The Stendhal Syndrome - DVD: Amazon.ca: Asia Argento, Thomas Kretschmann, Marco Leonardi, Luigi Diberti, Paolo Bonacelli, Julien Lambroschini, John Quentin, Franco Diogene, Lucia Stara, Sonia Topazio, Lorenzo Crespi, Vera Gemma, Giuseppe Rotunno, Dario Argento, Giuseppe Colombo, Walter Massi, Franco Ferrini, Graziella Magherini: DVD

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The first half of Dario Argento's heady psycho-thriller is a mesmerizing merging of dream and reality. A beautiful young Italian detective (Asia Argento, who does little to convince us she's a tough, seasoned cop) investigating a serial rapist is suddenly overwhelmed when the paintings in an art museum erupt with life. According to the film, this is "the Stendhal Syndrome," an intense and overwhelming response to art that turns the viewer mad. As Anna steps in and out of fantasy worlds like Alice through the looking glass, she's kidnapped by her quarry, who repeatedly rapes and tortures her in a dark, dank underground cave. The delirious nightmare of shattered reality becomes a sadistic, mean-spirited spectacle of murder and degradation--perpetrated on, of all people, the director's own bound and beaten daughter!--and the thriller disintegrates into a paranoid mystery of amnesia, split psyches, and shadowy phantoms. At its best this is a mesmerizing vision of madness: paintings melt into the real world while objectivity disintegrates before our eyes. But before the unexpectedly sensitive conclusion, Argento puts the viewer through a bravura but brutal series of gory murders (a slow-motion bullet passes through both cheeks of a helpless victim, and another shooting is viewed from inside the body) and unsavory violence. The poetic beauty of Phenomenon and the craftsmanship of Suspiria and Deep Red are sorely missed. --Sean Axmaker

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Customer Reviews

39 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

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3.4 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stendhal Syndrome is not Just About Gore and Violence, July 5 2001

By

Janine Koenig "Janine Koenig" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stendhal Syndrome - DVD (DVD)

Well, I'm the only female reviewing this film. Figures.

That's why nobody else seems to have caught on to what this film is really about.;)

In all seriousness, this film is NOT a highly "visual" treat like Dario's other spectacles. This film is about how rape and violence against women can change their entire world.

If you take care to pay attention to details, the truth is evident. Asia, playing Anna, is SUPERB in her role, and shows great flexibility. The only complaint is that they DUBBED her voice (shame shame) because her voice is gorgeous (they replaced it with a rather boring one too).

The movie is basically about how it is to live in a man's world. Like I said, the details. Pay attention to them fellows. She is oppressed not just by the rapes but by men, in general.

And another thing, not many understand this part either, but the psychiatrist was not exactly who you thought he was either. Why doesn't anybody else see it?

My sister saw this film and understood it perfectly. But men look at it and all they say is "where's the gore and special effects."

Aghhhh... ::throws up her hands::

At any rate, anyone who enjoys a really taut thriller with a deeper meaning to it should watch this. But be forewarned, it is rather disturbing. And it should be, because rape is not something to be taken lightly.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Argento.Much overlooked! But Troma's version is better., Nov 24 2007

By

Ton (the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stendhal Syndrome (DVD)

Blue Underground has done another great job with this highly underrated Argento movie. But let's not forget it was because of Troma that the film got any theatrical and initial DVD-release in it's uncut version! It is also important to know that the Troma-dvd has the correct aspect ratio (which is somewhat overmatted in Blue Underground's version) and some wonderful extra's that are not present here, including an interview with Argento by the other highly underrated genius moviedirector Lloyd Kaufman, in which Dario is in a more relaxed and jolly mood than ever seen elsewhere.
A brilliant film, with one of the best performances by Asia Argento ever. A fantastic treatment by VU. But without Troma's dvd-premiere of this film you are certainly not complete!! If you have do choose, get that one.

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3.0 out of 5 stars deep but disturbing, Mar 19 2004

By

Vagabond77 (Tennessee, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Stendhal Syndrome - DVD (DVD)

I am a little torn on how to judge Dario Argento's "The Stendhal Syndrome". The movie is about a Rome police inspector Anna Manni (director Dario's daughter, Asia Argento; who seems a bit young to play a police detective), who is assigned to the anit-rape unit. Manni's current case is to track down a serial rapist and killer who is stalking girls in Rome and Florence. The killer finds her in an art museum. While she is there, she falls victom to the stendhal syndrome (that is, having a physical reaction to a powerful emotional piece of art) which catches the attention of the killer. Shortlyu there after, Anna is captured and savagly raped and beaten by the killer. The attack leaves her seriously damaged mentally and emotionally. She now must hurt and mutalate herself just to feel. While on vacation, Anna is captured and tortured again by the killer, but this time mangaes to escape and kill the man. But this only leads to deeper despair. "Stendhal" has it's good points and it has it's bad points. Well, first the good. This is a powerfully disturbed movie; unflinching and brutal. I must praise Ms. Argento for having the guts to play such a demanding role; what she lacks in talent (and she dose lack), she makes up for in courage and effort to play on such raw emotions. She has made a career out of playing victoms who, after they are damaged in whatever way, can only respond to new world with equal amount of venom. The violence is very disturbing, not so much the amount of gore (although there is plenty of that), but because it is so mean spirited. However, if you're a Dario Argento fan, you're probably, um, if not used to it, at least you're expecting it. Now onto the bad. Structurely, the movie seems disjointed. At first it is a serial killer movie, and then it is a tour through the mind of victom turned killer Anna. The twist of having Anna turned into the killer at the end seemed a little strange, but I guess it isn't too terrible a streach. The acting is pretty bad, but I blame dubbing the language from Italian to English. The movie also has long straches where seemingly nothing happens. This scene is the most offensive: Manni's partner and sometime lover comes over and tries to suduce her right after her first rape. How insensitive can the jerk be! But as if that wasn't bad enough, Anna turns the table on him and psudo-rapes him! How very disturbing. All in all, this is an Italian horror film, so it is intensly violent and gory. But it is Dario Argento, who knows that the more scary violence is done to the mind, not nessisarily the body.

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Most recent customer reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Horrible DVD Quality, Interesting Movie
Troma should feel ashamed by the horrible quality of this DVD. Argento's films are usually released on Anchor Bay, who does a stellar job with the transfers. Read more

Published on April 2 2004 by A. C. Johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars Seriously good psychological thriller
CONTAINS ONE MINOR SPOILER
The Stendhal Syndrome was the second movie I saw by Dario Argento. Since then I've become a huge fan of his work. Read more

Published on Jan 12 2004 by O. B. Tryggvason