Product: La Sindrome di Stendhal
Rating: 5.0
A MASTERPIECE! Brilliant and disturbing.1 of Argento's Best!
Italian "Master of Horror",Dario Argento brings us one of his most frightening and realistic films to date. Argento's own daughter, the very beautiful Asia Argento gives an amazing and very chilling performance as a policewoman working with the Anti-Rape league in Rome,Italy.While tracking down a serial rapist in an art museum she succumbs to an illness known as the "Stendhal Syndrome", an actual affliction named after one of the first reported cases. The illnes causes certain people to become emerced in and hallucinate when in the presents of works of art. After fainting from such an experience, Anna(Asia Argento) is attacked by the rapist she was on the trail of in an extremely unnerving scene,which may be too much for some viewers. The film then takes a drastic change from Dario Argento's early works, which mainly focused on the search for a serial killer knocking off victims one by one. Instead this movie focuses on the victim of a horrible crime and how it dramatically alters and overwelms every aspect of their lives from then on. As the suprises and shocks hit you one after the other Argento showers the screen with some amazing vsual effects and the breathtaking scenery of his beloved Italy. The director apparently took this film as an opportunity to showcase and show-off Italy's proud and wonderous art history (and who could blame him?). Great works of art whirl by you in such a way that you may even experience a case of the Stendhal Syndrome yourself. A beautiful and dark modern "film noir" with an enchanting score by the legendary Ennio Morricone, Stendhal Syndome is truly a one of a kind film exprience from a great director who proves he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Asia Argento SHOULD have won an Academy Award for her outstanding performance. She is without a doubt one of the best young actress working today.