Berberian Sound Studio

{{For|the soundtrack album|Berberian Sound Studio (soundtrack){{!}}Berberian Sound Studio (soundtrack)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Berberian Sound Studio

| image = Berberian Sound Studio.jpg

| alt =

| caption = British film poster

| director = Peter Strickland

| producer = Scott Page

| writer = Peter Strickland
Kephas Leroc

| based_on = {{Based on|Berberian Sound Studio|Peter Strickland}}

| starring = {{plainlist|

Toby Jones
Antonio Mancino
Fatma Mohamed

}}

| music = Broadcast

| cinematography = Nicholas D. Knowland

| editing = Chris Dickens

| studio = UK Film Council
Film4
Warp X
ITV Yorkshire

| distributor = Artificial Eye

| released = {{Film date|2012|06|28|Edinburgh Film Festival|2012|08|31|United Kingdom|df=y}}

| runtime = 94 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English, Italian

| budget =

| gross = $31,641{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=berberiansoundstudio.htm |title=Berberian Sound Studio (2013) |website=Box Office Mojo |accessdate=9 August 2016}}

}}

Berberian Sound Studio is a 2012 British psychological horror film. It is the second feature film by British director and screenwriter Peter Strickland. The film, which stars Toby Jones, is set in a 1970s Italian horror film studio.{{cite news |last=French |first=Philip |title=Berberian Sound Studio – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/02/berberian-sound-studio-review-french|accessdate=2 September 2012|newspaper=The Observer |date=2 September 2012}}

Plot

British sound engineer Gilderoy (Toby Jones) arrives at the Berberian film studio in Italy to work on what he believes is a film about horses. During a surreal meeting with Francesco, the film's producer, Gilderoy is shocked to find the film is actually an Italian giallo film, The Equestrian Vortex. He nonetheless begins work in the studio, at one point made to do Foley work, using vegetables to create sound effects for the film's increasingly gory torture sequences, and mixing voiceovers from session artists, Silvia and Claudia, into the score.

As time passes, and Gilderoy feels more and more disconnected from his mother at home, he begins to fear he's out of his depth. Gilderoy's colleagues seem increasingly rude – to both himself and to each other. The horror sequences grow ever more shocking, yet Santini, the director, refuses to admit they are working on a horror film. And, after a long passage through the bureaucracy of the film studio's accounts department, it turns out the plane ticket Gilderoy submitted for a refund can't be processed because the flight didn't actually exist.

The plot, from here on in, grows increasingly erratic. Gilderoy hears and sees things in the night. He discovers that Silvia, the voiceover artist, was molested by Santini. She storms out, destroying much of their work, forcing Gilderoy to re-record the dialogue with a new actress, Elisa. As Silvia's recording sequences are revisited, and tension grows between Gilderoy and the others, the boundaries between the blood-drenched giallo thriller and real life begin to erode. Gilderoy imagines he himself is in a film about his life – suddenly fluent in Italian and increasingly detached and vicious.

After he and Francesco find Elisa's screams less-than-adequate during a recording session, Gilderoy volunteers to torture her with dissonant and shrill sounds in order to elicit the perfect scream. Instead, she walks out, and it is left ambiguous whether he was attempting to hurt her out of malice or secretly trying to drive her away and prevent history from repeating itself. In a final shot, during a power cut, Gilderoy witnesses the movie projector spontaneously turning itself on and creating an incandescent light, into which he seemingly disappears.

Cast

Toby Jones as Gilderoy
Tonia Sotiropoulou as Elena
Susanna Cappellaro as Veronica as Accused Witch
Cosimo Fusco as Francesco
Katalin Ladik as herself / Resurrected Witch
Antonio Mancino as Giancarlo Santini
Fatma Mohamed as Silvia as Teresa
Chiara D'Anna as Elisa as Teresa
Eugenia Caruso as Claudia as Monica (Screamer)
Suzy Kendall as Gilderoy's Mother (Special Guest Screamer)
Salvatore Li Causi as Fabio
Guido Adorni as Lorenzo
Lara Parmiani as Chiara as Signore Collatina
Josef Cseres as Massimo
Pal Toth as Massimo
Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg as The Goblin

Background

Strickland made a version in 2005 as a short film, prior to working on his first feature film, Katalin Varga, in 2006. He said that with the film, he wanted to "make a film where everything that is usually hidden in cinema, the mechanics of film itself, is made visible. Berberian... turns this on its head. Here, the film is out of view, and you only see the mechanics behind it".

