I've mentioned before that I'm a big time Dario Argento fan. I love his work throughout the 70's and 80's, but have just now gotten around to his later works, and starting things off with Dracula was maybe not the best idea. I think I hesitated because from what I've read the 90s is where things kind of go off the rails for him. The Stendhal Syndrome was solid (if uneven), and maybe a little too rape-focused. But it's got lots of style, some big ideas, and is overall a good watch.
The Stendhal Syndrome is about Anna Manni (Argento's daughter Asia), a young female cop trying to catch a serial rapist. (He also kills many of his victims - I'm not sure where you draw the line between serial killer/serial rapist, but I'll go with what the film goes with.) Early on in the film, she has tracked him to a museum in Florence where she is struck by the titular syndrome, which apparently is a real thing (I love it when horror movies teach me stuff!). Per wikipedia, the Stendhal Syndrome is a "psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion, and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to an experience of great personal significance, particularly viewing art." Anna is overcome by the art, which Dario Argento represents with crazy visuals, swooping camera shots and claustrophobic/tight angles. It looks really cool, and lets you know right away that there is going to be some stylistic flourishes here (honestly, one of my favorite things about his movies). Anna passes out, and is aided by a strange man (Thomas Kretschmann), who turns out to be the very criminal she is after. When she comes to, she is raped but left alive - he's one of those serial killers that likes to toy with the cops. The rest of the film is about Anna trying to cope with what happened to her - not only dealing with the psychological impact of her sexual assault, but also trying to move on with her life and ultimately catching her attacker. However, the rapist seems to be after Anna again...
The casting here is noteworthy. Rumor has it that Dario ended up casting his daughter after he tried (and failed) to cast Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Asia is a fine actress in her own right and does very well with the role, but she is also 10+ years younger than either of those other actresses. Plus, she looks young for her age anyways. This role in The Stendhal Syndrome would have made more sense if it was about a cop with a little more experience under her belt. A cop shaken by her experience *after* seeing some terrible things on the force would have made it resonate a bit more. As it stands, it almost looks like high schooler going after a serial rapist, which just doesn't work. (At the time of filming, Asia was 4 years younger than Kristen Bell was when shooting Veronica Mars... she was playing a high school junior there.)
Also, Asia Argento's character goes through some rough stuff in this movie, being sexually assaulted and experiencing a lot of mental anguish. It's hard not to think about the fact that it's her father directing it, and wondering if that's a little... odd? When you're directing such fare, maybe it's easier to push it on someone you know rather than an actress who is a complete stranger? Who can say? It sounds like Asia has been asked about this again and again, and didn't have a problem with it. It's only a movie, you know...
Dario Argento is playing with some big themes here - art plays a big part in this picture. But it's a little unclear to me what exactly he's going for - the role of art in society? The commodification of art? Our serial rapist is quoted as saying "great works of art have great power." Art is everywhere in The Stendhal Syndrome - Anna paints as a part of her recovery, one of the crime scenes is covered in graffiti, paintings that affect Anna are recreated in real life later in the film. The Art/Power relationship is certainly explored, but it was tough for me to get a grasp of what exactly it's trying to say, other than Art is Everywhere.
Gender is explored a lot too. Anna cuts her hair shortly after she is attacked ("like a boy," says her inconsiderate brother). She takes up boxing in an all male gym. When she is finally able to get involved in a relationship, it is with a French man named Marie. "Isn't that a girl's name?" "Not in France." Perhaps they're suggesting she needs to get in touch with her more masculine side to recover from her attack.
You also get Dario's traditional stylish flourishes - there are some first person scenes of boxing, a CGI shot of pills being swallowed (from the inside!), a gruesome scene of someone getting shot through the cheek (and the camera shooting through it). The camera moves about very fluidly - it just looks cool, and I was glad to see that was a part of his repertoire after the boringly shot Dracula.
I wasn't so fond of the rape angle. I get that Anna's attack sets the whole thing in motion and kind of needs to happen, but the several extra scenes of the serial rapist at work seemed a bit exploitative. Mind you, they are not *super* graphic, but they are still plenty disturbing. I mean, we already know he's a bad guy based on the police evidence, as well as his attack on Anna. In this case, "tell, don't show" would have been okay by me.
And generally speaking, Italian horror can be kind of confusing. But in my experience, it's generally confusion based on random events (i.e people/things showing up out of nowhere). But the confusion here was more character-based - some of the character's actions are not based on anything (we the audience) had seen up to that point, and their motivations aren't particularly clear. Most of the loose ends are tied up at the end, but it's still a bit jarring when it's happening.
Ultimately, I liked this movie. I think it benefitted from being viewed in close succession to The New York Ripper - while this was graphic, the violence here just didn't seem quite as hateful as in Fulci's film. The Stendhal Syndrome is still a rough watch - but Argento's stylishness makes it easier to swallow. Ripper is definitely firmly in reality, whereas Stendhal almost seems to be taking place in a dreamworld a lot of the time. There is a little art-house in this horror film.
I would recommend this film.
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