrae 's fetishistic and <unk> visual vocabulary , couched in terms both ritualistic and <unk> out of control ... Peter Neal indulges in sins of the flesh and Tenebrae revels in them , inviting the spectator to join in ; in fact , it dares the viewer not to do so . "
= = = Vision impairment = = =
Argento 's protagonists in his giallo films almost always suffer from vision impairment of some kind . It is these characters ' chronic inability to find the missing pieces of a puzzle ( the puzzle being the solution of a murder or series of murders ) that generally provides much of the films ' narrative thrust . Most obviously is the blind Franco Arno ( Karl Malden ) in The Cat o ' Nine Tails , who must use his heightened aural sense in combination with visual clues supplied to him by his niece to solve a mystery . In The Bird with the Crystal Plumage , Sam <unk> ( Tony <unk> ) witnesses a murder attempt but admits to the police that something seems to be " missing " ; as the film 's surprise ending makes clear , he did not " miss " anything , but simply misinterpreted what happened in front of his eyes . In Deep Red , Marcus ( David Hemmings ) has a similar problem in both seeing and not seeing the murderer at the scene of the crime , and does not realize his mistake until it 's almost too late . This recurring theme , according to Douglas E. Winter , creates " a world of danger and deception , where seeing is not believing " .
Flanagan observes that in Tenebrae , Argento offers two characters who suffer from impaired vision . Gianni ( Christian Borromeo ) is an eyewitness to an axe @-@ murder , but the trauma of seeing the killing causes him to disregard a vital clue . Returning to the scene of the crime , he suddenly remembers everything , and is murdered before being able to tell anyone . Homicide detective Giermani reveals that he is a big fan of the novels of Agatha Christie , Mickey Spillane , Rex Stout , and Ed McBain , but admits that he has never been able to guess the identity of the killer in any of the books . He is similarly unable to solve the real mystery until the last corpses are piled at his feet – he cannot see Peter Neal for what he really is .
= = = An imaginary city = = =
In an interview that appeared in Cinefantastique , Argento noted that the film was intended as near @-@ science fiction , taking place " about five or more years in the future ... Tenebrae occurs in a world inhabited by fewer people with the result that the remainder are wealthier and less crowded . Something has happened to make it that way but no one remembers , or wants to remember ... It isn 't exactly my Blade Runner , of course , but nevertheless a step into the world of tomorrow . If you watch the film with this perspective in mind , it will become very apparent . " Argento later insisted that the film was set in an imaginary city , fifteen years in the future , and that the disaster the city 's inhabitants were striving to forget was an atomic bomb blast . Despite Argento 's claim , Maitland McDonagh observed that this vaguely science @-@ fictional concept " isn 't apparent at all " and that no critics at the time noted the underlying futuristic theme in their reviews of the theatrical release of the film . The film critic and author Kim Newman countered that in avoiding a more recognisable Rome in favour of suburbia , Argento had succeeded in giving some parts of the film an almost futuristic sheen . Argento biographer Alan Jones agreed that Argento 's intention did come across in these scenes , and Newman cites the on @-@ screen use a videophone as an attempt by Argento to place Tenebrae in the near future .
While rejecting this thematic concern as unrealized by Argento , McDonagh noted that the result of the director 's experiment is a strange " architectural landscape " that becomes the " key element in differentiating Tenebrae from Argento 's earlier gialli . " Argento 's use of unusual architectural space and so @-@ called visual " hyper @-@ realism " results in an enormously fake looking environment . Seizing on the director 's additional comment , " ... I dreamed an imaginary city in which the most amazing things happen " , she notes that the film 's " fictive space couldn 't be less ' real ' " , with its " vast unpopulated boulevards , piazzas that look like nothing more than suburban American malls , hard @-@ edged Bauhaus apartment buildings , anonymous clubs and parking garages . " The EUR district of Rome , where much of Tenebrae was filmed , was built in preparation for the 1942 World 's Fair , and intended by then @-@ Prime Minister of Italy Benito Mussolini to be a celebration of twenty years of fascism . Rostock believes that Argento used this location as an attempt to realise his theme of an imaginary city ; the district gives a glimpse of a future Rome that never was , showing the city how it might have looked had fascism not fallen .
= = Influences = =
According to the film historian and critic Bill Warren , Tenebrae is a typical example of the giallo film genre : " visually extremely stylish , with imaginative , sometimes stunning cinematography " , it presents " mysterious , gruesome murders , often in picturesque locations ; at the end , the identity of the murderer is disclosed in a scene destined to terrify and surprise . " These narrative and stylistic clichés had been introduced years before Argento made his first thriller , 1970 's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage ; most critics point to Mario Bava 's The Girl Who Knew Too Much ( 1963 ) as the original giallo .
