Film Review: Suspiria Divides And Disturbs Audiences
SYNOPSIS: A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the troupe’s artistic director (Swinton), an ambitious young dancer (Johnson), and a grieving psychotherapist (Ebersdorf). Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.
I can divide audiences’ reaction to Suspiria into two giphys:
Brilliant! Enriching! Enlivening! A Force of Female Power!
AND…….
What just happened?
Directed by Luca Guadagnino with David Kajganich, Suspiria is one of those films that some will call intellectually stunning, and something worth unpacking for decades. While others will say, “Huh?” It is filled with innuendos, symbols, and scenes that leave you scratching your head as to their meaning or point. Yet, I have to admit, I am still thinking about this film, and trying to unravel the many threads it threw at me to weave together.
Suspiria is a “remake” of the 1970’s Italian horror film, but remake feels like too strong of a word. Frankly, it is a reinvention; sharing certain characters and characteristics and completely altering its storyline and structure. Horror films have a much quicker pace; toying with viewers’ anticipation, and throwing whirlwinds of sudden chaos. Yet, Luca Guadagnino paces Suspiria to be a steady stroll, of which you still build anticipation but you do not get scared as much as disturbed by its mystery.
There are certain scenes throughout Suspiria that are so gross and creepy, I had to bathe in holy water. These words FAIL to surmise how gory and grotesque Suspiria can get, especially because it is never really clear why we are going THERE! For what felt like 20 minutes, there is one Suspiria scene i so bloody, violent, and altogether insane that it thrusts you to COMMAND answers you will not get. Why is Susanna so connected to this haunted, dance academy? Why is this doctor Dr. Josef Klemperer so eventually pitied by the coven? What is this coven’s intention for the world? Guadagnino tosses so many details and half-choices at the crowd that you become both mesmerized and miffed. You do not know if its that you did not understand something or if there was nothing to understand. Perhaps, that is the point.
I know this may sound strange, but some people like films that perplex them. Some people want to go into a theater and feel like they have seen something so above and beyond they will never fully understand it in the present or future. Suspiria has that impact. From the exceptional Tilda Swinton as Dr. Josef Klemperer and madame Blanc to Dakota Johnson’s soft-spoken, increasingly deranged Susanna, the film does engulf you with its characters, and makes you care about what happens to the noble Sara ( Mia Goth) and the enigmatic Patrizia ( Chloe Moretz). Yet, again, you will not get proper answers, which will leave people either loving or hating the film. Still, I have to give kudos for what Suspiria does for Luca Guadagnino.
With Call me by your name, Luca became a romantic spear-head of films. He has created some beautiful works, of which Suspiria certainly has gorgeously shot images. No one can deny that Suspiria is meticulously and crisply made, especially with its scenes of dance that entrance the viewer. Yet, in combining a sort of 1950’s horror campiness with 2018 art/ avant-garde experimentation, Suspiria shows how much Luca is creatively capable. NO ONE would think the man that made I Am Love and Bigger Splash could make Suspiria. It is mind-boggling that all these films lived in his mind, which is why Suspiria pushes forward an important note as film, itself: never underestimate or assume you know someone else’s power. Luca Guadigno can officially do anything. Suspiria comes out on October 26.
