Death Laid an Egg

[Machine Translation] Egg first or kill first? The only poultry-raising suspense appearance in the history of cinema, cutting into the ruthlessness of capitalism and the emptiness of life. The longest version of this thriller, which Godard seems to have filmed in a drug-induced stupor, is now available in softcopy for the first time. The main character Marco is played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, the famous actor of "Man and Woman" ('66), "Z" ('69), and "The Assassination Forest" ('70), who passed away in June 2022, his wife Anna is played by Gina Lollobrigida, who dominated the world as a synonym for Italian beauty, and Gabriele is played by a native Swedish, Gabri is played by Eva Ohlin, an 18-year-old blonde beauty from Sweden with a cute and charming look. The film is directed and written by Giulio Questi, the genius behind "Django" ('67), which caused a worldwide sensation with one of the most brutal macaroni westerns ever made. In this film, Questi took on the challenge of creating a bizarre suspense pioneered by Mario Bava, a master of Italian horror, and later established by Dario Argento. The film not only paints a crime drama swirling with lust, perversion, and cruelty, but also exposes the inhumanity of capitalist society in the form of worker layoffs due to the automation of poultry farms, and the research and development of deformed broilers without heads or feathers that continue to grow without feeding, a corporate violation of bioethics in the pursuit of profit. The film exposes the inhumanity of the company that violates bioethics in the pursuit of profit, and clearly conveys a socialist message that can be seen in films by Pasolini, Antonioni, and Elio Petri of the same period. Watching the 105-minute film (the longest version), which includes cruel and unusual scenes that were not included in the 90-minute international version that was distributed worldwide when the film was first released, one can see that while this is a classic work of bizarre suspense, it deviates from the formula and explores social issues, experimental visual expressions, and the loss of identity, the absurdity of the world, and the nihilism of life, which are also relevant to today. The film is an ambitious work in which the director's one and only auteuristic talent is on display. --A huge poultry farm in the suburbs of Rome. The president, Marco, is known as a prominent figure in the industry, but his frustration with his wife, Anna, who holds the real power of management and property, grows stronger day by day. Marco is not only a lover of Anna's teenage niece, Gabri, with whom he lives, but he is also an aberrant character who ventilates his hatred for his wife through sadism toward women. When the hidden desires of each of the three are revealed, the situation takes an unexpected turn and gives birth to the most deformed chickens imaginable!

*Rated 12-and-over.

Special Feature / Bonus Track: trailers

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卵が先か、殺しが先か! 資本主義の非情と人生の虚無に切り込んだ、映画史上唯一の養鶏サスペンス出現。ゴダールが麻薬漬けになって撮ったようなスリラー、最長版初ソフト化。主人公マルコ役には、去る2022年6月に死去した『男と女』(66)、『Z』(69)、『暗殺の森』(70)の名優ジャン=ルイ・トランティニャン、妻アンナ役にはイタリア美人の代名詞として一世を風靡したジーナ・ロロブリジーダ、そしてガブリ役にはスウェーデン出身、キュートなルックスが魅力的な当時18才のブロンド・ビューティ、エヴァ・オーリンが扮している。監督・脚本は、マカロニ・ウエスタン屈指の残酷描写で世界を騒然とさせた『情無用のジャンゴ』(67)の鬼才ジュリオ・クエスティ。この作品でクエスティは、イタリアン・ホラーの名手マリオ・バーヴァが先駆け、後にダリオ・アルジェントが確立する猟奇サスペンスに挑戦。欲望渦巻く犯罪ドラマを倒錯嗜好と残酷趣味で毒々しく塗りたくっただけでなく、養鶏場のオートメーション化に伴う労働者解雇という資本主義社会の非情、餌をやらなくても成長を続ける首も羽根もない畸形ブロイラーの研究開発という、利潤追求のためには生命倫理をも蹂躙する企業の非人間性を暴き、同時期のパゾリーニ、アントニオーニ、エリオ・ペトリ監督作品にも通じる、社会派的メッセージを鮮明に打ち出している。初公開時に世界配給された90分前後の【国際版】にはない残酷場面、異常場面を含む105分の【最長版】を今改めて観直せば、本作が猟奇サスペンスの王道作でありながら、その定型から逸脱し、社会問題や実験的な映像表現、さらには現代にも通じるアイデンティティの喪失、世の不条理と人生の虚無にまで踏み込んだ、クエスティ監督唯一無二の作家性が発揮された野心作であることに気付かされるだろう。――ローマ郊外の巨大養鶏場。社長のマルコは業界の名士として知られていたが、経営の実権と財産を握る妻アンナに対する苛立ちは日々強くなる一方だった。マルコは同居するアンナの十代の姪、ガブリと愛人関係にあっただけでなく、妻への憎しみを女性へのサディズムで発散する異常性格者だった。そして3人それぞれの隠された欲望が暴かれる時、事態は予想もできない展開と想像を絶する畸形ニワトリを産んだ!

映像特典: 【最長版】日本版予告編、オリジナル予告編、87分版本編 (2003年DVDより)