Opera: Limited Edition (4K UHD Review)

Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
Review Date: Oct 30, 2024
Format: 4K Ultra HD

Director

Dario Argento

Release Date(s)

1987 (July 7, 2024)

Studio(s)

ADC Films/Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica/RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana (Severin Films)

Film/Program Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Audio Grade: B+
Extras Grade: A+
Overall Grade: A

https://severinfilms.com/

Review

Dario Argento has long been renowned as one of the master visual stylists in the horror genre, with his prowling camerawork and elaborate color design working together in his own trademarked fashion. Of course, he’s also a master aural stylist, making use of driving prog rock scores from the likes of Goblin in order to support these distinctive visuals. With Argento, sound and image work together in perfect harmony. While that harmony hasn’t always extended to the thematic level, it did so just as perfectly in his 1987 film Opera (aka Terror at the Opera). It’s a story that revolves around a production of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Teatro Regio opera house in Parma, Italy, yet it’s as much focused on the act of seeing as it is on the act of listening. It’s also focused on the act of Becoming, but more on that in a moment.

Dario Argento and Franco Ferrini’s script for Opera opens during rehearsals for an avant-garde version of Macbeth that’s being staged by Marco, an ambitious horror movie veteran who wants to reinvent the opera in his own macabre fashion. When his lead performer is injured, her understudy Betty (Cristina Marsillach) reluctantly steps into the role of Lady Macbeth after some encouragement from her agent Mira (Daria Nicolodi). The show ends up becoming a smash success, but the Curse of The Scottish Play proves inescapable, this time embodied by a stalker who starts murdering various members of the company in grisly fashion. That results in an investigation led by Inspector Alan Santini (Urbano Barberini), but the killer stays one step ahead even while threads are discovered that lead to Betty’s past. Opera also stars Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Antonella Vitale, William McNamara, and Barbara Cupisti.

In one form or another, Argento’s work has often revolved the act of seeing, but Opera handles the idea quite differently than anything else in his filmography. In other gialli like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Four Flies on Grey Velvet, those who have witnessed the actions of a killer find themselves as the next potential target—in other words, the killer doesn’t actually want to be seen. Yet in Opera, the killer desperately wishes for Betty to witness the gruesome acts while they’re being committed, enough so that he has devised an equally gruesome methodology to make sure that she does: he binds her in an upright position and then tapes needles to her lower eyelids in order to force her to keep her eyes open no matter what happens. In Argento’s previous films, the act of seeing wasn’t tied to the vulnerabilities of the human eye in so direct a fashion. It’s something that was normally the purview of his fellow Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci, but the concept works beautifully here.

It’s not the only way that Argento ties the act of seeing to the human eye during the course of Opera, with various character’s eyes suffering fates that would have made Fulci proud (you’ll think twice before ever looking through the peephole in a door again). Yet the killer doesn’t actually want to harm Betty’s eyes, just to keep them open in order to witness his acts of Becoming. Despite the fact that Opera shares all trappings of a normal giallo, Argento borrowed this conceptual framework from the 1981 Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon. When Francis Dolarhyde kidnaps Freddy Lounds midway through the story, he threatens to staple the reporter’s eyelids to his forehead if he won’t open his eyes. Dolarhyde needs people to see his transformation into something more awe-inspiring, enough so that he even disfigures his deceased victims so that they’ll always see what he has Become. The killer in Opera needs Betty to see his own transformations, with his acts only Becoming real for him once Betty has witnessed them.

Everything comes full circle during a coda that Argento also borrowed from Harris. While it’s possible that he saw Michael Mann’s 1986 adaptation Manhunter, Mann had discarded the elaborate twist ending that Harris devised for the book, so Argento was able to use it a year later in Opera without looking like he borrowed it from Mann. Yet it’s significant not just because it entails the return of the supposedly deceased killer, but also because it marks the moment where the killer’s machinations have finally pushed Betty into her own moment of Becoming. She’s spent enough time staring at the heart of darkness through open eyes that it has inevitably had an effect on her. Exactly what that effect might be is left tantalizingly ambiguous in Argento’s original cut, enough so that Orion Pictures decided to omit the tail end of his coda in their North American version Terror at the Opera. Yet it’s the logical culmination of everything that happened previously, not so much according to Harris or even the standard tropes of gialli as it is to Friedrich Nietzsche:

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."

