alternate stendhal syndrome review 3

THE STENDHAL SYNDROME
aka
LA SINDROME DI STENDHAL
STENDHAL'S SYNDROME
(1996) 114 mins
MEDUSA FILM ; ITALY

As the opening credits roll we are treated to a cascade of some of the world's greatest works of art, thus setting the tone for one of Dario Argento's greatest works of art.

This 1996 offering is a bold departure from his previous work. Gone are the gaudy color schemes of Inferno and Suspiria. Instead we have a muted color scheme much like the one in Opera, his 1987 release. The infamous black gloved killer from The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and numerous other Argento films is also lacking here. Dario's trademark camera gymnastics abound yes, but they are subdued and add more to the characters here instead of almost becoming a character itself. Technically this film has to be one of Argento's best. The script is understated and suggestive if not a little silly at times, but more about that later.

One gets the sense that there is always something more to be had from all involved, the characters are drawn well, there is always a hint of something more brewing just below the surface. You don't ever feel like you completely know anyone and that adds even more to the mystique of this film. More importantly I may add, how well do you know yourself? As that seems to be the film's underlying theme throughout.

Argento's camera again is given free reign to make love to his daughter Asia, (much as it did in Phantom of the Opera and we can't blame the camera as Asia is stunning) who portrays the film's main character Anna Manni. Anna is a police officer who works with an anti rape division of the police department and soon becomes all too familiar with what the victims are suffering. On a tip from an unknown source Anna goes to the Uffizi museum in Italy to track down a serial rapist only to fall prey to a medical condition known as The Stendhal Syndrome, thus the title. As she walks through the museum looking about for this man, she gazes at and seemingly into the paintings on the walls of the museum, which in turn elicits a malfunction in her brain to the point of hallucination and unconsciousness.

One night Anna is attacked and brutally raped and beaten by a man who seemingly appears out of nowhere, looming over her bed and rolling a razor blade around in his mouth (ouch)! After this attack Anna resumes her duties as a police officer in an attempt to catch the serial rapist whom she is convinced is the same man who attacked her. It is once Anna begins to investigate the crimes and the effects that the violent attacks have on other's lives does she begin to discover a change in herself as well. I don't want to give away any plot points here but Anna is attacked again and there is some bloody good fun to be had on her part, literally. Think soccer with corpses.

Now we are roughly halfway through the film depending on what version you have seen. The print I saw was a little over 120 minutes where some only run around 90. This is where Argento really starts to mess with us and drag us around along with Anna. Mind games are something Argento's fans should be used to by now, and can he ever play them! Throughout the rest of the film we slowly watch as Anna becomes a shattered piece of her former self, clinging to whatever sanity she has left. As she dons a blond wig to cover up a scar on her face, the new look given to Anna ( she reminds me of Uma Thurman here) also reveals a whole new Anna in the process. While it is true that people express themselves through their appearance, she takes it to a whole new level here.

I can't say enough good things about this film. The only place it truly lacks is in the dialogue, all of the police and especially the psychiatrist character are very uninteresting, and this is clearly caused by their banal dialogue given to them. Some of Anna's dialogue is trite but somehow Asia manages to underplay the role creating subtle textures in her personality that endear us to her as we share all of her experiences.

Apart from the opening of the film The Stendhal Syndrome itself is a sort of a nonfunctional presence, a sort of MacGuffin. Those who are familiar with Hitchcock will know whereof I speak, for those who aren't I will explain. A MacGuffin is something that seems important at the time but really has nothing to do with anything whatsoever, and this is a prime example.

We are setup at the beginning of the film to believe that we will see a girl in the grips of a mental disturbance and the effects of this particular disorder over the course of the film, again hence the title. But we are led astray, and to spectacular results. It is the placement of these bits of information that are placed throughout Argento's work that really gets the audience involved and rooting for whoever may be in peril at that particular moment. Much like Hitchcock, Argento's focus shifts from character to character at times and you don't know exactly who to pull for at any given moment, and that is part of the brilliance.

Ennio Morricone's score is a very important ingredient that I cannot leave out here. It is reminiscent of Christopher Komeda's score for Rosemary's Baby where Mia Farrow provided the lullaby theme's vocals to chilling effect. Music has always been very important in Dario's films and this proves to be no exception. The score is wildly haunting and soothing at the same time. It jars you at the right moment and turns and stops to let you breath the next.

Given Mr. Argento's knack for filmmaking as a visceral and raw experience, I look forward greatly to many more films to come in the years ahead. I would have perhaps only one piece of advice: instead of dubbing your films why not shoot entirely in English or Italian and then subtitle accordingly.
reviewed by Derek Botelho

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