The Stendhal Syndrome [Blu-ray]

Director: Dario Argento Dario Argento

Overview

The title affliction causes sufferers to react to paintings in extreme and bizarre ways. In the case of police detective Anna Manni, she swoons and feels herself entering hallucinatory versions of the artwork she sees. This Italian psychothriller contains dark elements of horror as Manni tries to capture a murderous serial rapist. The lady detective is first seen walking the art-filled hallways of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The great paintings have a terrible effect upon her and she ends up having one of her surreal visions after fainting in front of Brueghel's "The Flight of Icarus." She sees herself falling through the painting's deep ocean and is only saved by the hands of Alfredo, a stranger who saw her fall. She returns woozily to her hotel. Her memory has temporarily lapsed, and once in her room she finds herself similarly mesmerized by a painting on the wall, but eventually she remembers her assignment. Unfortunately, when she meets up with Alfredo again, he attacks and rapes her. He then forces her to watch while he rapes and murders another. She manages to escape and make it back to Rome where she begins seeing a psychiatrist. Her former lover Marco also makes sure she is guarded 24-hours a day. Unfortunately for Anna it is not enough, and Alfredo strikes again.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/18/2022
UPC:	0827058707497
Original Release:	1996
Source:	Blue Underground
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	16,584

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Asia Argento	Anna Manni
Thomas Kretschmann	Alfredo Grossi
Marco Leonardi	Marco Longhi
Luigi Diberti	Inspector Manetti
Paolo Bonacelli	Dr. Cavanna
Julien Lambroschini	Marie
John Quentin	Anna's Father
Franco Diogene	Victim's Husband
Lorenzo Crespi	Giulio
Lucia Stara	Commessa, Shop Assistant
Sonia Topazio	Victim in Florence
Vera Gemma	Policewoman
John Pedeferri	Hydraulic Engineer
Veronica Lazar	Marie's Mother
Diano Mario	Coroner
Eleonora Vizzini	Anna (as a Child)
Maximilian Nisi	Luigi
Leonardo Ferrantini	Alessandro
Sandro Giordano	Fausto
Cinzia Monreale	Alfredo Grossi's Wife
Michele Kaplan	Alfredo Grossi's Son
Laura Piattella	40-Year-Old Woman
Vincenzo Uccellini	40-Year-Old Woman's Son
Elena Bermani	30-Year-Old Woman
Antonio Marziantonio	Museum Watchman
Luca Camilletti	Hotel Porter
Graziano Giusti	2nd Coroner
Monica Fiorentini	Female Doctor in Florence
Giancarlo Teodori	Male Doctor in Florence
Antonello Murru	1st Police Officer
Marna Del Monaco	Dining Car Stewardess
Maria Grazia Nazzari	Night Watch Victim
Mario Diano	Coroner
Ennio Morricone	Composer

Technical Credits

Dario Argento

Franco Ferrini

Dario Argento	Producer,Director,Screenwriter
Giuseppe Colombo	Producer
Sergio Stivaletti	Special Effects
Giovanni Corridori	Special Effects
Ottaviano Dell'Acqua	Stunts
Luca Anzellotti	Sound Effects,Sound Effects
Carlo Palmieri	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer,Sound/Sound Designer
Franco Ferrini	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

A sadistic and disturbing psychological exploration driven by the horrifying concept of a rape victim who begins to take on her attacker's dark persona, Dario Argento's The Stendhal Syndrome is ultimately a victim of it's own excess and the director's tendency to overcomplicate a fairly simple storyline. A vast improvement in style and storytelling over the Argento's previous efforts of the 1990s, The Stendhal Syndrome can be admired for Asia Argento's impressive portrayal of a female cop who shifts from predator to prey to questionably sane victim and who runs the gamut of emotion and shifting physical appearance. Regardless of Asia's convincing performance and the somewhat surreal and ultimately passive use of then-innovative computer-generated effects, it's hard to ignore the unrelenting cruelty the protagonist endures. Critics of director Argento have often accused him of being misogynistic (Argento's own admissions that he would rather see a beautiful woman die on film rather than an unattractive man or woman certainly doesn't aid an argument against this), and those critics will most certainly site this film as the ultimate proof of that theory. Though the story remains absorbing throughout the mid-point character shift that ignites the psychological torture of the second half, the seemingly meandering plot grinds to a halt just as it should truly shine. Director Argento crafts a stunningly visual opening sequence which, accompanied by old-friend Ennio Morricone's hauntingly hypnotic score rivals anything from his Deep Red (1975) / Suspiria (1977) heyday, and though his visual scheme remains strong the energy built here cannot sustain the duration of the film. While compositions remain suitably unnerving throughout, the storyline that was needed to truly project them into the viewer's psyche doesn't provide adequate fuel for them to do so. Throughout his career Argento's horror has passed from the everyday to the supernatural, and though the internalized terror of The Stendhal Syndrome is indeed as effective as ever in moments, it will certainly be difficult for the majority of viewers to endure.

All Movie Guide - Jason Buchanan