"The Stendhal Syndrome" *** (out of ****)Dario Argento. The very mention of his name strikes fear in my heart. But not for the reasons you may suspect. His reputation proceeds him. All I hear from his fans is how intense and terrifying his films are. When you look at the cover of one his DVDs or VHS tapes the blurbs read "scariest film of all time"! "Argento's most terrifying film"! I have to admit, it intimidated me.
Argento is considered to be the greatest horror director in Italy, if not in the world. And until recently I had never seen a single film by him. Two events finally triggered my decision to watch a film by this cult filmmaker. One, earlier in the year his "Mother of Tears" was released and one of my favorite critics, Michael Wilmington recommended it. Second, I became aware of his daughter, Asia Argento, another, not surprising, cult figure. The two have even worked on a few films together.
The biggest question looming over me was which Argento film do you watch first? I usually run into this problem when exploring a new director's work. I rarely have someone to guide me in the right direction. So I just looked through the titles, trying to pick the one that seemed the least scary but still would be worth watching. I also wanted to see a film which starred Asia. As I understand it, he started using her late in his career, these films are considered to be "lesser" films compared to his earlier work.
So I began watching "The Stendhal Syndrome" with much trepidation. What kind of ride was I in for? The credits began and the music started to play (the score was written by Ennio Morricone). It had an eerie quality to it. It reminded me of the theme to "Rosemary's Baby". I was already starting to freak out.
One of the first things I began to notice about "The Stendhal Syndrome" is, it is not a horror film. Asia Argento plays Detective Anna Manni, who is in charge of a special unit dealing with rape victims. A serial killer has been raping and killing women. Somehow he found out about Anna and lured her into a trap. He raped her but did not attempt to kill her. As a result of this encounter she suffers a traumatic shock. In addition to these problems Anna also suffers from Stendhal syndrome. This is an actual condition. It involves moments of hallucinate and dizziness when surrounded by beautiful art or beauty in general. This has been happening to Anna.
The rest of the film presents itself as a cat and mouse game between the rapist, Alfredo (Thomas Kretschmann) and Anna with psychological undertones. It is not a horror film than but a thriller.
Argento is said to indulge in excessive gore. "The Stendhal Syndrome" is not a very bloody picture. However I did detect a fascination with blood. Not necessarily as the result of a gruesome death but a character may cut their finger as Argento's camera linger on the dripping blood (the cinematographer is Giuseppe Rotunno, who worked on many films for Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. This would be Rotunno's last feature film before retirement). Another scene has Anna fall as her lip starts to bleed. It is not a small cut though. It is excessive. A huge blood stain is on her shirt. Blood is almost a fetish for Mr. Argento, at least in this particular film.
I've discussed Asia Argento before. I find her to be interesting on-screen. She is not your typical screen beauty, but she has a strong screen presence. Here I think she gives one of her best performances. She is usually in very experimental films which means she can never truly develop a consistent character. The films keep pulling her in different directions and as a result it is hard to believe in her. Here though her character is more developed. This film was made in 1996 and back then as oppose to now, I would consider her beautiful. The film has several scenes when Asia is down to her shirt and bra. The film wants to create sexual energy and mild titillation. This makes me wonder how does Asia feel doing these scenes with her father directing them?
"The Stendhal Syndrome" is not going to be a film everyone will enjoy. Near the end of the picture it become fairly predictable. It doesn't offer anything new to the genre and you could compare it to several other films, but, I won't do that because I don't want to spoil anything. The reasons I am recommending it has much to do with the style of the film. Some may want to call it campy, I don't think it is. I admire the way both Argento's just plunge as deeply as they could with this story. This is believed to be a tame Argento film. It is also because of that I am recommending this film. It may turn out to be one of his few films which may have a mainstream appeal.
In some ways you can compare Argento to Fellini in the sense both seem interested in decadence and vulgarity, think along the lines of Fellini's "Casanova" or "Satyricon". Though Argento takes things a bit further. Much more to the extreme.
So was Argento all that scary? No. Thinking back on it I should have realized that. I remember when another, more recent horror film opened here called "I'm Not Scared". It too was called the scariest film of all time. Sometimes critics build up such hype the film can only let-down. But I'm willing to watch more films directed by Mr. Argento.
Interestingly the DVD which I saw had an English version and an Italian version. But, I could tell from the movement of the actor's lips, they are speaking English not Italian. Both versions are dubbed however but English seemed to be the original language this film was shot in.
Posts
