"The Theorem of Delirium" (2002) is a 14-minute documentary produced as a DVD extra for the very good Blue Underground DVD of Renato Polselli's ultra-nasty Giallo "Delirio Caldo" (1973) starring Mickey Hargitay as a maniacal killer. Since the documentary includes Spoilers to the movie, it should only be seen after seeing the two very different versions of the film (the long European original version, and the American alternate cut). The documentary basically consists of interviews with director Polselli and star Hargitay, both of whom would pass away in 2006, as well as some sequences from the movie. While the documentary is no must-see for fans of the film, it is certainly one of the more informative DVD extras I have seen, and enjoyable to watch, especially for my fellow fans of Italian cult-cinema (and who else would own the DVD?). It includes some interesting facts about why there are two different versions of the film, and about why they are so different. It was interesting to hear that the idea for an alternative version for the American market actually came from Mickey Hargitay. Renato Polselli and Mickey Hargitay, who both seem quite lively and youthful in 2002 (Polselli was 80, Hargitay was 76) are both interesting and witty elderly gentlemen, which gives the documentary a certain charm. One to be seen or missed, interesting enough for anybody who likes the movie.
2 Reviews
Interesting DVD-Extra Short Documentary about Delirio Caldo
Witchfinder-General-66626 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Hargitay: si!; Polselli -no!
lor_7 September 2010
Suffering from the usual faults of these DVD interview extras, this interview with the director and star of DELIRIUM is better than the usual drivel thanks to the candid comments of the late Mickey Hargitay.
The Hungarian personality, whose film career is overall nothing to write home about, recalls his work with honesty, surprising insight, and a refreshing absence of the "rah rah" mentality engendered by these usual experiments in rewriting history. He is glad to see a forgotten programmer of his unearthed (by Bill Lustig & company) for a new generation to evaluate.
On the other hand, the ultra-hack director Renato Polselli idiotically enters the self-praise mode that I have found unendurable, as evidenced by similar "me, me, me" interviews by the likes of Rino Di Silvestri and Sergio Garrone.
I knew the director of this short subject (Gary Hertz) in the 1980s, and don't know why he, and others in the field, have concocted such an idiotic policy of contradiction as content. They show one interviewee saying something and then follow it with the other person completely contradicting what we've just heard, and that's it. There is no interaction or attempt to actually set the record straight. That's what happens here with Hargitay vs. Polselli, and I came away not amused but merely befuddled. The same thing was done on a video for HITCH-HIKE, pitting Franco Nero's memory of events against that of David Hess. I guess the erstwhile video mavens think this structure is cute, but I wish they would cease and desist.
The Hungarian personality, whose film career is overall nothing to write home about, recalls his work with honesty, surprising insight, and a refreshing absence of the "rah rah" mentality engendered by these usual experiments in rewriting history. He is glad to see a forgotten programmer of his unearthed (by Bill Lustig & company) for a new generation to evaluate.
On the other hand, the ultra-hack director Renato Polselli idiotically enters the self-praise mode that I have found unendurable, as evidenced by similar "me, me, me" interviews by the likes of Rino Di Silvestri and Sergio Garrone.
I knew the director of this short subject (Gary Hertz) in the 1980s, and don't know why he, and others in the field, have concocted such an idiotic policy of contradiction as content. They show one interviewee saying something and then follow it with the other person completely contradicting what we've just heard, and that's it. There is no interaction or attempt to actually set the record straight. That's what happens here with Hargitay vs. Polselli, and I came away not amused but merely befuddled. The same thing was done on a video for HITCH-HIKE, pitting Franco Nero's memory of events against that of David Hess. I guess the erstwhile video mavens think this structure is cute, but I wish they would cease and desist.
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