Product: La Sindrome di Stendhal
Rating: 3.0
One of Argento's better post-Tenebre films.
The fact that The Stendhal Syndrome, one of Dario Argento's best acted films, is released by Troma on DVD is misleading. The packaging concentrates only on the most sensationalistic of the film's aspects (the gore, Asia Argento's presence in the "Sexiest Women" list of a major men's magazine).And ever since Dario Argento has started aiming for plotting and script (Trauma, The Phantom of the Opera) instead of the random stream-of-consciousness imagery that marks his best works (Suspiria, Tenebre, Inferno), his films have become shakier. The Stendhal Syndrome stands out among his '90s works thanks to a varied performance by Asia Argento, who nails the complexities of the lead character's fears, aggressions, sensuality, and the mix of strength and vulnerability that makes her final fate all the more affecting.The Stendhal Syndrome isn't a great film, but it's certainly worth watching. When it gets under Anna's skin, such as during her pivotal moment of lashing back out at her tormentor, it's powerfully visceral filmmaking.This DVD edition offers plenty of extras, though the lack of a commentary track is somewhat disappointing, and (again) the packaging is quite hideous. But judging from the Argento interview included, perhaps it wasn't a bad idea not to have Dario comment on the film, given his very thick and nearly incomprehensible accent. The DVD menus, however, should've been cleaned up; they're very hard to read, and the chapter division isn't meticulous enough. Why bother breaking the film up into chapters if each chunk is a good seven minutes long?