Suspiria (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
- 4.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥.5
- Directed by: Dario Argento
- Starring: Jessica Harper, Joan Bennett, Stefania Casini et al
- Where to find it: Amazon Prime Video
 |
| No Copyright Infringement Intended |
Suspiria (1977) is perhaps the most famous film directed by
the great Dario Argento. Written by him and his partner, Daria Nicolodi, it
brings some of the traits of classic Giallo cinema, Argento’s own unique
cinematic flair, and a spooky supernatural story together to create an
intriguing and unique visual experience. After all these years, is it still
worth a watch?
Suspiria tells the tale of Suzy Bannion, an American dancer
who has moved to Germany to join a famous dance school. While getting a ride to
the school she witnesses another student leaving the building, seemingly
running away in terror. This student flees to a friend’s apartment where she is
brutally, yet beautifully, murdered by a mysterious figure. Suzy, upon gaining
access to the school, meets several of her peers and teachers before mysterious
happenings begin to raise her suspicions of what’s really going on behind the
scenes at the school. Could it be witchcraft?
To get it out of the way with, a few criticisms that can be
given to Suspiria are with how its’ plot is a bit of a mess, jumping around a
lot, often seeming to exist only to allow for numerous outlandish set-pieces to
have some background. On top of this, to some, the film will be marred by the
fairly poor and obvious dubbing of several of the characters, though I must confess
that as a fan of Italian horror from this era I actually find this a fairly
charming feature. Beyond this though, Suspiria is a masterwork of inventive and
intriguing cinema.
The major players in the cast do their parts to perfection,
with Jessica Harper as Suzy and Joan Bennett as Madame Blanc, one of the main
teachers at the school, being real standouts. Elsewhere a few of the more minor
parts feature some less than stellar acting, not helped by some fairly stilted
dialogue at times, but never to the point of derailing the film. This film
isn’t about the cast, however, with the real stars of the film being the people
behind the camera and the staggeringly beautiful yet nightmarish world they
manage to create.
Shot with a vibrant and bright colour palette, Suspiria
perhaps has the best use of lighting of any film I’ve seen, each frame being
lit up in the most unnatural, surrealist of manners. Cinematographer Luciano
Tovoli and director Argento ensure every shot is meticulously designed to the
point where nothing seems real, the whole piece having the feel of a
particularly vivid dream you might have. This feeling is only furthered by the
films’ score, composed, and performed by an Italian prog-rock band called
Goblin, it is as brilliant as it is utterly bizarre. The set design as well is
phenomenal, with a particular shout-out to the hotel used for the early murder;
Wes Anderson surely took a lot of influence from this. The film is a technical
marvel, well ahead of its time that looks as stunning today as it did in 1977.
As previously mentioned the plot can, at times, feel like it’s been
forgotten, but what’s there is more than enough to create a feeling of intrigue
and dread; there’s a genuine mystery there, though I will admit I find the
ending feels a little abrupt. All of this culminates in a film that’s as close
to a nightmare as has ever been put to film. It’s utterly compelling and
impossible to look away from, even as the terror mounts and the body count
racks up. And since I haven’t said it straight yet, nobody can make a murder
look as beautiful as Dario Argento; the film would be worth watching if it were
just a short montage of murder sequences alone.
In conclusion, Suspiria is a film that arguably sacrifices
some story in the name of creating true art. Sure, that stops it from being a
perfect film, but it’s not something you just watch, it’s something you
experience. And to that end, I can’t help but love it.
P.S. – The 2018 remake, while radically different is also
more than worth a watch.
Comments
Post a Comment