Customer Reviews

Stendhal Syndrome

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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. Many people find this multi-layered thriller to be one of his failures and I find that hard to believe. Granted, it's more character driven than most of his movies tend to be and the movie's pace and athmosphere change dramatically in the second half. Still, I found out that it's got a lot of his trademarks (having now viewed all his movies except Four flies on grey velvet, which I can't find anywhere). It's stylish as hell, with great use of artworks (as metaphors that is; the scene where Asia covers herself in paint had me wondering), the music score is excellent (by Ennio Morricone; not Goblin) and the violence is at times extreme (the rape scenes particularly, since you know Asia's father is directing them).
The real difference with this film considering Dario's other films is the psychological undertone. I have watched this movie now three times and I'm always seeing something I didn't figure out the last time. That's what great complex thrillers do, they always keep you wondering. This is without a doubt Dario Argento's most complex film, it demands the audience pay attention to what's happening. As far as psychological thrillers go, this one ranks high.

The Stendhal Syndrome is an effective, stylish thriller from horror maestro Dario Argento. The film alone would rate at least 4 (out of 5 stars)but the Troma DVD is pretty appalling. The audio is hissy and the volume low and the picture is incorrectly letterboxed and riddled with digital artifacts. If the DVD weren't bad enough it's made even worse by having a horrible, embarrassing introduction and foolish, faux interviews with Troma president Lloyd Kaufman. A good film is severely cheapened by a garbage presentation. A big, fat ZERO for the disc. Hopefully, Blue Undergroud or Anchor Bay will be able to obtain the rights soon.

I am slightly embarrassed to admit that this is my first Dario Argento film. For anyone even remotely interested in horror movies, this admission is not an easy one. I don't really know why I waited so long to watch an Argento film; perhaps it is merely an oversight on my part. It certainly has nothing to do with an aversion to Italian horror cinema; I have seen several films by such notables as Lucio Fulci, Ruggero Deodato, and Umberto Lenzi but never anything from Dario. Argento's body of work is voluminous: he's been making films for over thirty years, with his best work appearing in the 1970s and early 1980s. I'll eventually watch "Suspiria," "Inferno," and "Deep Red," but for my first Argento film I decided to view "The Stendhal Syndrome," mainly because the plot sounded immensely intriguing even for a horror film. The additional factor of Asia Argento in the starring role of Anna Manni definitely didn't hurt, either. Asia is Dario's daughter, an actress whose star is rising with recent appearances in American big budget films.

"The Stendhal Syndrome," set in Italy, tells the story of police detective Anna Manni. Anna's latest case involves a serial rapist who with his last two victims added murder to his resume. Regrettably for Anna, this criminal has now set his sights on her. His first move against Manni entails luring her to a museum where she falls victim to an odd psychological malady called the Stendhal Syndrome. Named for the famous French writer Stendhal, this mental affliction causes the sufferer to undergo nausea, headaches, depression, and severe hallucinations when confronted with works of art. In Anna's case, the trip to the museum turns into nothing less than a bizarre interaction with a painting in which Anna perceives herself actually entering the picture for a quick dip in the ocean where see encounters a smoochy fish. Subsequent episodes include walking into a painting of a waterfall and entering a picture only to find herself at a murder scene. The rapist soon plays a cat and mouse game with Anna, driving her nearly mad with his attentions. The game wears Anna down, causing a rift with her policeman boyfriend and requiring periodic visits to a psychiatrist to work through the trauma she suffers at the hands of her adversary. Director Argento plays games with the viewer as well, concealing the implications of Anna's experiences with her stalker until the end of the film. "The Stendhal Syndrome" runs for a lengthy two hours, taking turns which are at times fascinating or boring.

The most basic problem with "The Stendhal Syndrome" is Argento's uneven pacing and a lack of plot coherency. All of the best effects appear in the first thirty minutes of the film, thereby letting the rest of the movie fall into a rather boring montage of scenes until again picking up steam in the last ten minutes. Don't get me wrong; I think this movie is worth watching, but I also feel it is worth watching only for a limited number of scenes. "The Stendhal Syndrome" just doesn't work as a coherent film. The plot is hazy at best, with Argento providing more questions than answers. I once read that Argento's plots often sink into a quagmire of confusion, and if this is so, maybe that explains what happened here. All I can say is that a few scenes possess incredibly great power, while the majority of the movie lags far behind. You get the sense you are watching a genius at work, but that he's a lazy genius who lacks the fortitude to carry a great idea to fruition.

Sergio Stivaletti did the special effects for "The Stendhal Syndrome," and they are quite impressive. The scenes where Anna suffers through a Stendhal episode look good considering this movie probably didn't have a big budget. Moreover, many of the graphic effects produce cringe worthy moments that should warm the heart of any serious horror connoisseur. An interview on the DVD with Stivaletti discusses in depth the problems and successes of the effects work that occurred during the course of the movie. This was the first time Stivaletti ever used computer graphics, and he did a good job overall.