Cinematographer Ronnie Tayler shot Opera on 35mm film (in Super-35 format) using spherical lenses, framed for 2.39:1. Release prints were anamorphic blowups of the cropped full-frame Super-35 image area—and stick a pin in that thought for a moment, because we’ll come back to it later. This version is based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative that was performed at Cinecittà in Rome, cleaned up and graded for High Dynamic Range in Dolby Vision and HDR10, with Possessor and Infinity Pool cinematographer Karim Hussain serving as color correction supervisor. The results are as clean, sharp and detailed as can be expected, with the usual caveat that optically printed dupe elements like the opening titles and any transitions during the film do look softer—and those transitions weren’t cut in, so they do affect the entire leading and trailing edges of the shots involved. There are a few shots that have small lines burned into them, not scratches, that may have been flaws in the original opticals that were left untouched. The Super-35 grain is managed well by the encoding.

What wasn’t managed well, at least at first, was the color space. Severin’s initial pressing of Opera was in the wrong color space, which made the HDR grades look pale and desaturated compared to the Blu-ray version. Eventually, they issued replacement discs that started to ship out in September. Since the set is only available directly from Severin’s website, those replacements were sent automatically to their customers (anyone who purchased from a secondary site like eBay might be out of luck). Seen in the proper Rec.2020 color space, the HDR grade now has the saturation levels of the Blu-ray, but with more details to the colors and more natural-looking flesh tones. The contrast and black levels are also improved, and Hussain avoided the temptation to push the highlights too far. From a standpoint of actual video quality, Severin’s 4K trumps previous releases.

Now, back to the question of how Opera was intended to be framed. One of the advantages of Super-35 over older spherical ‘scope formats like Techniscope was that it exposed the full width of the 35mm negative, including the image area on the left that was normally reserved for the optical soundtrack. While release prints were still anamorphic blowups, the lab used the entire frame instead of cropping off the left side as was normally done with Techniscope. Super-35 films intended for anamorphic release were always composed with that in mind. Where Opera gets a little complicated is that while Taylor did indeed compose for Argento’s preferred 2.39:1, he protected (more or less) for a possible flat 1.85:1 release, and that’s the aspect ratio that Orion intended to use for the theatrical release of their re-edited version Terror at the Opera, although they ultimately scrapped those plans and dumped it straight to video instead. Opera has been available on home video in both aspect ratios (and Severin has included an alternate 1.85:1 version here), but it was clearly intended for 2.39:1. The 1.85:1 version exposes too much information on the top and bottom of the image, including things that shouldn’t be visible—Taylor may have protected for 1.85:1, but his heart wasn’t in it.

What’s a bit muddier is exactly how the 2.39:1 was meant to be extracted. Karim Hussain has made the case that both the 2.39:1 and 1.85:1 versions were intended to be different crops of the same image area, meaning that the 2.39:1 version wasn’t supposed to use the soundtrack area at the left after all. That’s how Severin’s 4K master has been framed, which is noticeably different than the 4K based on the same scans from Plaion Pictures in Germany. The fact that some of the second unit work used a different lens offset would seem to support that idea, since it resulted in visible vignetting on the left side of the frame when the full image is exposed. Yet that’s just not how the bulk of the film was shot, and while it may have been Argento’s first experience with the Super-35 format, Taylor had used it multiple times before that (he wasn’t responsible for the flawed second unit work). And there are frame samples available online that were taken from an anamorphic 35mm print that seem to prove that the soundtrack area to the left was visible during theatrical release. So, Hussain’s revised framing doesn’t appear to be correct. It’s missing information from the left side and the bottom that was intended to be seen. Does that negatively impact the viewing experience? Frankly, no, unless you’re a really ardent fan of Opera who knows every inch of the frame. Most people would never know the difference. It’s still something to be aware of, so caveat emptor.

Audio for the director’s cut is offered in English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; Italian 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; and the Cannes Film Festival English mix with the original dubbing in 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitle options include optional English SDH subtitles for the English language version, standard English subtitles for the Italian version, and alternate English SDH subtitles for the Cannes mix. Audio for the U.S. cut is offered in English 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, with optional English SDH subtitles.

