Short Night of Glass Dolls

Edgar Allan Poe’s story The Premature Burial begins “There are certain themes of which the interest is all-absorbing but which are too entirely horrible for the purpose of legitimate fiction.   These the mere romanticist must eschew, if he do not wish to offend, or to disgust.”

The Italian giallo genre of thriller/horror films, (of which Aldo Lado’s film Short Night of Glass Dolls is an example) dealt with those horrible themes – with murder and death and mystery with stylish camerawork and unusual musical soundtracks.  Often giallo films include a lengthy murder sequence with operatic style.  It’s not a genre that is hugely popular in America, but it does have its devotees. Though Short Night of Glass Dolls (La Corta notte delle bambole di vetro) 1971 is listed as a giallo it is unusual in its lack of some of those elements that define the genre.  It doesn’t have the copious bloodletting or the erotic elements common to giallo, but it is still a strong mystery of a movie.

Tapheophobia (from the Greek taphos – “grave”) is the fear of being buried alive.

The film begins with the discovery of the body of an American journalist, Gregory Moore, lying – apparently dead – in a park in Prague.  The doctors can find no pulse, there appears to be no respiration, but his body temperature remains steady and there is no postmortem rigidity. 

Moore is, somehow, still alive and thinking, though unable to move or to communicate with those around him.  He can do nothing to convince them that he is still alive.  All he can do is remember.  “…it’s the only way I can tell I’m alive.”

And so in stuttering series of flashbacks, he recalls the events that led up to his death – his apparent death.  He remembers his girlfriend (played by Barbara Bach – Bond girl and wife of Ringo Starr) and her mysterious disappearance.  He remembers his investigation and the clues that led him to his mysterious end.

And the more that he remembers the stranger the story become causing the viewer to wonder if what he remembers is real, or if he’s gone mad because of his condition.  And the more he remembers the more we wonder if he will be able to wake up from this deathly nightmare – from this deathly paralysis.  The tension mounts inexorably as the doctors prepare his body for an autopsy – a procedure which will leave him as dead as he appears to be.

The director’s use of butterflies as a metaphor for youth and vitality is well played throughout the film - and it should be noted that the original title for the film was "Short Night of the Butterflies" but this had to be abandoned at the last minute (even though it makes more sense than Short Night of the Glass Dolls…)

 This is why it is said:

   “Wake up, sleeper,

   rise from the dead,

   and Christ will shine on you.”

Ephesians 5: 14

The film’s score was composed by Ennio Morricone.  It’s interesting but not nearly as inspired as his music for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.