The Stendhal Syndrome dvd movie.|
The Stendhal Syndrome buy bestselling dvd movies, videos find reviews, ratings, prices |
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List Price: $14.98 Features • Color • DVD-Video • Letterboxed • Subtitled • NTSC In Theaters : 1996 DVD Release : 17 August, 1999 |
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The Stendhal Syndrome description The first half of Dario Argento's heady psycho-thriller is a mesmerizing merging of dream and reality. A beautiful young Italian detective (Asia Argento, who does little to convince us she's a tough, seasoned cop) investigating a serial rapist is suddenly overwhelmed when the paintings in an art museum erupt with life. According to the film, this is "the Stendhal Syndrome," an intense and overwhelming response to art that turns the viewer mad. As Anna steps in and out of fantasy worlds like Alice through the looking glass, she's kidnapped by her quarry, who repeatedly rapes and tortures her in a dark, dank underground cave. The delirious nightmare of shattered reality becomes a sadistic, mean-spirited spectacle of murder and degradation--perpetrated on, of all people, the director's own bound and beaten daughter!--and the thriller disintegrates into a paranoid mystery of amnesia, split psyches, and shadowy phantoms. At its best this is a mesmerizing vision of madness: paintings melt into the real world while objectivity disintegrates before our eyes. But before the unexpectedly sensitive conclusion, Argento puts the viewer through a bravura but brutal series of gory murders (a slow-motion bullet passes through both cheeks of a helpless victim, and another shooting is viewed from inside the body) and unsavory violence. The poetic beauty of Phenomenon and the craftsmanship of Suspiria and Deep Red are sorely missed. --Sean Axmaker |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | Blinded by the light |
| I finally cracked open the door, Dario Argento's demented light came shining through. Each particle explored and swarmed the inner nooks of my consciousness, throwing off my equilibrium. I stumbled through each frame, mesmerized by this bizarre story and the unique style of direction by Dario. It was quite an experience.
The story basically tracks the steps of Anna, a beautiful female detective who is trying to apprehend a brutal serial killer/rapist. Anna has her own mental problems though, she suffers from the Stendhal Syndrome, an acute psychological reaction to artwork that gives her hallucinations and causes her to pass out. This adds a nice level of surrealism that I wish the movie would have delved further into. Unfortunately, there were extended periods where I was frustrated or just plain bored with. However, there were enough glimpses of contorted brilliance to make me anxious to see more of Argento's work, like Suspiria. |
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