Sunday, January 1, 2012

Malleus' "The Bird with the Crystal Plumage" Movie Posters

UPDATE (1/2): I was a little early with my guesstimated release time, but the regular version of the print is now available for purchase through Dark City Gallery! The variant has already sold out, so now's your chance! Go, go, go!

It's hard to believe I've never written about anything created by the supremely talented Malleus Rock Art Lab, but that's all about to change thanks to a series of what are sure to be beautiful movie prints. To my great pleasure, Dark City Gallery recently announced that they're teaming up with Malleus to celebrate nine, yes NINE, of Dario Argento's key films. The first of those films is the 1970 giallo entry, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, or as it's known in its native land, L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo. Behold!

L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo Movie Poster (Regular)
Malleus
19.5" x 27.5" - Signed and Numbered
£40 (around $63) - Limited to 175

I think I'm in love. I'm not sure I've ever seen posters that more perfectly reflect the tone and innate Italianism of Argento's giallo filmography. This is a bit of a tangent, but if you've ever seen an older Italian film, whether it's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage or A Fistful of Dollars, you probably noticed the somewhat questionable dubbing on display. The same can be said of the locales featured in early Italian cinema - whether the story claims to take place in New York or London, there's usually one or more scenes featuring a distinctly Italian or Spanish setting that clearly state otherwise. I mention this, not as a comment on Malleus' extraordinary artwork, but to illustrate how, even when an Italian film was trying not to be Italian, there were some pretty clear (and now nostalgically charming) giveaways. Could there be a better group of artists to pay tribute to Argento's directorial debut than the Italy-based Malleus Rock Art Lab? Based on the two prints included in this post, I'd say it's a pretty clear "no."

Malleus has done a masterful job of injecting the posters with the mysterious and violent elements that made Argento's films so titillatingly fun to watch, but also manages to make it wholly their own (seriously, nobody does sentient hair like Malleus does). And much like the film, the artist(s) managed to blend the gory and disgusting, as represented by the bloody splatter, with the beautiful and graceful, as exemplified by the titular bird behind the film's title. As far as I'm concerned, these posters are breathtaking in their execution and bode very well for the rest of the Dario Argento print series. I can't wait to see what's next! Logically, my money is on The Cat o' Nine Tails.

L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo Movie Poster (Metallic Ink Variant)
Malleus
19.5" x 27.5" - Signed and Numbered
£60 (around $93) - Limited to 70

Malleus' The Bird with the Crystal Plumage movie posters will be available through Dark City Gallery on Monday (12/2) at around noon GMT, meaning 4 AM PST (i.e., very early for us West Coasters). The posters measure 19.5" x 27.5" and will be signed, stamped and numbered. The regular version will cost £40 (approximately $63) and be limited to 175, while the metallic variant will cost £60 ($93) and is limited to an edition of 70. To learn more about Posterocalypse favorite Dark City Gallery, be sure to visit darkcitygallery.com and follow them on Twitter @darkcitygallery. And to learn about the artist collective known as the Malleus Rock Art Lab head over to malleusdelic.com and follow @malleusdelic. Pretty simple, right? Good luck people!

10 comments:

  1. I've been keeping my eyes on these for a while. These are excellent and I'm really looking forward to the series. I'm going to have to be patient with these. Missing out on the set with the free shipping is a drag. International shipping always makes me think twice especially when you can only get one at a time. Profondo Rosso and Suspiria will probably be the must haves for me.

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  2. Yeah, the free shipping is one of the main reasons I was able to pull the trigger on this one. With that said, I definitely can't afford to purchase every print in this series and will have to pick and choose as they're released. I'm super excited to finally have a Malleus piece in my collection though!

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  3. That is a beautiful print. I wish I could afford some of these right now, or had a place to hang them. Can't wait to see the rest of the posters though.

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  4. I hear that! Timing (financially speaking, that is) and wall space are everything, aren't they?

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  5. Malleus are my favorite poster outfit and Argento maybe my favorite filmmaker. This series is a dream come true for sure. Bought the subscription whether I could afford it or not.
    Great write-up!

    Btw the next in the series is Deep Red :)

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  6. Thanks Jay! I would gladly welcome a Deep Red print next!

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  7. I just snagged a regular.

    Can't wait to see the rest.

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  8. Congrats! I'm in the same boat - can't wait to see what the next release looks like.

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  9. http://forum.expressobeans.com/download/file.php?id=29519

    Sneak peek at Profondo Rosso

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  10. Beautiful stuff! I love how the title organically melds into the eyelashes!

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