Typically when I have failed to write about something prior to the BAM Awards, then that film is nominated a half-dozen times, then wins three times; I consider myself done writing about it for a time. However, The Strange Color of your Body’s Tears is one of the films that deserves some extra consideration. It should rouse some giallo fans out of the funk and stupor of scouring old titles whose hats are now as old.

If you saw Amer, and walked away disappointed as I did, this is a wholly different experience from directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani. This is a fully realized vision. Now one thing I will caution viewers on was that this was not an insight I came to immediately.

This is a film I didn’t re-watch yet but has lived off-and-on in my mind since I saw it. The initial ambivalence about it overall are fading away. Yes, I was floored by the sound mix, edit, the visuals and oneiric flow, but I think now that I’ve chewed on it enough that it’s the giallo elevation I wished Amer was, and whether or not I get it intellectually is almost secondary to its overall gut-punch impact. It’s a film you should allow to ravish you. I cannot guarantee that it will be as rewarding for the uninitiated as it is for someone who knows Giallo, well but if you stick with it and start to reconstruct the jigsaw you may well find you like it as well.

…deep, penetrating backgrounds and precision [camera] movements in The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears.

Quite frankly the only word to adequately describe the images carved out in this film is astonishing. There’s a lushness that far exceed the prowess of gialli that inspired it and brand themselves on the eyes and minds of those who see it. Sure, it’s excessive but it is so with definite intentions and planning and is all the more breathtaking because of it.

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears, which does cut frequently but with purpose. It is almost nearly living in someone’s psyche and attempting to replicate that with it also moving through time, creating frames and meaning visually it is clearly the most outstanding work of the year.

The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears assaults the senses throughout its duration and the ears are not exempt. Many of the jolts, much of the impact is through the mixing of effects, dialogue and score and helps contribute to its dreamy flow greatly.

It is available on digital and disc not and is recommended for fans of this unusual subgenre and the unusual.