By the time Argento made Tenebrae , he had become the acknowledged master of the genre , to the point where he felt confident enough to be openly self @-@ referential to his own past , referencing the " reckless driving humor " from The Cat o ' Nine Tails ( 1971 ) and the hero from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage . The scene in which Veronica Lario 's character , Jane , returns home directly references The Bird with the Crystal Plumage with its large sculpture in the entrance hallway .
Warren and Alan Jones cite a scene where a character is killed in a public square as evoking the work of Alfred Hitchcock ; Rostock agrees that the editing of the sequence is in a Hitchcockian vein , while the lighting is more influenced by Michelangelo Antonioni . The film critic and author Maitland McDonagh argues that Argento 's influences for Tenebrae were far broader than just his own films or previous Italian thrillers . She refers to the strong narrative in the film as an example of " the most paranoid excesses of film noir . " McDonagh suggests that Fritz Lang 's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt ( 1956 ) ( " in which a man convicted of murder on false evidence ... is in fact guilty of the murder " ) and Roy William Neill 's Black Angel ( 1946 ) ( " in which a man who tries to clear a murder suspect does so at the cost of learning that he himself is the killer " ) both use such a similar plot twist to Tenebrae that Argento may have used them as partial models for his story .
Kim Newman and Alan Jones suggest that the mysteries of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie were both obvious influences on Tenebrae , and there are references to both authors throughout the film , as well as Rex Stout . One example is the use of a quote from Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle 's novel The Sign of Four ( 1890 ) : " How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible , whatever remains , however improbable , must be the truth ? " A variation of this quote is used several times throughout Tenebrae . Another reference is the dog attack ; as something of a non sequitur , the scene is thought by Newman to be a likely nod to Conan Doyle 's The Hound of the Baskervilles ( 1901 – 1902 ) . Neal is seen to be reading this novel in an early scene . The imagery in the beach flashback references the American mystery film Suddenly , Last Summer ( 1959 ) , especially the scene of Eva Robin 's wearing white while kneeling in the sand , which is a direct reference to Elizabeth Taylor in that film .
= = Production = =
= = = Development = = =
After completing Inferno ( 1980 ) , the second in his planned Three Mothers trilogy of supernatural horror films , Argento was expected to move straight into production of its concluding chapter . The first in the trilogy , Suspiria ( 1977 ) , had turned the director into what Alan Jones called " a horror superstar " , but Inferno had proven a difficult follow @-@ up . Argento had become unwell while writing the film , and his ill health continued into filming . In addition , Argento 's relationship with Inferno 's co @-@ producer 20th Century Fox had soured the director on " Hollywood politics " , so when Inferno was not well @-@ received upon release , Argento put the Three Mothers trilogy on hold . Inferno also flopped commercially . According to James Gracey , Argento – under pressure and feeling " the need to once again defy expectations " – returned to the giallo genre and began work on Tenebrae . Argento later stated that he wanted to " put on film a gory roller @-@ coaster ride packed with fast and furious murders " and that he " shouldn 't resist what [ his ] hardcore audience wanted " . He added that he had also become irritated that in the years since his last giallo so many other directors had made films derivative of – and inferior to – his own genre @-@ defining works .
Argento said that Tenebrae was influenced by two disturbing incidents he had in 1980 . After Suspiria 's surprise success , Argento was spending time in Los Angeles , where an obsessed fan telephoned him repeatedly , to talk about Suspiria 's influence on him . According to Argento , the calls began pleasantly enough but before long became more insistent , eventually menacing . The fan claimed that he wanted " to harm Argento in a way that reflected how much the director 's work had affected him " , and that because the director had " ruined his life " , he in turn wanted to ruin Argento 's . Although no violence came of the threat , Argento said he found the experience understandably terrifying , and felt unable to write . At the advice of his producers , Argento fled to the coastal city of Santa Monica , where he felt safe enough to resume writing . However , after a few weeks the fan found Argento and resumed his calls , issuing more threats . The director decided to return to Italy . Argento felt the escalating nature of the fan 's threats were " symptomatic of that city of broken dreams " with its " celebrity stalkers and senseless crime " . The second incident occurred during Argento 's stay at The Beverly Hilton , where a Japanese tourist was shot dead in the hotel lobby . Later hearing of a drive @-@ by shooting outside a local cinema , Argento reflected on the senselessness of the killings : " To kill for nothing , that is the true horror of today ... when that gesture has no meaning whatsoever it 's completely repugnant , and that 's the sort of atmosphere I wanted to put across in Tenebrae . "
= = = Casting = = =
Argento reportedly offered the lead role of Peter Neal to Christopher Walken , but it eventually went to Anthony Franciosa . Kim Newman felt that Franciosa 's casting was fortunate , as he was capable of bringing more to the role than the script asked of him . He also believed that if Walken had been cast , it would have been more obvious that he was the killer . According to Jones and Daria Nicolodi , the relationship between Franciosa and Argento was a fractious one . In addition , Nicolodi and Argento were romantically involved at the time , but their relationship had suffered over a disputed story credit during filming of Suspiria . Nicolodi therefore only agreed to a cameo in Tenebrae . According to Nicolodi , she originally asked for the small role of Jane McKerrow ( which eventually went to Veronica Lario ) . Alan Jones says that Nicolodi was cast as the woman on the beach in Neal 's flashback . However , Thomas Rostock says that Nicolodi was never intended for that role , only that of Jane . Transgender actress Eva Robin 's was later hired to play the woman on the beach .
