SuspiriaIf one were to film a fever-induced nightmare, it might look something like Suspiria. Watching Dario Argento's cult classic horror masterpiece is to step into a bizarre world, burning with vibrant color, caked in mania and vivid terror--and that's just the first fifteen minutes. Accompanying the brutal violence and bewitching mise-en-scene is the wild, unhinged musical score by Goblin. This combination is hypnotic and transfixing, a bloody paean to violent murder, sadistic mutilation, occult witchcraft, and ostensibly ballet--the unholy birthing of a modern day Fuseli.
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Suspiria follows the story of Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper), as she arrives in Germany to enroll in the prestigious Tanz Akademie for a specialized education in dance. Unfortunately for her, Suzy's misadventures in Deutschland start as soon as she steps foot out of the airport one dark and stormy night, somewhere near the Black Forest of Germany, a place of ancient power, and as Suzy soon discovers, witches. Suzy is the rational anchor for the movie, where the rest of this "Europe" is occupied by an almost unreal, bizarre interpretation of reality, as foreign to us as it must be to Suzy. With the exception of Suzy, virtually everyone else speaks in a stilted or artificial way, as though there words were not their own, and merely emerging from them with a degree of semi-unconsciousness. This world she is passing through is barely recognizable as real, and is positively drenched in vivid colors more real than life, and the terrors that lurk in the Old World are beyond rational comprehension. In this capacity, Suspiria is perhaps the best representation of Dario Argento's signature aesthetic, a movie which refuses to allow logic to get in the way of creating a consistent tone of dread throughout. Yes, the murder scenes are wholly unrealistic, save for their gruesomeness; but that is a merit for Suspiria and not a flaw, reaching so far over the top that they defy reason and are possessed with a instinctual terror, like a waking hallucination on the verge of madness. The film is filled with lush settings--which provide an unnerving contrast to the terrible violence and malice that this midnight movie par excellence exudes. Suspiria has numerous shots that highlight reflections of faces, as well as an attention to symmetry; there is also a good degree of visual metaphor and wordplay. Take for instance the scene where Suzy and her friend Sarah (Stefania Casini) are swimming in the natatorium, and a shot of the railing shows a trident, a symbol for the Greek god, Poseidon; coincidentally, this symbol also shares connotations with the pitchfork portrayed as wielded by the Devil, the true patron of witches (in the realm of horror). And the "secret irises" remind one of the "iris" of the eye, also regarded as the window to the soul...and souls are the currency of witches and other practitioners of black magic. And altogether, Suzy comes to realize the significance of the irises via a reflection amid a similarly stormy night like that which brought her to this home of the occult.
While the most pressing aspects of the plot of Suspiria revolve around the series of horrific tragedies which befall those who cross or learn too much about those who hide in the shadows weaving spells, several other moments--like the maggot infestation--superficially appear to have little consequence on the story proper. However, the presence of the vermin forces the students to convene in the practice hall, where there life force is concentrated, and where Sarah informs Suzy that she can hear the unnerving snoring of "the directress" of the academy, whom the schools leaders had informed them was out of the country, prompting Sarah to begin her investigation into the secrets hidden, as her unfortunate friend Pat Hingle (Eva Axén) had tried before. A later scene when Suzy goes to visit Sarah's friend, Frank (Udo Kier), after Sarah has vanished, results in a pair of paradoxical conversations, first with Frank who begins to discuss the dark history of Tanz Akademie. He tells Suzy how he believes that what others view as witchcraft is more likely the result of mental illness, but he does describe how the founder of the academy--Helena Markos--was regarded as a witch of devastating power, also called "The Black Queen". Moments later, Frank introduces Suzy to a colleague, Professor Milius (Rudolf Schündler), who flips the what Frank said, and outright proclaims that witches like Helena Markos are real, and seek to inflict harm upon the world. It is a strange, mixed message, not really designed to clarify the situation for the audience of the film, but to expound on witches and explain the lore behind this shadowy force that haunts the academy, in more ways than one. For a movie that paints in such bold colors, Suspiria also possesses sophisticated subtleties. For example, although they appear to play for the same team, Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett) and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli) are as different as night and day, and there is a definite power struggle between the two characters that might be overlooked in light of the main plot of the story, but one that makes repeat viewings more enriching. As dire events punctuate Suzy's brief tenure at the Tanz Akademie, one may suspect one party of being somewhat responsible for the events, or another. I'm being intentionally vague to avoid revealing some of the surprises, but it becomes evident that there is no clear motive or even agenda, save for the petty, cruel, and sadistic whims of those entrenched in the black arts. Suspiria is graphic, but exaggerated; however, this exaggeration ultimately serves to stoke the flames of terror, that combined with the haunting imagery and primal rhythm of the musical score, taps into something raw and buried in our psyche--and with it comes a unique, satisfying kind of mental nausea, like singeing a raw nerve with a blow torch.
Recommended for: Anyone who wants to experience nightmares, but doesn't want to run the risk of not having them when they close their eyes.
While the most pressing aspects of the plot of Suspiria revolve around the series of horrific tragedies which befall those who cross or learn too much about those who hide in the shadows weaving spells, several other moments--like the maggot infestation--superficially appear to have little consequence on the story proper. However, the presence of the vermin forces the students to convene in the practice hall, where there life force is concentrated, and where Sarah informs Suzy that she can hear the unnerving snoring of "the directress" of the academy, whom the schools leaders had informed them was out of the country, prompting Sarah to begin her investigation into the secrets hidden, as her unfortunate friend Pat Hingle (Eva Axén) had tried before. A later scene when Suzy goes to visit Sarah's friend, Frank (Udo Kier), after Sarah has vanished, results in a pair of paradoxical conversations, first with Frank who begins to discuss the dark history of Tanz Akademie. He tells Suzy how he believes that what others view as witchcraft is more likely the result of mental illness, but he does describe how the founder of the academy--Helena Markos--was regarded as a witch of devastating power, also called "The Black Queen". Moments later, Frank introduces Suzy to a colleague, Professor Milius (Rudolf Schündler), who flips the what Frank said, and outright proclaims that witches like Helena Markos are real, and seek to inflict harm upon the world. It is a strange, mixed message, not really designed to clarify the situation for the audience of the film, but to expound on witches and explain the lore behind this shadowy force that haunts the academy, in more ways than one. For a movie that paints in such bold colors, Suspiria also possesses sophisticated subtleties. For example, although they appear to play for the same team, Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett) and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli) are as different as night and day, and there is a definite power struggle between the two characters that might be overlooked in light of the main plot of the story, but one that makes repeat viewings more enriching. As dire events punctuate Suzy's brief tenure at the Tanz Akademie, one may suspect one party of being somewhat responsible for the events, or another. I'm being intentionally vague to avoid revealing some of the surprises, but it becomes evident that there is no clear motive or even agenda, save for the petty, cruel, and sadistic whims of those entrenched in the black arts. Suspiria is graphic, but exaggerated; however, this exaggeration ultimately serves to stoke the flames of terror, that combined with the haunting imagery and primal rhythm of the musical score, taps into something raw and buried in our psyche--and with it comes a unique, satisfying kind of mental nausea, like singeing a raw nerve with a blow torch.
Recommended for: Anyone who wants to experience nightmares, but doesn't want to run the risk of not having them when they close their eyes.