Reception

Berberian Sound Studio premiered on 28 June 2012 at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where The Daily Telegraph described it as the "stand-out movie".{{cite news|last=Collin|first=Robbie|title=Berberian Sound Studio, Edinburgh International Film Festival 2012, review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/9363023/Berberian-Sound-Studio-Edinburgh-International-Film-Festival-2012-review.html|accessdate=2 September 2012|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=28 June 2012}} It was presented at the London FrightFest Film Festival in August 2012.{{cite web|last=Cummings|first=Basia|title=Foley Cow! Berberian Sound Studio Director Peter Strickland Interviewed|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/09874-peter-strickland-interview-berberian-sound-studio|website=The Quietus |date=31 August 2012 |accessdate=2 September 2012}} Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian has described the film as "seriously weird and seriously good" and said that it marks Strickland's emergence as "a key British film-maker of his generation".{{cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|title=Berberian Sound Studio – review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/30/berberian-sound-studio-review|accessdate=2 September 2012|newspaper=The Guardian |date=1 September 2012}}

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 85% based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 7.22/10. The critical consensus states that "Its reach may exceed its grasp, but with Berberian Sound Studio, director Peter Strickland assembles a suitably twisted, creepy tribute to the Italian Giallo horror movies of the '70s that benefits from a strong central performance by Toby Jones."{{cite web |url=https://rottentomatoes.com/m/berberian_sound_studio_2012/ |title=Berberian Sound Studio |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Flixster |accessdate=March 22, 2020}} Metacritic gives a weighted average rating of 80 based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web |url=https://metacritic.com/movie/berberian-sound-studio/critic-reviews |title=Berberian Sound Studio |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS |accessdate=16 December 2013}}

Sight & Sound film magazine listed the film at number 5 on its list of best films of 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.hitfix.com/in-contention/the-master-named-2012s-best-in-sight-sound-critics-poll |title='The Master' named 2012's best in Sight & Sound critics' poll |website=Hitfix.com |accessdate=9 August 2016}} The film tied with A Royal Affair as Mark Kermode's best film of the year.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01phg3v |title=Kermode and Mayo's Film Review: Best of 2012 |work=BBC Radio 5 Live |date=28 December 2012 |accessdate=9 August 2016}} The film won awards at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards Best Director, Best Actor, Best Technical Achievement (Sound) and Best Achievement In Production.{{cite web |url=http://www.bifa.org.uk/winners/2012|title=Winners – Awards 2012 |work=The British Independent Film Awards |accessdate=9 August 2016}} In 2013, the film obtained the Best (International) Film Award at BAFICI.{{cite journal |url=https://hollywoodreporter.com/news/berberian-sound-studio-tops-15th-443373 |title='Berberian Sound Studio' Tops 15th BAFICI |first=Agustin |last=Mango |journal=The Hollywood Reporter |date=20 April 2013 |accessdate=9 August 2016}}

Home video release

Berberian Sound Studio was released on DVD in the UK by Artificial Eye on 31 December 2012. It has been given a 15 certificate by the BBFC. It came with either English subtitles for the Italian dialogue, or vice versa, as well the option to watch "naturalistically"; without subtitles of any sort. Foreign or hard of hearing subtitles, however, would typically subtitle and translate both languages.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by British band Broadcast and released by Warp in January 2013.{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-review-broadcast-berberian-sound-studio-warp-8437075.html |title=Album review: Broadcast, Berberian Sound Studio (Warp) |date=5 January 2013|first=Andy |last=Gill|newspaper=The Independent}}

Stage adaptation

The screenplay was adapted for the stage by Joel Horwood and Tom Scutt, being first shown in London's Donmar Warehouse in 2019.{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/production/berberian-sound-studio-donmar-warehouse-2018-2019| title=Berberian Sound Studio at the Donmar|website=playbill.com}}