The opening 20 minutes of Dario Argento's Suspira is a gem.
You see specks of bright lurid colours but it is the dash of red that constantly stands out, letting you know that blood will soon flow.
The moment Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper) goes from the airport arrival halls to the sinister airport sliding doors to the windswept raining outdoors. You experience an audio-visual dazzle. Argento has thrown down a marker.
That segment is finished with a Grand Guignol styled double death. One is a frenzied stabbing the other a shard of skylight glass.
It is a shame that the rest of the film could not keep up to that standard. The fault lies with some choppy editing, not so good acting (I saw the subtitled version) and a weak story.
Suzy Banyon has arrived in Germany to study ballet at a famous dance academy. However Suzy constantly feels tired and some of the student disappear which leads Suzy to investigate some bizarre behaviour. Suzy finds out more of the academy's Greek founder who was accused of being a witch.
There is something surreal and nightmarish about Suspira. Although filmed in Italy, there were some location shots in Munich and a suggestion that the film alludes to the Nazi nightmare of the 1940s.
You see specks of bright lurid colours but it is the dash of red that constantly stands out, letting you know that blood will soon flow.
The moment Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper) goes from the airport arrival halls to the sinister airport sliding doors to the windswept raining outdoors. You experience an audio-visual dazzle. Argento has thrown down a marker.
That segment is finished with a Grand Guignol styled double death. One is a frenzied stabbing the other a shard of skylight glass.
It is a shame that the rest of the film could not keep up to that standard. The fault lies with some choppy editing, not so good acting (I saw the subtitled version) and a weak story.
Suzy Banyon has arrived in Germany to study ballet at a famous dance academy. However Suzy constantly feels tired and some of the student disappear which leads Suzy to investigate some bizarre behaviour. Suzy finds out more of the academy's Greek founder who was accused of being a witch.
There is something surreal and nightmarish about Suspira. Although filmed in Italy, there were some location shots in Munich and a suggestion that the film alludes to the Nazi nightmare of the 1940s.