Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. October 30, 2018 7:00 PM
"Suspiria" is a provocative re-imagining of the cult classic horror film by Dario Argento from fellow Italian filmmaker, Luca Guadagnino. The director has stated that when he saw Mr. Argento's 1977 film as a child, he was completely terrified and wanted to recreate those dark emotions he felt with his own film. Mr. Guadagnino's version of "Suspiria" is a bold and bloody surreal extravaganza filled with lurid excess and demented symbolism. Yet the film comes across just as confusing, messy and somewhat redundant like a child's memory of a traumatic event. I'm not sure what I expected Guadagnino's follow-up to his highly-acclaimed, masterful work of the elegiac love story, "Call Me By Your Name" to be but this sprawling tale of overheated black magic was not it.
It's 1977 in West Berlin during the peak of a reign of terror by the militant organization, the Baader-Meinhof Gang; filmmaker, Rainer Werner Fassbinder achieved international success and David Bowie had recently immigrated to the city where he had gone to get sober and eventually inspired to create music that would revitalize his career. Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson), an American from Ohio, arrives to the divided German city after being invited to attend the Markos Dance Academy. Shy and reserved, Susie grew-up among the Mennonite religious community. Yet despite her very conservative upbringing, she was drawn to the expressive power of modern dance.
The students are upset over the recent mysterious disappearance of their fellow dancer, Patricia (Chloë Grace Moretz). As an attempt to brush aside their concerns and fears, Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton), the stern yet nurturing lead instructor, tries to get the girls to refocus on rehearsal for the Academy's upcoming performance, "Volk" which translates to "people" in German. Susie catches the attention of Blanc with her natural talent and impresses her enough to become the principal dancer of the piece.
Not long before she vanished, a terrified Patricia had gone to her therapist, Josef Klemperer (Lutz Ebersdorf) to assert that the dance school she attends is controlled by a coven of witches. Highly skeptical of her claims but after he begins to read the missing girl's detailed journals she left behind in his office, Klemperer decides to further investigate the Academy.
Another student, Sara (Mia Goth) also becomes suspicious of the activities by the matrons of the school. She finds hidden rooms that hold ancient religious relics and witnesses supernatural behavior before eventually discovering the terrible secret of what actually happened to Patricia and the other dancers who apparently left the Academy.
It's clear Mr. Guadagnino had no intention of making a basic horror movie. "Suspiria" explores the more obvious themes of feminism and female empowerment along with the less apparent involving the lingering guilt and shame of Germany because of the second World War and the aftermath which caused the country to be split apart. But these intriguing ideas that are touched upon become more muddled as the film progresses and lead to nowhere.
The cinematographer, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (who also shot "Call Me By Your Name") creates a dark and ominous world with a muted color palette and utilizing classic film techniques that were popularly used back in the 1970's like slow-motion, fast-cuts and zooms. There are vivid dance routines performed in the film which are choreographed by Damien Jalet and inspired by German expressionist dance. The hypnotic score by Thom Yorke of the band, Radiohead certainly adds to the tension and creepy vibe.
Ms Johnson, whose lineage includes the highly charismatic actors, Don Johnson, Melanie Griffith and Hitchcock muse, Tippi Hedren, displays a surprising lack of presence in the film. She does not command the screen but merely takes up space. That is not the case with Ms Swinton who has had a long history of doing potent work with roles ranging from down-to-Earth to completely out-of-this-world. In addition to Madame Blanc, the actress is barely recognizable as she plays two other characters in the film (there has been a lot of chatter identifying which ones but I will leave it to you to guess) which further highlights her remarkable talent. The matrons of the school are played by an interesting mix of International performers and include Ingrid Caven, a German actress and former wife of the bisexual director, Fassbinder; César Award-winning French actress/director, Sylvie Testud; Renée Soutendijk, the Dutch actress who is best known for her work in the early films of Paul Verhoeven in the 1980's and models, Malgosia Bela and Alek Wek. Jessica Harper, who starred in the original "Suspiria" and turned down a role in Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" to appear in the film, also makes a brief cameo.
There is one unsettling scene that this "Suspiria" will probably be best remembered for (with the wild, bloodbath ritual near the end of the film a close runner-up) as it manages to be both imaginative and horrific. After Patricia disappears, Olga (Elena Fokina) is fed up with what is happening at the school and decides to leave. But she doesn't get far. Olga is locked in a rehearsal room while Susie is about to do a practice run of the dance routine. Madame Blanc touches Susie's hands and feet so that with every dramatic dance movement, Olga is violently slammed against the mirrored walls. Her body becomes so twisted and broken that when it's finally over, she barely remains recognizable as a human being. It's almost unbearable to watch yet admittedly fascinating to witness.
"Suspiria" is painfully gruesome, silly and doesn't make much sense. But the director's stylish, expertly crafted revision of an important moment in his cinematic past still manages to occasionally conjure up some thought-provoking terror and innovative fear.
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