It is inevitable to get caught up in the ways of comparison when you see the remake of a movie from the past. Italian director Luca Guadagnino set himself a challenge by plunging into the darkness of "Suspiria," but without making a frame-by-frame copy of the 1977 work of the Italian Dario Argento. Guadagnino preferred to rephrase the original story and recreate the trajectory of dancer Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson today and Jessica Harper in the original film) from other premises and with a different outcome for its protagonist. What was a classic, normal ending in the 70s, turned into a turnaround in the hands of Guadagnino.
However, the result of the work as a whole left something to be desired. If the original work grew in layers under psychological terror until its end culminated by a revelation, in the remake of the Italian director, the premise of the horror is established from the beginning, but so many cards are thrown on the table, right up to the reflections on the politics and Germany of the 70's, that the film is lost in a tangle of concepts without delving into anything.
Guadagnino's "Suspiria" also decided to relinquish the benefit of the initial doubt by revealing right away that there was something about witchcraft and the presence of a Helena Marko, that original witch whose story is told in the first film and in this one one never incurs its origins. On the contrary, new elements emerge, such as the presence of a sort of five upper mothers around Marko, entitled to Madame Blanc, played by Tilda Swinton, who feeds a rivalry with the original witch on the macabre or not school dance.
Marko is the witch who demands sacrifices, Blanc is the one who understands magic as an extension of art. Not that they do not sail through the waters of horror, but the art of dance taught at the academy still seems to speak louder to Blanc, who nurtures a sympathy, to an empathy for the voracity, shocking savagery and surrender that Suzy imposes upon herself when she dances.
And in that the film is lost. Even the setting of the story does not seem to have any connection. What Berlin divided by the wall in 1977 has in relation to the events of the witches? What parallels is it possible to draw from the policy and the Baader-Menhoff attacks? Is Germany at that time a time when horror was seen on every corner while witches fed on the fear of who they captured? It did not seem to me to make any sense to exchange the original Freiburg for this dark, icy Berlin.
And there is the question of messages. The irreplaceable mother, the word of freedom on the wall in front of the dance school. Everything seems to have some connection, but the links are fragile. Just as the role of the psychologist Josef Klemperer (also lived by Tilda Swinton) seems almost useless.
Faced with the holes and pallor of the film, "Suspiria" holds only three really good scenes. The first one is Suzy's dance that reflects on the horror lived by Olga (Elena Fokina) in the mirror room. It's brutal, it's terrifying, and the ending is worthy of the best exorcism / witchcraft films. The second is the scene of the presentation of the musical "Volks", a choreography almost perfect, but at the same time so tense, breathtaking and deep terror that perhaps is the best moment of the film. The third is the final turn of the film, its macabre and enduring ritual.
It is praiseworthy that Guadagnino ventured into a completely different genre immediately after the resounding success of "Call Me by Your Name" (2017), which won an Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay. But the result fell short. "Suspiria" delivers the weapons early on, does not perfectly fulfill the function of imposing the horror, gets lost in history and appears very pale for a film that had much potential taking into account what the technology of 2018 could compared to that of 1977.
In the end, what is most beautiful is the soundtrack composed by Thom Yorke, Radiohead. A job that deserved a better movie.
However, the result of the work as a whole left something to be desired. If the original work grew in layers under psychological terror until its end culminated by a revelation, in the remake of the Italian director, the premise of the horror is established from the beginning, but so many cards are thrown on the table, right up to the reflections on the politics and Germany of the 70's, that the film is lost in a tangle of concepts without delving into anything.
Guadagnino's "Suspiria" also decided to relinquish the benefit of the initial doubt by revealing right away that there was something about witchcraft and the presence of a Helena Marko, that original witch whose story is told in the first film and in this one one never incurs its origins. On the contrary, new elements emerge, such as the presence of a sort of five upper mothers around Marko, entitled to Madame Blanc, played by Tilda Swinton, who feeds a rivalry with the original witch on the macabre or not school dance.
Marko is the witch who demands sacrifices, Blanc is the one who understands magic as an extension of art. Not that they do not sail through the waters of horror, but the art of dance taught at the academy still seems to speak louder to Blanc, who nurtures a sympathy, to an empathy for the voracity, shocking savagery and surrender that Suzy imposes upon herself when she dances.
And in that the film is lost. Even the setting of the story does not seem to have any connection. What Berlin divided by the wall in 1977 has in relation to the events of the witches? What parallels is it possible to draw from the policy and the Baader-Menhoff attacks? Is Germany at that time a time when horror was seen on every corner while witches fed on the fear of who they captured? It did not seem to me to make any sense to exchange the original Freiburg for this dark, icy Berlin.
And there is the question of messages. The irreplaceable mother, the word of freedom on the wall in front of the dance school. Everything seems to have some connection, but the links are fragile. Just as the role of the psychologist Josef Klemperer (also lived by Tilda Swinton) seems almost useless.
Faced with the holes and pallor of the film, "Suspiria" holds only three really good scenes. The first one is Suzy's dance that reflects on the horror lived by Olga (Elena Fokina) in the mirror room. It's brutal, it's terrifying, and the ending is worthy of the best exorcism / witchcraft films. The second is the scene of the presentation of the musical "Volks", a choreography almost perfect, but at the same time so tense, breathtaking and deep terror that perhaps is the best moment of the film. The third is the final turn of the film, its macabre and enduring ritual.
It is praiseworthy that Guadagnino ventured into a completely different genre immediately after the resounding success of "Call Me by Your Name" (2017), which won an Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay. But the result fell short. "Suspiria" delivers the weapons early on, does not perfectly fulfill the function of imposing the horror, gets lost in history and appears very pale for a film that had much potential taking into account what the technology of 2018 could compared to that of 1977.
In the end, what is most beautiful is the soundtrack composed by Thom Yorke, Radiohead. A job that deserved a better movie.