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”.

M.D.C. Maschera di cera / Le Masque de cire / The Wax Mask

Sergio Stivaletti: M.D.C. Maschera di cera / Le Masque de cire / The Wax Mask (FR/IT 1997).

100383 16 IT 1997 Stivaletti, Sergio horror
Vahanaamio. PC: A Cine 2000. P: Dario Argento. D: Sergio Stivaletti. Story: Lucio Fulci. CAST: Robert Hossein, Romina Mondello, Riccardo Serventi Longhi. 95’. 1,66. DIST: Finn Innovation Productions. Dubbed in English. Viewed at VET, Helsinki, Tuesday, 2 September 1997. BOMB. A remake of the 1932 The Mystery of the Wax Museum, already remade in 1953 as House of Wax, etc. The only new elements are nudity and gore. The director lacks talent, the actors are wooden, the photography is a far cry from the stylish heights of Bava and Argento, and the somnambulistic dubbing is the final nail on the coffin.