The Stendhal Syndrome
(Arrow Films PAL Region 2 DVD)
(1996)
review by Blackgloves

Assistant Inspector Anna Manni (Asia Argento), a detective in Rome's anti-rape unit, is on the trail of a vicious serial rapist and killer in Florence, when she herself is targeted and raped by her quarry! Anna suffers from a bizarre affliction (the Stendhal syndrome) which causes her to experience disturbing hallucinations whenever confronted with great works of art -- a fact which her attacker discovers and quickly exploits. Instead of killing her, as he usually does with his victims, he holds her prisoner and makes her a witness to his horrific crimes; although Anna eventually manages to escape she is terribly traumatised by the experience. With the killer still on the loose she takes leave and travels back to her home town to recuperate. But Anna cannot shake the terrible mental scars left by her attacker. This, and her Stendhal syndrome affliction, combine to undermine her sense of identity and bring her an unwanted mental connection with the rapist; and although it may eventually help to capture him it could also have awful consequences for her sanity!

"The Stendhal Syndrome" saw Dario Argento returning to Italy after an abortive stint in the U.S. during the early nineties, which had resulted in two rather underrated efforts: "Two Evil Eyes" (Italian produced -- but set and filmed in Pittsburgh, USA) and the Italian/American co-production, "Trauma" shot in Minneapolis. By all accounts, Argento's post-production experience on "Trauma" was not that enjoyable, and in any case, the film wasn't particularly well received by fans, largely because of its perceived americanisation; although it has since found a few passionate defenders (a pattern that has become all too familiar in Argento's work from the early nineties to the present day). The director reacted by adapting a story (based on a novel: the first time Argento had adapted someone else's story for a film) that put the artistic heritage of his native land at its very core: swapping the cold grey vistas of Minneapolis for the deceptively picturesque old-world charm of Florence & Rome. With a budget of only $3.5 million, "The Stendhal Syndrome" was the lowest budgeted movie Argento had yet produced, a fact which only added to the perception of many that his career was now in a terminal state of decline. The film itself was considered a perplexing oddity upon it's release -- but time has actually been extremely kind to it: these days it feels like one of Argento's boldest and most original works, a minor masterpiece which hasn't been equalled in intensity since by the director.

Dario Argento's reputation as a cinematic stylist comes at the cost of his work often being perceived as an embodiment of the "style over substance" equation. This wasn't always entirely fair as, like Mario Bava -- the great Italian master from whom Argento inherited his mantle -- the director used his technical wizardry, kinetic mobile camera work and baroque visual style to infuse his works with the psychological underpinnings their screenplays often lacked (more a case of substance through style than style over substance). It was true though that many of the characters in the films from the director's "golden" period (with the possible exception of David Hemmings and Daria Nicolodi in "Profondo Rosso") came across as mere cyphers: sketchily written puppets to be manipulated in the edit rather than well rounded creations with a believable psychological depth written into them from the beginning. But this began to change in the nineties with "The Black Cat" -- Dario's segment of "Two Evil Eyes" (his collaboration with George A. Romero) -- which was a pure character study: allowing star, Harvey Keitel free rein with his show-stopping portrayal of madness and mental breakdown. The film broke totally new ground for Argento; although it still featured the director's usual innovative camera shots, it was Keitel's performance which was at the heart of the film and gave the story its momentum. Argento's next project, "Trauma" was in many ways a traditional giallo thriller -- with all the irrational plotting that the genre entails -- but it was noticeable that the characters (particularly the two leads played by Asia Argento and Christopher Rydell) were endowed with more depth than usual, suggesting that the director was becoming more interested in scripting roles which could be explored and fleshed out by the actors since his experience working with Keitel. "The Stendhal Syndrome" represents the culmination of this trend (subsequent works "The Phantom Of The Opera" and "Non Ho Sonno" have a more ironic, tongue-in-cheek tone to them) and is easily the director's most satisfying piece of work since 1987's "Opera."

The film exhibits some unusual story construction, which sees Argento dispensing with the usual gialli structures of most of his previous thrillers in favour of a rich blend of symbolic hallucinations and flashbacks which help develop the character of the film's protagonist, Anna Manni (played with unsettling conviction by his daughter Asia) and are as much concerned with exposing her inner-demons as they are in providing the viewer with their expected fix of the director's customary ultra-stylish visual imagination. Asia Argento gives her best ever performance in a challenging role any accomplished actor would kill for; and proves that, with the right material, she is capable of great things. The screenplay (co-written by the director's frequent collaborator Franco Ferini) builds on the director's new-found concern with characterisation: exploring the lead character's relationships with family and colleagues, and charting the transformations she goes through with forensic proficiency. The result lends the film a seriousness of tone that is rarely evident even in Argento's best work. Thomas Kretschmann (famous these days for his brief but memorable role in Roman Polanski's "The Pianist") gives the film's second amazingly intense performance as the psychotic rapist and killer, Alfredo. We don't learn much about what makes him become the character he is, but there is no doubt that Kretschmann gives one of the most insetting on-screen portrayals of deranged evil since Dennis Hopper in "Blue Velvet." Argento gives Kretschmann and Asia centre stage and they both deliver powerful, affecting performances which the director is then able to amplify through some of his characteristically imaginative set-pieces.

"The Stendhal Syndrome" belongs among Dario Argento's most revered works but has suffered from poor quality releases in the past which were either cut, pan & scanned, or featured muddy transfers. This UK release from Arrow films corrects these faults: we have a colourful, clear widescreen transfer which is uncut and apparently sourced from last years' Italian release from Medusa. It looks much better than the previous UK disc but has a slightly softer image than is featured in the current Italian release, although this is only really noticeable through a direct comparison. There is no 5.1 surround track either -- just a serviceable 2.0 English Dolby Stereo track -- and no extras whatsoever. This is a bare-bones presentation then, but offers a cheap way to see the film in a form which captures the way it was originally intended to look and serves as a great taster for Arrow Film's forthcoming release of Argento's latest movie: "The Card Player".