Product: La Sindrome di Stendhal
Rating: 2.0
Psychopaths Prefer Blondes
Argento peaked with "Susperia", but this film is still worth looking at, even if it's only for the first half.One major question is why Argento kept casting his daughter in his later films? Maybe he thinks she is a brilliant actress. Maybe he enjoys filming her in the shower and being raped. Maybe (and this is my personal theory) he doesn't have to pay her as much. Whatever the reason, Asia is unconvincing in this role, and had a stronger actress been cast, the film might have held together better.Asia is Anna, a police officer from Rome. Right off the bat there's a problem with this. Since it's unlikely Roman police academies recruit out of middle schools, Asia is way, way to young for this role. But, bless her heart, she does give the part her all and creates a likable, sympathetic character out of Anna. Anna is in Florence following up on a lead in a serial rapist case. While in the Uffuzi Gallery she is overcome with intense sensations and hallucinations known as Stendhal Syndrome, and Asia does do a good job in getting us to believe she is disoriented and amnesiatic for a time. She's then brutally raped by her quarry, returns to Rome for counseling, and then kidnapped and raped again by the monster Alfredo. Here is where Argento had a chance to really give the plot some meat, since Alfredo has fallen in a perverse sort of love with Anna, and exploring their relationship would have been interesting.So....Anna escapes and we think it's the end, right? Uh, no. The movie proceeds to drag on while Anna starts wearing a blonde wig, dates a cute French research assistant and believes herself to be pursued by the presumed dead Alfredo. By the time we get to the pretty good finale, the movie has lost so much momentum that it's hard to work up any suspense anymore.Still, there are some wonderful trademark Argento shots and angles that are worth watching. Otherwise, the story was too complex for Argento and so it falls flat. Asia tried to make a strong character out of Anna but she was too young and too inexperienced at the time to do so. Alfredo was played wonderfully and while he's on-screen is very scary. This film had so much potential.