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| THE STENDHAL SYNDROME MEDUSA ; ITALY dvd specification |
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| [video][sound][extras][conclusion] |
| If you want a review of the actual film, click here. |
| After months of anticipation and justified frustration on the part of fans, Troma has FINALLY released the completely uncut version of Dario Argento's "The Stendhal Syndrome" to dvd. Many fans had written the dvd off as a disaster sight unseen, but upon inspection this is a solid release. Not quite Anchor Bay, but definitely not as bad as fans had feared. Here's a glance at the audio/visual specifications as well as an in depth look at the film's supplemental material. |
| video |
| Troma presents "The Stendhal Syndrome" in a "digitally mastered" letterbox presentation which preserves the film's 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio. There has been some discrepancy regarding the aspect ratio of the print used for this dvd transfer. For benefit of the doubt I have assumed that this IS the original aspect ratio in spite of the strong evidence which would suggest otherwise, as the image did appear at first glance to be correctly framed. The disc boasts a picture that looks almost exactly the same as the 1996 Japanese laserdisc release. Like the Japanese laserdisc, the picture is quite sharp and significantly better than VHS. However, the dvd also suffers the same slightly washed out colors of the LaserDisc release and a picture that is occasionally a bit soft. That's not to say it's a bad image. It is probably more reflective of a lesser source print than anything else. The French Region 2 dvd, by comparison, boasts slightly more natural fleshtones and an overall color scheme that is much more vibrant. In addition, that release was enhanced for 16:9 TV sets, giving it twice the picture resolution. Troma's dvd picture is far from poor; there is absolutely no compression artifacting or color bleeding, and the image is sharp and devoid of any visible print damage. The overall quality is comparable to LaserDisc picture standards, and let's face it: that's not a bad place to be. Nonetheless, this isn't a laserdisc fans are buying; it's a dvd, and any studio pressing dvds should live up to the responsibility to improve upon laserdisc quality. The picture here isn't bad, but it is dissappointing. There is simply no excuse for a four year old film like "Stendhal" looking inferior on dvd to the dvd transfer of the quarter-century old Deep Red. Some minor remastering to the source print, as well as an anamorphic transfer, could have certainly put this image in the Anchor Bay league, and at the very least differentiated it from being a 5" LD. |
| sound |
| When it comes to the sountrack, the disc is once again in LaserDisc terrain. This, however, is to the disc's advantage. Both the Troma dvd and the French Region 2 dvd present the film's English soundtrack in Dolby Surround 2.0, but Troma's presentation is much more impressive. The FR2 dvd uses a bare minimum of rear channel action, and the sound that comes from the dominating front two speakers is somewhat low and must be turned up for adequate effect. The Troma dvd, however, makes solid use of the four main channels. Like the FR2 dvd, the sound is primarily coming from the front speakers. However, the sound this time is clear and audible; I played the same scene on both dvds at the same volume level, and the Troma dvd was much louder and and boasted more depth. The rear channels are also put to nice use on the Troma dvd, if only to enhance the front channel action. This is particularly evident during the film's opening sequence, where Ennio Morricone's haunting main theme and background sound effects in the museum are goregously blended together for an all-encompassing surround experience. LaserDiscs are generally preferred by audiophiles for offering much more dynamic sound than their dvd counterparts. This is one area where the presentations's similarity to the Japanese LaserDisc pressing is an asset to the Troma dvd and gives the disc an advantage over the FR2 dvd. Of course, a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is always preferred, but this is a wholly adequate sound presentation that is pleasantly superior to the French dvd. |
| extras |
| the interviews: I have to give it to Troma here. The interviews presented on this disc lack the polish of Anchor Bay's featurettes, but are in many ways more comprehensive. Here's a brief rundown of the interviews you'll find on the disc: Dario Argento Interview #1 Dario is interviewed by Troma President Lloyd Kaufman during this surprisingly insightful interview. I'm not sure how this interview was actually conducted, but it would appear to be some kind of a closed circuit camera since Lloyd and Dario are each speaking into the camera from separate locations but do speak directly to each other as if in "live" conversation. Dario, who would appear to be in his own home, is very relaxed and his great sense of humour shines through as he discusses such topics as the real Stendhal Syndrome, filming Asia in the film's rape scenes, censorship of his movies, etc. Troma's hyperactive editing is a little off putting, but Dario has some interesting things to say, in spite of his continued struggles with the English language. This interview runs 10 min long. Dario Argento Interview #2 Dario is interviewed by Ronny Svennson in this excellent interview that was shot in November of 1999 in Stockholm, Sweden at what would appear to be some kind of a film festival. Argento is extremely relaxed and content in the interview, and among the topics he discusses are the reason it took so long to