Suspiria (1977)
From Italian horror director Dario
Argento comes “Suspiria.” Jessica Harper plays Suzy, an American
dance student come to Germany to study at a prestigious academy. As
beautiful dance students die one by one, Suzy discovers that the
academy is home to a coven of witches.
Argento and his writing partner/lover,
actress Daria Nicolodi (“Deep Red”), had a few inspirations for
their story, including the works of Thomas De Quincey, a British
essayist who wrote about his opium dreams. De Quincey imagined an
analogue to the three Fates, which he termed the three Sorrows:
"Mater Lacrymarum, Our Lady of Tears", "Mater
Suspiriorum, Our Lady of Sighs", and "Mater Tenebrarum, Our
Lady of Darkness". “Suspiria”, named for Our Lady of
Sighs, barely touches on the concept, but Argento went on to develop
it into a trilogy with the films “Inferno” (featuring Mater
Tenebrarum) and “Mother of Tears,” with the idea being that these
are 3 sister witches, who have lived for centuries in 3 different
cities.
It's an intriguing concept, but
Argento's directing style does not lend itself much to developing a
narrative or a mythology. He focuses more on creating mood through
cinematography, using Technicolor to create lush, surrealistic scenes
bathed in red or blue. It adds up to a visually interesting movie,
but the scenes drag on too long without really advancing the story,
and there just isn't a whole lot of story there to begin with.
2.5 stars out of 5
Suspiria (2018)
I was skeptical about watching a
remake of a movie that I wasn't all that impressed by to begin with.
1977's “Suspiria”, by Dario Argento, was a tone poem in red and
blue technicolor, without a lot to say. Fortunately, the 2018 remake
takes the best pieces of the original and assembles them into
something much more compelling.
Dakota Johnson plays Susie Bannion, an
American dancer who travels to Berlin to study at a modern dance
academy. Inspired by Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton), the head
instructor, Susie discovers new depths in her dancing. Things are
unsettled in the studio, however, as they are in Berlin, itself. The
story is set in the German Autumn of 1977, a restless time in
Germany, marked by terrorist attacks by the leftist group known as
the RAF. A member of the dance troupe (Chloe Grace Moritz) has gone
missing, and everyone assumes her disappearance is related to her
connection to the RAF. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Klemperer (also played
by Tilda Swinton), however, comes to suspect that her rantings about
a coven of witches may have some credence.
Directed by Luca Guadagnino
(“Challengers”), this is a remake that surpasses the original in
every way. First, while the story is about a dance studio, the 1977
film featured almost no dancing. The remake puts dance front and
center, and poses it as a way of performing witchcraft. Plus, all the
beautiful women in skimpy dance outfits help the 2.5 hour run-time go
by painlessly. The film explores the themes of witchery, matriarchy,
and rebirth much more fully than the original, which barely had a
theme at all. The setting, a Germany broken by WWII and tearing
itself even further apart, lends a richness and melancholy to the
tale. Dakota Johnson looks great and carries the film well, but Tilda
Swinton steals the show. She tempers her usual weirdo vibe by
appearing relatively normal as the bewitching Madame Blanc, but then
she tempers the normalcy by being unrecognizable as the male
character, Dr. Klemperer and as Helena Markos, the coven's aged
matron.
“Suspiria” is definitely not for
everyone. The horror, the gore, the nudity, the modern dance, these
will be off-putting for some, as will the film's length. If you like
an art-house horror flick, and you aren't afraid to use your pause
button for a bathroom/snack break, then this is one remake you will
not want to miss.
4 stars out of 5
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