Opera was released theatrically in Dolby Stereo, and the 2.0 stereo tracks are indeed encoded for surround sound, so be sure to turn on your decoder if you use them. The 5.1 version seems to be a relatively straightforward discrete encoding of the original four Dolby Stereo channels, although there are a handful of moments where split surround activity has been added—for instance, one of the escaped crows in the opera house pans from the left to the right surround channel. Those moments are few and far between, and for the most part there aren’t many significant differences between the two. The only caveat is that they’re not level-matched, so comparing them requires adjusting the volume back and forth. When raising the volume on the 5.1 to match the 2.0, the music suffers from a bit of distortion; for an example, compare the crescendo while the camera pans to the side of the opera house at 8:40. For that reason alone, the 2.0 track is preferable. Both tracks have excessive sibilance in the dialogue that sounds like it’s part of the original recordings, but it’s not too distracting. You can’t go wrong either way, but the 2.0 still has a slight edge.

Severin’s Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD release of Opera is a five-disc set that includes one UHD and one Blu-ray with both cuts of the film at the theatrical 2.35:1 aspect ratio; another Blu-ray with the director’s cut only at 1.85:1; a third Blu-ray with additional extras; and a CD with the soundtrack for the film. It also includes an 82-page booklet featuring an extended essay by Claire Donner from the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies. Everything is housed in a rigid slipcase that was designed by Eric Lee. The following extras are included:

DISC ONE: UHD (DIRECTOR’S CUT AND U.S. CUT – 2.35:1)

Audio Commentary with Cristina Marsillach and Ángel Sala
Audio Commentary with Alan Jones and Kim Newman
Audio Commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
Opera Trailer (HD – 1:49)
Terror at the Opera Trailer (HD – 1:42)

DISC TWO: BD (DIRECTOR’S CUT AND U.S. CUT – 2.35:1)

Audio Commentary with Cristina Marsillach and Ángel Sala
Audio Commentary with Alan Jones and Kim Newman
Audio Commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
The Eyes and the Needles (HD – 2:42)
Arias of Death (HD – 37:24)
The Eyes of Opera (HD – 19:15)
Opera Trailer (HD – 1:49)
Terror at the Opera Trailer (HD – 1:42)

DISC THREE: BD (DIRECTOR’S CUT – 1.85:1)

Audio Commentary with Cristina Marsillach and Ángel Sala
Audio Commentary with Alan Jones and Kim Newman
Audio Commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
Don’t Close Your Eyes (HD – 37:46)
The Opera and Mr. Jones (HD – 12:42)
Conducting Dario Argento’s Opera (SD – 35:46)
Terror at the Opera (SD – 26:36)

The extras kick off with three new commentary tracks, all of which are available on the director’s cut only. The first one features Cristina Marsillach joined by Ángel Sala, head of programming at the Stiges Film Festival. (Note that it’s in Spanish with English subtitles.) It mostly consists of Sala describing and analyzing what’s happening onscreen while Marsillach agrees with him, so if you’re hoping to hear her memories about the production, there’s not enough of it here.

The second commentary features Alan Jones, author of Profondo Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic, joined by author and critic Kim Newman. Opera was the first film that Jones covered on location with Dario Argento, so his interaction with Newman is loaded with the kind of memories that Marsillach’s track is missing. (Some of his comments might explain her reticence, since he said that despite giving a good performance, Argento ended up regretting having cast her.) While they do offer plenty of practical information about the making of Opera, it’s really more of a freewheeling conversation between the two, and it’s well worth a listen.

Speaking of freewheeling conversations, the third commentary pairs Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson with Troy Howarth, author of Murder By Design: The Unsane Cinema of Dario Argento. As they point out, it’s the first time that they’ve sat down together to discuss Opera, although they both did solo commentaries for the 2019 Blu-ray from Scorpion Releasing. They delve into a variety of minutiae regarding the film, and while there’s some inevitable overlap with Jones and Newman, they offer plenty of interesting tidbits of their own—including their own interpretation(s) of the ending.

