Friday, November 21, 1997

La sindrome di Stendhal

V-003391 / 18 / IT / 1996 / Argento, Dario / / thriller

Sindrome di Stendhal, La / The Stendhal Syndrome. PC: Medusa Film. P+D+SC: Dario Argento. DP: Giuseppe Rotunno. FX: Sergio Stivaletti. M: Ennio Morricone. CAST: Asia Argento, Thomas Kretschmann, Paolo Bonacelli. VHS PAL cropped from 1,85 to 1,33. Dubbed into monotonous English. Time-coded. Long version 113’26” /25 fps/ = 118’10” /24 fps/. (Cf GB release 110’43” at 25 fps.) DIST: Finn Innovation Productions. Big screen video projection viewed in Helsinki, VET, Friday 21 November 1997. Impossible to evaluate: the plot is not the thing, and the probably exquisite visuals could not be appreciated from this VHS copy. Asia Argento is a policewoman tracking down a serial rapist-killer. Visiting Uffizi Gallery and other marvellous sites of art she succumbs to ”the Stendhal syndrome”: a posttraumatic stress reaction with personality changes. (The title has been taken from the novelist, since he was the first one to record it based on his experiences in Florence.) Her persona changes several times, and after eliminating the killer in a gruesome battle she is taken over by the slain monster: ”He is inside me now”.

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