Overview:
Suspiria (2018) is a supernatural horror movie directed by Luca Guadagnino and is a loose reimagining of Dario Argento’s 1977 film of the same name. It’s Berlin in 1977 and Susie Bannion (portrayed by Dakota Johnson) is a hopeful American dancer who goes to Germany to try out for the Markos Dance Academy. To the director Madame Blanc’s (Tilda Swinton) surprise, Susie’s captivating aura and great dancing skills compels her to give Susie a company position. But the Institute has more to it than meets the eye. The institute is actually governed by a group of witches, with Mother Markos in charge.
The fingers revealed heat that Susie grabbed Patricia and Sara (Mia Goth) told her that she shouldn’t do it. Patricia (Chloë Grace Moretz), another dancer and self-proclaimed patient of Dr. Klemperer’s also went missing without a trace after raising alarms about the academy’s practices. Dr. Klemperer, who is also a psychologist and is trying to process the resent of losing his beloved wife goes undercover to find answers to Patricia’s absurd claims of witchcraft. While delving deeper, he uncovers more chilling revelations about the institute’s gruesome past.
Madame Blanc and Susie’s closer relationship alongside the latter’s growing popularity in dance showcases the academy’s dark secret. The movie Prozesse di Sogni reaches its terrifying apex with an event which shows the covenant’s transformation and Susie’s struggle. Suspiria is terrifying story of power of achieving control as well as retaining it for a long period of time.
Cast:
Dakota Johnson as Susie Bannion: As always, Johnson has put on an incredible act as someone who is a powerless helping hand with a facade of heroism, brushed with the dry secret of the institutions darkness.
Tilda Swinton as Madame Blanc / Dr. Josef Klemperer / Mother Markos: Swinton has perfected the essence of transformation across three characters – Klemperer, Joseph, and Mother Marcos. The themes of vulnerability, a complex consciousness, and an imaginary authoritarianism flow through all three characters.
Mia Goth as Sara: Goth is a close friend to Susie and upon discovering dark secrets of the sacrament, she turns into a victim herself.
Chloë Grace Moretz as Patricia Hingle: Moretz first appears in the opening scene where she is a dancer that goes missing which initiates the storyline.
Jessica Harper (cameo) as Anke Meier: An emotionally outstanding performance was put on by Harper where she portrays Dr. Klemperer’s missing love, Anke, and throughout the film almost all the characters miss her.
Luca Guadagnino, the film director, made a dramatic choice in the translation from the original piece by using a love scent with a hint of tragedy in the atmospherics fueled by the score given by Yorke. The entirety of the film is served with a very grim touch and terrifying imagery while attempting with the tragic vision to stay true to the direction.
Themes and Analysis
Suspiria has a very deep narrative that unfolds, the power of female agency being the central aspect of the plot:
To begin with the women’s academy, it is defined as a place of empowerment however due to the sensitive nature of the structure left by their mothers, it is also a site which, is corrupting. Suspiria paints a perfect picture of the sensitive dynamics of the power system within a cademe.
Moving on, rebirth and transformation are discussed:
The film captures magic in its prime depicting the right amount of metaphoric violence needed. A perfect example to depict what we are trying to say would be Susie, prime example of an innocent, outsider being transformed into a tangible divine force. The movie portrays a strong imagery that captures the magic touch of violence through rebirth.
Last but not least, trauma and collective memory:
Dr Klemperer’s hardship due to the Holocaust coupled with his wife’s death paints a rough picture: a scared depressed Germany. The dark and ancient forces the tape tries to bring out are nothing but allegories of the horrors lies in the perfect peaceful ethukai. And the imagery stays true.
Dance as a Rite:
What the film does to performance art in general is transform it into a form of magic, destruction and resurrection. The choreography of the sequence is visceral where it is both sensually delightful and painfully haunting, the duality representing the toll placed by the witches’ magic on their bodies and souls.
Cinematography and Visual Style
Suspiria marks a serious shift in the aesthetic of Argento’s palette which is based on primary colors to a more subtle color scheme that is more autumnal which reflects the tone of the film. Sayombhu Mukdeeprom’s cinematography makes use of slow and extended shots that evoke a sense of dread whereas the dance sequences are filmed in more erratic and high intensity so that the audience feels they are in the presence of something divine and dangerously sacred. The intense moments of grotesque body horror such as the level of brutality levied during the contortion sequence were meticulously captured and forced awe into the viewers due to the shock they experienced.
Critical Reception:
Upon its release, critics and audiences had differing views in relation to Suspiria, which resulted in a disagreement that is often described as disparate. There were those who appreciated the storyline, the performances and the ideas that were presented, His attempts to revive a horror classic were welcomed by many, with particular praise for Tilda Swinton’s versatile performances, and Thom Yorke’s musical score and sound design. However critics of the work claim that the run time at 152 minutes was rather excessive for a film and its pacing was ineffectively sluggish.
With regard to artistry and thematic depth, this film receives a score of 6.7/10 on IMDB. However, some viewers found the movie too cerebral and overly violent which alienated them from the experience.
Audience Reception
Many Suspiria fans who enjoy arthouse horror praised the film for its ambition and psychological depth while some expressed their dismay on how it was a far cry from any normal horror movie. Viewers did resonate with the movie’s message of witchcraft as a spiritual and political imagery but were more mesmerized by the blood-drenched ritual. The climax of the original movie’s suspense did not make a return in the remake, and instead was substituted with philosophical questions making it rather difficult for the general horror movie watcher to comprehend.
Comparison to the Original (1977)
Guadagnino’s portrayal delves deeper than Argento’s simple terrifying plot while also focusing on identity, trauma and power. The narrative surrounding witches becomes political and emotional subtext which compliments the horror rather than being a simple plot point. Unlike its predecessors, this movie focused on creating actual dread rather than mere jump scares.
Conclusion
Suspiria (2018) is a chilling and thought-provoking modern take on a horror movie. It includes elements of the supernatural into what seems to be an intellectual treating of themes such as power, identity and trauma. The movie was received rather unexpectedly but the movie still ranks itself among the noteworthy pieces in the modern horror cinema. It beautifully merges with the captivating showcasing of characters, notably Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson and the deeply resonating score by Thom Yorke, turning Suspiria’s realm into a surreal world where beauty meshes with horror through a twirling dance of rebirth and fate.
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