The first two Blu-rays also offer two interviews, an archival featurette, and a Q&A. Don’t Close Your Eyes is an interview with film historian Fabrizio Spurio, who provides some context about Dario Argento’s career in 1987, plus an analysis of Opera and the way that it reverses the act of seeing from Argento’s earlier work. The Opera and Mr. Jones brings back Alan Jones to explain why he thinks that Opera is such an important contribution to Argento’s filmography (and thankfully, he disagrees with the notion that it was the director’s last great film). Conducting Dario Argento’s Opera is an archival making-of documentary from Anchor Bay’s 2001 DVD release of Opera. It includes interviews with Argento, Ronnie Taylor, Daria Nicolodi, Urbano Barberini, makeup effects artist Sergio Stivaletti, and Claudio Simonetti, as well as film clips and a bit of behind-the-scenes footage. Finally, Terror at the Opera is a Q&A that took place at Cinema Farnese in 2006, featuring Argento, Franco Ferrini, and Lamberto Bava.

DISC FOUR: BD (ADDITIONAL EXTRAS)

Opera Runs with Blood (HD – 18:03)
To Catch a Killer (HD – 15:19)
In Any Language (HD – 8:59)
The Perfect Death (HD – 3:59)
Blood Red Piano (HD – 31:02)
The Eye Behind the Camera (HD – 35:27)
Flight of the Crow (HD – 18:24)
Blood and Latex (HD – 13:25)
The Gliding Camera (HD – 19:23)
800 Sons (HD – 14:08)
Preserving Opera (HD – 5:52)
Opera Backstage (Upscaled SD – 44:35)

The bonus Blu-ray includes a stack of miscellaneous interviews, a restoration featurette, and a collection of behind-the-scenes footage. The first four are with various actors who appeared in the film: Opera Runs with Blood is with Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni; To Catch a Killer is with Urbano Barberini; In Any Language is with Antonella Vitale; and The Perfect Death is with Daria Nicolodi. The next six interviews are with various crew members: Blood Red Piano is with Cladio Simonetti; The Eye Behind the Camera is with camera operator Antonio Scaramuzza; Flight of the Crow is with Sergio Stivaletti; Blood and Latex is with makeup artist Franco Casagni; The Gliding Camera is with Steadicam operator Nicola Pecorini; and 800 Sons is with press agent Enrico Lucherini.

Preserving Opera is a featurette that has Karim Hussain explaining some of the decisions that were made in mastering Opera for 4K and HDR, including the reasons why they opted to frame out the normal soundtrack area of the Super-35 negative. Listen to what he has to say, and judge for yourself. Opera Backstage offers a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage of Argento and the crew at work on and off the set, including some of the effects work as well as the animal handlers dealing with the crows.

DISC FIVE: CD

Opera (2:23)
Crows (2:42)
Impending Danger (1:46)
Steel Grave (3:11)
Confusion (3:25)
The Mask (1:58)
Knight of the Night (2:46)
The Cinema Show (1:58)
Cosmo (3:46)
Confusion (Reprise) (2:19)
Opera – Original Piano Demo (2:25)
Crows – Simonetti Horror Project Version (1990) (3:08)
Days of Confusion – Simonetti Horror Project II Version (1991) (3:51)
Confusion – Original Piano Demo (3:25)
Opera – Daemonia Live at ProgWest Festival (2002) (5:23)

Finally—for real this time!—this Limited Edition release also includes a copy of the film’s soundtrack on CD. That’s over twelve hours of extras, and while many of them are talking-head interviews, there’s plenty of other material to break them up. Yet as with pretty much any major Dario Argento film, it’s still not all-inclusive of everything from previous releases. The aforementioned individual Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth commentaries are both missing, as is the German-language commentary with Marcus Stiglegger and Kai Naumann from the Koch Media Blu-ray. While some of the interviews that Severin has included have been repurposed (and retitled) from previous releases, there are still other interviews that aren’t offered here. The Daemonia music video from other versions also isn’t included. As always, double-check before you get rid of any older discs that you may own.

Still, there’s enough here to keep anyone busy for hours—twelve plus, if you include watching the film itself and listening to the soundtrack. It’s not inexpensive, although Severin has been offering it at 20% off for some time now. While they’ll eventually release a cheaper standard version once this one sells out, it won’t include the CD and it probably won’t include all of the Blu-rays, either. So, if you’re a fan of Opera, this is worth picking up despite any valid questions that can be raised about the framing—it’s unlikely than anyone but the most obsessive-compulsive of fans will know the difference, but be aware of it regardless. It’s still a recommended set, albeit with that one reservation.

- Stephen Bjork

(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, and Letterboxd).