Product: La Sindrome di Stendhal
Rating: 4.0
Excellent Latter Day Argento Film
While not the roller coaster of non-stop virtuoso bravura camera work, wierd lighting, and non-stop murders as many of the films Argento made his name on, The Stendhal Syndrome is nevertheless a very fine latter day film by Italian horror/suspense maestro Argento.The focus here is on Anna, a police detective with Rome's anti-rape police unit, very well played by the director's daughter Asia Argento. Anna suffers from the title syndrome, which causes those afflicted to literally lose themselves in works of art. This leaves Anna vulnerable to the very serial killer/rapist she is working to help catch.Mr. Argento pulls absolutely no punches in depicting the absolute horror of Anna's rape, and while the film's unflinching cruelty may be hard for some people to watch, it is totally appropriate to the subject matter--the fact that Dario Argento takes the issue of rape so seriously in this film for me rules out any accusations of bad taste.The focus is very much on the character of Anna, of how both the Stendhal Syndrome she suffers from and the experience of being raped and stalked affect her character, and Asia Argento is a fascinating presence to watch in the role.Mr. Argento employs his considerable cinematic skill well in this film, not overwhelming the story and character issues with excessive stylistic flourishes, but nevertheless employing, with more restraint than usual, some very stunning and brilliant camera work and scene staging in the depiction of the both the experience of Anna's losing of herself in great works of art, and in conveying the terror of her situation. Many breathtaking Italian works of art are featured in the film, and the Italian locations are well used too.If Anna were simply to turn out to be a passive victim, though, there would not be much of a story, but to reveal all that happens would be to spoil the experience of watching this film for yourself.Ennio Morricone did a fine job with the music score for the film, and the quality of Troma's VHS tape, while not quite up to the standards of Anchor Bay, is of surprisingly good quality. There were a few places near the middle of the film where the image flickered a bit for a short time, but aside from this brief distraction, the picture and sound quality are excellent. While probably not quite the full original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, this VHS version is nevertheless moderately letterboxed, so there obviously can't be much of the picture not on screen here. This version, by the way, the $14.98 retail version, is the superior quality SP speed version--beware the inferior quality EP version sold elsewhere on Amazon for $9.98.