bring his take on The Phantom of the Opera to the screen, his inability to watch is older films, his directorial influences, and the casting process of "Phantom". This is the best interview on the disc, and certainly one of the best Dario interviews that I have had the pleasure of watching. This interview runs 17 min long and is in English also. Sergio Stivaletti Interview Special effects superviser talks about working with Dario and the lengths to which he went to bring to life Argento's visions of The Stendhal Syndrome. Stivaletti's interview is relaxed and interesting, and runs about 10 min long. Apparently conducted from his own home, the interview is in Italian with English subtitles. Ruggero Deodato Interview For some reason, Troma has chosen to include an interview with controversial Italian horror director Rugerro Deodato. Deodato reflects back on his most famous and controversial work, the infamous Cannibal Holocaust. He discusses his intentions to expose the hypocrasy and superficiality of the media with the film, why he earned so little money for a film that was so universally popular, as well as his response to accusations made by members of the cast and crew. Although completely unrelated to "Stendhal", I found this to be a surprisingly interesting interview and it certainly compelled me to give "Holocaust" a look. I have not heard about Troma releasing the film as part of their dvd line (the popular film has not been announced yet for US dvd release), but considering that they never showed clips from the film I doubt very much that they own any US rights for Cannibal Holocaust. Deodato's interview is presented in Italian with English subtitles, and runs about 10 min long. additional extras: A 40 sec "Stendhal" trailer is included as part of the "Coming Distractions" page which profiles a total of eight new and impending Troma dvd releases. At 40 seconds long, the trailer might as well have been a TV spot. The picture is dark and murky, and the sound is extremely low and near impossible to hear. The trailer gives away some of the film's profound imagery (including the bullet/mouth scene), and fails to properly represent the film. And how's this for a slap in the face: the other trailers run between 90 seconds and 3 minutes in length, making "Stendhal" the shortest trailer on the disc! Other titles "trailered" are: Teenage Catgirls in Heat, Citizen Toxie, Cannibal:The Musical, Terror Firmer, Sergio Lapel's 'Drawing Blood', and The Rowdy Girls. I think it's safe to say that most of those titles speak for themselves! "Terrifying Production Stills" is a still gallery offering a combination of 25 photos from the film and behind-the-scenes. This is surprisingly good, for a still gallery at least. Hidden Easter Egg: Highlight the razor blade above "Feature Presentation" on the main menu and press 'enter'. You'll get to view a 5 min clip of Argento talking to a group of people in Stockholm, Sweden, though once again little explanation is given as to what exactly was going on in Stockholm! The clip ends abruptly and thanks to a shaky handheld camcorder and lots of background noise, it's of not-so-great quality. However, we do get to hear Dario talk about working with Asia, why he prefers rats to human actors, and even a confirmation of his jealousy when Anthony Franciosa kissed Daria Nicolodi in Tenebrae! Troma Promos: As many of you know, this disc is loaded with Troma promos in the forms of commercial spots and interactive games. I won't go into detail, but among the promotional are an interactive tour of Troma studios, a trivia game that awards you with a softcore Troma highlight if you get the right answer and a gory Troma highlight if you get the wrong answer (!), and a bizarrely humorous bit that has bikini-clad Troma star Julie Strain singing "The Troma Rap" with the accompaniment of some truly disgusting clips from varoius Troma releases. The other extras are along the same vein, and are similarly not for the faint of heart. |
| conclusion |
| Troma was to release "The Stendhal Syndrome" on October 26th, 1999. From that day forward the disc has been repeatedly pushed back and back, contribuing to some massive anti-Troma sentiment among Dario fans. By the time fans got their hands on this disc in mid-June of 2000, many Argentophiles had already condemned the release immediately. In truth, Troma offers a fairly solid product here. The picture quality is not as good as the French dvd, but still offers the best home video presentation that most US fans will ever get theopportunity to view. The sound is quite impressive, of laserdisc quality and superior to the French dvd incarnation. While there are as many (if not more) Troma extras than there are "Stendhal" extras on this dvd, the special features are surprisingly solid, with two very good Dario interviews and an insightful Sergio Stivaletti conversation as well. If you live in North America and own a conventional dvd player, this disc is a must-have. It could be better, but considering it will be years before anyone else puts out a better home video version of this film in the US, at $24.95 you do get a decent "bang for your buck". If you own a multi-region player with a PAL/NTSC converter (of if you simply live in Europe), I would push the French dvd based solely on an overall more impressive A/V presentation. The important thing to remember here is that "Stendhal" has finally made it to dvd. The dvd offers most American Dario fans their first opportunity to see Dario's most mature and accomplished film the way Argento meant it to be seen, and for that even we fans must be (partially) grateful to Troma. |
| reviewed by Robert Jeffery |
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