When the American actress who had been hired to play Anne dropped out just before the start of principal photography , Argento convinced Nicolodi to take on this larger role . Nicolodi found Anne to have a different personality than her own , and much preferred the characters she had played for Argento previously , whom she said had much more personality than Anne . She said the role required little energy or imagination , but liked the novelty of playing neither killer nor victim . Newman and Alan Jones agreed that Nicolodi had very little character to play , as written . Newman added that this lack of character stretched to all the Italians in the film , and that only the American characters had discernible personalities . Nicolodi later claimed that although filming began well enough , Argento became angry when she and Franciosa bonded over playwright Tennessee Williams and their experience in theatre , leading the director to make sure their shared scenes " were an ordeal to endure " . The charged atmosphere culminated with Argento reportedly telling Franciosa , " leave my woman alone ! " Nicolodi said she channelled her frustrations with the situation into her character 's last scene in the film , where Anne stands in the rain and screams repeatedly , continuing over the film 's end credits . She had been directed to scream only a little , but knowing it was the last day of filming and her last scene to complete , Nicolodi screamed loudly and for a long time , much to Argento 's and the crew 's surprise . Nicolodi said the scene was her " cathartic release from the whole nightmare " .
Although Tenebrae was an Italian production , most of the cast spoke their dialogue in English to increase the film 's chances of success in United States . For domestic audiences , the film was dubbed into Italian . The English @-@ language dub retained Franciosa 's , Saxon 's and Steiner 's natural voices . However , Nicolodi 's voice was dubbed by Theresa Russell , Giuliano Gemma 's was dubbed by David Graham , and most of the female voices were dubbed by Adrienne Posta . Michele <unk> – frequent Argento collaborator , second assistant director on Tenebrae and later a noted director in his own right – acted alongside Robin 's in the second flashback scene . Another of Argento 's collaborators , Fulvio <unk> cameoed as a hotel porter . In common with several other Argento films , close @-@ ups of the killer 's gloved hands were Argento 's own . In the film 's Italian @-@ language dub , Argento also provided the opening voice @-@ over , reading aloud descriptions of murderous actions from Neal 's fictitious novel , Tenebrae .
= = = Filming = = =
Filming began on 3 May 1982 and took ten weeks. shot mostly on location in Rome . Kim Newman described the Rome of Tenebrae as unlike the one usually shown on television and in films , with none of the usual historical landmarks . Newman and Alan Jones agreed that this was a deliberate choice made by Argento , as some of his previous films had utilised so much of recognisable Italy . Argento himself said he had wanted to show Italy was not just a museum piece ; Newman said it was Argento 's way of saying , " Rome is a vibrant city . It is modern . " Most of Tenebrae 's location shooting was carried out in Rome 's EUR business and residential district . The first flashback scene was filmed at the <unk> beach , south of the city near Ostia . The shoplifting scene near the beginning of Tenebrae was filmed on location at department store La <unk> , off Piazza Fiume . Bullmer 's death in a public square was shot at a shopping precinct called " Le <unk> " in Rome 's Casal <unk> residential neighbourhood . The scene in which Neal 's landlord 's daughter is killed was filmed outside the home of architect – and friend of Argento – Sandro Petti , switching to studio shots for her initial entrance into the house and back to Petti 's house for the confrontation with the killer . The scene at the beginning of the film where Neal boards his flight to Rome was filmed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York .
