The Stendhal Syndrome - Anna Manni (Asia Argento)
The Stendhal Syndrome - Alfredo Grossi (Thomas Kretschmann)
The Stendhal Syndrome
The Stendhal Syndrome
The Stendhal Syndrome

A very welcome release of one of Dario Argento's most underrated films. Previously we've had to make do with the cut UK version, endure the Troma extras on the US release, or pay over the odds for a European disc. Arrow have nicely rectified that situation.

Dario Argento first came to most people's attention with his supernatural giallo Suspiria in 1977, and then again in the early 1980's when two more of his excellent gialli (Deep Red, 1975 and Tenebrae, 1982) suffered the indignity of being labelled 'video nasties' by the British authorities.

Made in 1996, The Stendhal Syndrome marked a return to vintage form for Argento, whose output after Tenebrae had been decidedly patchy. After his US excursion (Two Evil Eyes, Trauma), Argento returns to his home turf, and the great centre of Italian art, Florence; the film opens at the Uffizi Gallery. The director's daughter, Asia Argento (Trauma, The Church, Scarlet Diva, Phantom of the Opera, Land of the Dead), plays Anna Manni, a police detective suffering from the Stendhal Syndrome. This is a mental condition that causes her to retreat into horrifying hallucinations when confronted with works of art. (As a matter of fact, there is a hospital in Florence that has three beds put aside for sufferers of this condition). When serial killer/rapist Alfredo Grossi (Thomas Kretschmann) discovers the secret of her illness, he uses it against her, forcing her to become an unwilling witness to his crimes. Throughout the film Argento, as usual, impresses us with inventive hallucination and murder sequences, that are handled very well by Sergio Stivaletti, who uses CGI to enhance his usual array of bloody special effects.

The film is a complex thriller rather than a giallo in the usual sense, there are no black gloves on display, and the killer's identity is known to us from very early in the film. Argento concentrates more on the psychological aspects of Anna. There is however an important link to Argento's earlier gialli; the film features a wonderful Ennio Morricone score. Morricone had also scored The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, 1970, Cat o' Nine Tails and Four Flies on Grey Velvet, 1971. Musically this provides a much needed return to his roots, after the dreadful flirtation with heavy metal in Phenomena, 1985 and Opera 1987.

Arrow's DVD release is the same length as the mistakenly released uncut UK version, running 1h 53m. However Arrow have remastered the film and it is presented in widescreen 1:66:1, which is a vast improvement on the previous release, and is ideally suited to the picturesque shots of Florence and Rome. A 5.1 soundtrack would have made a nice addition to the package, but at the budget price of less than a tenner, it would be churlish to complain. The disc is a must for anybody interested in Argento's work - its rightful place on any DVD shelf is next to Deep Red and Tenebrae.

There is a full analysis of this film here, but beware - major plot details are discussed.