The biggest surprise with this DVD is its release by Troma films. Troma, if you're not aware, is a studio dedicated to producing the worst Z grade junk in film history. One thing Troma does know how to do, however, is release DVD's with lots of extras. There are interviews with Dario Argento here, along with an interview with "Cannibal Holocaust" director Ruggero Deodato (why? I don't know), a bunch of trailers for low-grade schlock like "The Rowdy Girls," "Teenage Catgirls in Heat," "Killer Condom," and "Terror Firmer," and yet another one of those Troma Intelligence Tests. Aren't all of these extras great? Maybe so, but Troma technicians botched the transfer of the film. "The Stendhal Syndrome" is awash in haze, murky shadows, and grain. In short, the movie doesn't look as good as it should. Troma knows better.

I won't let the uneven "The Stendhal Syndrome" get me down. All directors have their difficulties, and this film, while far from great, isn't bad either. Asia Argento does a fair job in the lead, although it's difficult to imagine her as a police officer. Be sure and pay attention when Asia dons a blonde wig. She looks so much like Traci Lords that it's scary. Good effects, good gore, a great if repetitive score by Ennio Morricone, and an occasionally interesting plot make "The Stendhal Syndrome" a must see for Italian horror fans.

Careful: this movie is not an easy one to watch. It's crude, violent, disturbing, sick, perverted, vicious. And yet fascinating, elegant, smart, exciting. Asia Argento gives her best here, and unfortunately you can not listen to her real voice, since she was dubbed (despite most people find her voice horrible). Kretschmann is revolting and yet convincing: great phisique du role and twisted minded. Argento brings us inside the Uffizi gallery with the usual elegance is renowned for. Florence has never been so ambiguous.
Troma could have helped this movie gain a five-star. But the video quality is scarce and all but clean and the audio track is forgettable. Good job with the extra features, with a commentary section by Sergio Stivaletti (special effects), an interview with Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Ferox), Lloyd Kaufmann interviewing Argento and Dario being interviewed in Stockholm (find an easter egg!). Senseless, but funny, some Troma tests and trailers.
Could have been a Master DVD. Could have.

"The Stendhal Syndrome" is Dario Argento's hardest movie to watch. The entire movie runs darker and deeper than his better work and leaves the viewers feeling a little, well... sick.

Asia Argento is beautiful but totally unbelievable as a cop on the track of a serial rapist. She's totally set up to be victimized and victimized she is. In brutal, graphic fashion. What makes these rape scenes even harder to watch is the knowledge that Dario Argento is directing his own daughter.

There are some nice visuals as Asia falls into a painting underwater to share a smooch with an odd-looking fish, and when she steps into a painting of a waterfall. In another scene, a nasty piece of graffiti rips itself from the wall. However, not enough is done with Asia's "Stendhal Syndrome"; it just doesn't come as much into play as I would have liked.

The plot becomes convoluted and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and while this is to be expected from an Argento film, it's a little more noticable seeing as how the movie plays more straightforward than his more stylish ventures (Suspiria, Deep Red, Tenebrae).

The Troma features are ok on the DVD, including an interview with Dario Argento about Italian horror and a bunch of Troma previews. The picture is a little dark and grainy, making me wish for the crystal-clear clarity of DVD's like "Suspira".

"The Stendhal Syndrome" is not one of Dario's best work, but it's worth seeing if you're a fan. Just be warned: it's not easy to watch.

Assistant Inspector Anna Manni is sent from Rome to Florence on an assignment to capture a serial rapist who has raped 15 women and killed the last two. While at the Uffizi Gallery, the paintings have a weird effect on her, she feels herself being immersed in one of them, and collapses. However, the rapist assaults her, then rapes and kills another woman in front of her. The incident leaves Anna traumatized, with feelings of self-despite, insecurity, and pent-up aggression.

The kindly psychologist assigned to her describes the title condition to her in describing what Stendhal (the pen-name of psychological novelist Marie-Henri Beyle) felt at an art musuem: "My feeling is so profound that is borders on pity. All this speaks clearly to my soul. Oh, if only I could forget it." Symptoms also include a cold sweat, nausea, anxiety, hallucinations, severe depression, and personality changes.

She returns to her home in Viterbo to recuperate from her ordeal, but the rapist tracks her down and assaults her once again. Anna deals with him in a very brutal scene, but hey, he deserved it. But has he really been defeated? And will Anna become her old self?

The Stendhal Syndrome is different from Argento's usual fare in that there are no eerie glaring backwash of red, blue, or green, or horror gore. And leave it to Dario Argento to subject his own daughter to some really nasty ordeals, even if it is only acted out. Asia's pretty in a more natural way instead of the artificial movie bimbos are. She's more a dazed, insecure victim here, but she can be tough. Argento's method of exploring human psychology and concepts (be they architecture or alchemy in Inferno, insects in Phenomena, or witchcraft in Suspiria) carry on in this movie--here, he explores the power that art can have on people. No, Goblin or Keith Emerson do not do the music here, but there's an ongoing haunting theme, with a female vocalist singing the notes. Not on the same level as his classic stuff, but still worth it.

this will make you wonder about killers souls,can they enter peoples bodys after they die, why do normal people suddenly go crazy, a killing spree ...!!! this movie goes there.