Giuseppe <unk> – a frequent Argento collaborator – was the film 's production designer . The surroundings are given a bleached , " merciless " look , made from marble and stone façades , shiny metallic sculptures , with steel , water and glass surfaces . Some of the homes – specifically those of the lesbian couple and he first killer – are " cold , austere , brutalist " slabs of granite , and many of the interior shots feature plain white backgrounds , with characters ' wearing pale @-@ coloured clothes against them – better , Newman felt , to contrast the blood once the violence started . The studio @-@ set scenes were filmed at Elios Studios in Rome , unlike Argento 's previous films in the city , which he had filmed at <unk> De Paolis . He could not use Elios because his idol Michelangelo Antonioni was using the studio to film Identification of a Woman ( 1982 ) at the time . The design and creation of Tenebrae 's special effects was supervised by Giovanni <unk> , who – with his brother <unk> – had a near @-@ monopoly on special effects in the Italian film industry at the time . The scene in which Jane is hacked to death after having her arm cut off was filmed about eight times . Argento was not satisfied with any of the takes he had , which used a type of bicycle pump to spray fake blood from the " wound " across the white wall , so the director had <unk> place an explosive squib in the prosthetic arm – a solution which apparently satisfied Argento .
Much of Tenebrae takes place during daytime , or in harshly over @-@ lit interiors . Except for the finale and some night scenes , the entire movie is shot with clear , cold light permeating the surroundings . The lighting and camerawork used in Andrzej <unk> 's Possession ( 1981 ) was an influence on the film 's look . Although <unk> / <unk> is a Latin / Italian word meaning " darkness " or " shadows " , Argento ordered cinematographer Luciano Tovoli to use as much bright light as possible . The director intended that the film be set in the near future and wanted the lighting to help create a " cold , stark and semi @-@ futuristic look " . Argento explained that this approach was also an attempt to imitate what he saw as the " realistic manner of lighting " used in television police shows . The director explained that he was adopting " a modern style of photography , deliberately breaking with the legacy of German Expressionism . Today 's light is the light of neon , headlights , and omnipresent flashes ... Caring about shadows seemed ridiculous to me and , more than that , reassuring . " Argento filmed half @-@ empty streets and shops where he could , in an attempt to reflect a futuristic setting where a disaster had diminished significantly the population of his imaginary city . Tovoli used Kodak <unk> film stock ( 125 ASA speed rating ) for daylight scenes , and Kodak <unk> ( 250 ASA ) for night shoots . Tovoli rated both at 300 ASA to ensure controlled overexposure of the negative during filming , for the benefit of under @-@ developing in the lab and less colour loss . The ultimate aim was for images that were " crystal clear " , and night that was awash with light .
Film scholar Richard Dyer highlights several intelligent devices uses by Argento in the editing of the film , noting that interpolated sequences are sometimes punctuated by " shots of pills and the sound of running water . " Steffen <unk> believes that the shock cuts in the latter part of the film are among cinema 's " most brutal and stylized " , and exhibit a degree of abstract expressionism . Film scholar Leon Hunt argues that the devices and themes utilized by Argento in the making of Tenebrae make it as much an example of art cinema as anything else . The initial murders are shot in a " clipped montage style " , which is later revealed to be reflecting the use of a camera by the first killer to record the scene . Giuliano Gemma later said that Argento fostered an improvisational atmosphere on set . One example he gave was the scene where his character bends to pick up some evidence from the floor , only to reveal Neal behind him having perfectly matched his position relative to the camera . This moment was not scripted , but resulted from Argento 's noticing the actors ' similar build while they were stood , one behind the other in front of him .
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Gracey refers to the film 's cinematography as " nothing short of astounding " , and cites a particular example as highlighting Argento 's " passion for technical prowess and breathtaking visuals " . Influenced by the closing shot of The Passenger ( 1975 ) , on which Tovoli had also been the cinematographer , one of Tenebrae 's main setpieces is the murder of the lesbian couple . To introduce the scene , Argento and Tovoli employed the use of a Louma crane to film a several minutes @-@ long tracking shot . Owing to its extreme length , the tracking shot ended up being the most difficult and complex part of the production to complete . It required a maze of scaffolding to be built around the outside of the home . Argento captured all the footage he needed in two takes , but insisted on filming ten more . The scene , which lasts for two @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half minutes on @-@ screen , took three days to shoot . It marked the first time the Louma crane had been used in an Italian production ; the crane itself had to be imported from France . According to Gracey , the camera performs " aerial gymnastics " , scaling the victims ' house in " one seamless take , navigating walls , roofs , and peering in through windows , in a set piece that effortlessly exposes the <unk> of a seemingly secure home " . Newman and Jones said that although this type of crane shot became commonplace later , at the time it was " truly ground @-@ breaking " in the way the camera seemingly crawled over the walls and up the building – not quite from the killer 's viewpoint . Patrick McAllister of <unk> said the sequence should be considered " one of the most memorable moments in cinema " . According to McAllister , Tenebrae 's distributor begged Argento to cut the shot down because it was " meaningless " . Newman and Jones agreed that the shot added nothing to the film 's plot , but called it " meaninglessly brilliant " .
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