The Stendhal Syndrome Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
When beautiful police detective Anna Manni follows the bloody trail of a sophisticated serial
murderer/rapist through the streets of Italy, the young woman falls victim to the bizarre
"Stendhal Syndrome" - a hallucinatory phenomenon which causes her to lose her mind and
memory in the presence of powerful works of art. Trapped in this twilight realm, Anna
plunges deeper and deeper into sexual psychosis, until she comes to know the killer's
madness more intimately than she ever imagined.
Horror maestro Dario Argento (Suspiria, Opera) reaches new heights of florid fantasy and
Grand Guignol with this warped work of art starring Maxim Magazine's "Sexiest Woman in
the World" Asia Argento (Land Of The Dead, XXX), Thomas Kretschmann (King Kong, Blade
II) and Marco Leonardi (From Dusk Till Dawn 3). Previously edited outside of Italy, The
Stendhal Syndrome is now presented here in stunning High Definition, transferred under the
supervision of
cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno (All That Jazz, Amarcord) from the original Italian
35mm interpositive, and loaded with exclusive Extras.
For many casual moviegoers, the term "Horror" likely brings to mind -- and rightfully so -- images
of Freddy, Jason, and Michael; it's the
American-style hack-and-slash of the 1980s and the more recent trend of grisly, ultra-realistic
fare like Saw that have
come
to define the genre. That's all well and good, but such films tend to only touch the surface of
what true terror is all about. Italian filmmaker Dario Argento has made a career of pushing
boundaries not of blood and guts but of the mind, painting through his films vivid pictures that,
yes, contain their fare share of carnage but, more importantly, examine true, deeply-inflicted,
psychological pain and suffering. That theme began with his debut work, 1970's The Bird With the Crystal
Plumage, and continues through to one of his more recent outings, 1996's The
Stendhal Syndrome, a psychological character study about the after-effects of rape and the
true terror, mental anguish, and emotional confusion that can manifest itself in even the
strongest of individuals.
Anna's life will never be the same.
Rome, Italy Detective Anna Manni (Asia Argento) has been assigned to Florence, Italy to pursue
the case against a murder suspect. There, she collapses while in a museum, suffering from the
so-called "Stendhal Syndrome," an affliction that causes its victims to become physically and
emotionally overwhelmed in the presence of art. She recovers with the help of a good Samaritan
named Alfredo (Thomas Kretschmann), though finds that her police-issued pistol is missing from
her purse's contents. She again suffers a series of similar hallucinations while in her hotel room
where, under the art's spell, she falls victim to Alfredo --armed with her own gun -- who tortures
and rapes her and feeds his
fetish for human blood. Anna becomes traumatized by the event, finding herself incapable of
coping with the aftermath, though she does seeks out the help of a counselor and
alters her physical appearance in response to her unstable emotional state. Nevertheless, she
suffers
further life-altering events that lead her deeper down a path of psychological decay with
seemingly no hope in sight.
The Stendhal Syndrome is a film of strengths and weaknesses. The film's strongest
asset is Argento's fantastic eye for all things Horror, both assumed and frighteningly real; on the
other hand, the film lingers on for far too long and, while the finale yields something of a good
surprise, there's simply too much clutter in the second and third acts to keep up the
audience's attention span to that point, particularly considering the film's gripping open. In the
film's first segment, Argento does well to create a bone-chilling atmosphere not through darkened
corridors, deformed and deranged killers, or sudden jolts of sound, but instead through a
deliberate tour into a world that gradually morphs from the everyday to the hallucinogenic. The
shots of a nervous girl as she gazes at one work of art after another, with the camera capturing
them just so -- at the right angle or focused on one particular aspect of the painting -- along with
a score that gradually morphs into a terrifying refrain all its own, allows the movie to thoroughly
capture the audience's attention and bring them front-and-center into a paralyzing world formed
from everyday places and objects that, thanks to the director's keen sense of terror, play both at
once as one of filmdom's most seemingly innocuous yet horrific opening sequences.
While the story remains enthralling for the better part of the movie, it nevertheless grows a bit
tedious once it moves past the initial (and altogether shocking) series of events and moves on to
its suitably good conclusion. The Stendhal Syndrome retains its psychological
underpinnings with several jolting doses of the macabre along the way, but it reaches a breaking
point where it takes too long to get to where its going. Arguably, however, it's this part of the
film that makes it what it is and solidifies the story, both the beginning and the end. Anna's
chats
with her therapist and discovery of new interests and people in her life that, superficially, seem to
allow her to move past the series of traumatic experiences that have left what appears to be an
indelible mark on her life yields results both calming and positively shocking. It's her noble yet
seemingly impossible goal to rid herself of her memories -- both on the physical end of the
spectrum as evidenced by her hairstyle that changes drastically twice throughout the movie and
on a deeper emotional level that sees her confront several of her fears head-on -- that drives the
film to its surprise conclusion. Despite this material that does tend to drag, it serves an
important purpose that, in the end, makes The Stendhal Syndrome something of a
masterpiece in the realm of deeply-rooted and wholly unforgiving psychological trauma and
terror and a trademark Dario Argento film.
