mekkab's Journal: Suspiria is a crappy movie.

Dario Argento sucks. Suspiria is such an insanely bad movie I want to demand my money back from netflix ($1.41). It is highly stylized. And that is all that can be said of it. It is non linear, and by that I mean the scenes don't flow, they make no sense on their own, and are gigantic non-sequitors. Upon reading Dario's very inflated bio on the dvd, I can only assume the thing that propelled its cult status back in the day was its overt violence. Which is really no great shakes.

When thinking of older movies that have aged well, I compare with The Shining and Clockwork Orange; mood and tone feature heavily. Dario's answer to mood and tone is a lot of red and green lights. This is not an oversimpification; he seems to have "broken lots of brain" over complex lighting that does nothing. It simply confuses the viewer and obscures things in a non-positive way.

The performances are un-believeable. While reading the bios apparently few of the actors spoke the same language; many were 'speaking' italian phonetically. Such beginnings don't bode well. And they aren't supported by the words that do exist in the script, nor by the inhuman actors. The "Freaky occurences" aren't really that freaky at all. Had any of us been in the movie, we'd be completely unawares that the coven of witches existed; we'd have overlooked the maggots, we'd have disauded sarah and flat out called her a crazy conspiracy theorist, and we probably would have enjoyed taking dinner laced with tranquilizers in our room. We'd would have enjoyed it more than this movie.

I can only assume that the performance of the blind pianist was supposed to be comic relief; his un-believably bad impersonation was so overwrought and outright incorrect that while being berated by the head mistress he kept not facing her, despite being 8 inches away. But it subtracts from the drama of the moment; Dario has sabotaged himself. (regardless, fans of industrial music will recognize the sample)

Now the demise of the pianist does show some skill and we have a bit of hope for our boy Dario. The chiaroscuro light work has something; we almost start to believe. However the overtness of the dog attack snaps the spell; its an itriguing idea to have his own dog betray him but we're back in our living rooms. The magic is gone. Had all previous lightwork been this effective the movie would get a much higher rating from me.

The Mod/Bauhaus 70's fashion and architecture are really the only reason to watch the film. That, and for the hysterical video of an italian goth-bands take on the theme music. Oh man, that was a howler.

F--.

See me after class!

F- -, eh?

[Some Woman]

I once got a D- - - on a lab report. Professor was an ass. Giving me an F would have been fewer pen strokes.

Re:F- -, eh?

[mekkab]

I dunno, it almost seems like he's trying to "soften the blow." A D is still only deficient; and F means you truly screwed the pooch.

I agree

[lithron]

I rented it based on advice from a friend. Its a horrible movie based on today's standards and I'm fairly sure it was a horrible movie based on all standards :-)

I gave it one star on Netflix, but then again my average rating is a 3 out of 5.

You are not my son!

[sielwolf]

It's all personal preference. I think David Lynch wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Dario. I love Suspiria and I think it works if you take it in a "dream logic" kind of movie. Or more so nightmare in a "this is a nightmare and no matter how hard I try I see everything turning out badly for me." In this sense, the movie's dominance of style over substance makes sense. These movies don't work for me when I feel that the director is putting one over on you. That they're not going for entertainment but to

Re:You are not my son!

[mekkab]

I think David Lynch wouldn't exist if it wasn't for Dario. I love Suspiria and I think it works if you take it in a "dream logic" kind of movie.

Intriguing point; I don't see the lineage but that doesn't matter; its intriguing because I can appreciate Lynch's dream logic. Sure, ask me about Mulholland or Blue Velvet and the first words outta my mouth are "wierd frickin' movie..." but he builds a spell. The only spell binding I get from Dario is the "parthenon scene" before the blind guy dies.

Had I gott

Re:You are not my son!

[sielwolf]

My problem with Lynch is that he breaks his movies. Mulholland Dr works until that last 45 minutes that completely invalidates the first 65%. He should have just jumped out of the screen and yelled "Hah! FOOL'dja!" He gave into every whim and temptation where I think he resisted those same instincts on say Blue Velvet or A Straight Story.

The Shining?

[Em Emalb]

Eh, The Shining was ok.

Jack gave a good performance, but the tone of the movie and the style weren't really in keeping with the book.

And the ending....bah.

Whatever. If I were Jack, I'd attempt to kill my wife and kid too.

Oh, and what was up with the "psychic" care taker? HELLO, you know something is wrong, why you gonna go stomping around when you know shit is about to hit the fan? Or, in this case, the axe is about to hit your back?