The Stendhal Syndrome debuts on Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer alongside a
1.66:1-framed aspect ratio,
which preserves the film's original presentation and places small, vertical black bars on either side
of
the image when projected on a standard 1.78:1 display. With that said, the transfer looks
positively
stunning. The Stendhal Syndrome features a thick layer of grain that, again, preserves
the
filmmaker's intended vision and has the added benefit of lending to the picture a dazzling film-like
look and feel. Colors throughout are spot-on; neither overly bright nor in the least faded, the
transfer simply offers a good, stable palette that does well to reproduce an entire spectrum of
colors,
from bright blue to blood red. Detail is wonderful, too. The film opens inside a museum and
the camera lingers on several works of art. The 1080p transfer reveals plenty of fine lines,
cracks,
creases, wrinkles, and other signs of general wear and tear on the works, and again, they each
retain a nice color balance. Detail throughout the remainder of the film looks great, too; the
Italian
brick-laden streets, building façades, clothing, and other assorted odds and ends all take on a fine
level of detail, and both up-close and distant objects retain a nice bit of sharpness and clarity.
Plagued by neither poor blacks nor faulty flesh tones, The Stendhal Syndrome is a marvel
to behold on Blu-ray.
The Stendhal Syndrome features two lossless soundtracks, both in English and one each
of
the DTS-HD MA 7.1 and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 varieties; an Italian-language track is available via a
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 EX offering. Though the film was screened in its entirety
utilizing the DTS track, random back-to-back samplings yielded no discernible differences in
quality between the two lossless mixes. The DTS track delivers a nice, spacious, satisfying listen
throughout. During the film's
open inside the museum, it offers footsteps and patron chatter spread nicely and cleanly across
the front half of the soundstage. The music that accompanies it plays with a crispness --
particularly in the highs -- that makes for a compelling and, eventually, altogether haunting
opening scene. All throughout the film, in fact, whispers and other varied sound effects pour
forth from the front half of the soundstage to chilling effect as Anna experiences the Stendhal
Syndrome; there's not much in the way of an obvious rear channel presence during such scenes,
though the surround speakers do feature some nice discrete effects later in the film. Though
even the film's more action-packed scenes -- featuring several gun shots -- don't boast all that
much in the way of ear-shattering volume or absolute realism, there's still a nice bit of clarity to
the entire proceedings that makes the lossless soundtracks superior to the lossy mixes. Also
featuring sound dialogue reproduction, The Stendhal Syndrome makes for a very good,
though not altogether compelling, audio experience.
The Stendhal Syndrome arrives on Blu-ray with several extras. Director: Dario
Argento (480p, 20:02) features the director recalling how he became aware of the Stendhal
Syndrome via an Italian-paper book review, his fascination with the psychology behind the
syndrome, and how it morphed into a film with him behind the camera and his daughter in the
lead
role in front of it. The piece is in Italian with English subtitles. Inspiration: Psychological
Consultant Graziella Magherini (480p, 20:39) features an extensive Italian-language
interview with the author
of the book The Stendhal Syndrome that inspired the film, provided with English
subtitles. Special Effects: Sergio Stivaletti (480p, 15:47) takes viewers
behind-the-scenes of some of the film's effects shots, again in Italian with English subtitles.
Assistant
Director: Luigi Cozzi (480p, 21:51) is another Italian-language-with-English-subtitles piece
that features the assistant director recalling his relationship with Director Dario Argento and his
participation on The Stendhal Syndrome. Also included is Production Designer:
Massimo Antonello Geleng (480p, 22:40), another Italian-language interview piece that
takes a closer look at the shooting locations, sets, and props that are found throughout the film.
English subtitles are once again provided. Rounding out this collection of extras is the film's
theatrical trailer (480p, 1:03).
Delivering a steady diet of frightening psychological terror alongside a healthy but not overdone dose
of blood, The Stendhal Syndrome represents vintage Argento. Taking its rightful place
alongside the Italian maestro's best films, including The Bird With the Crystal Plumage,
Opera, and Suspiria, The Stendhal Syndrome captures the true meaning
of terror in virtually every frame, the film playing as something of a macabre journey into a haunted
mind that cannot escape the physical tortures wrought by a sick and twisted world. Once again,
Blue Underground has released a top-notch Blu-ray presentation. Featuring a stellar 1080p
transfer, a good lossless soundtrack, and a nice selection of bonus materials, The Stendhal
Syndrome earns a recommendation for mature audiences prepared to enter the frightening
world of Detective Anna Manni.
Blue Underground has revealed that they will bring 'The Stendhal Syndrome' to Blu-ray on November 18th. As earlier revealed, Blue Underground titles will come on BD-50s with 1080p video and lossless audio. No supplemental features have been announced at this time, ...
