I had to watch this film 5 times to understand what happened. I've had a very difficult relationship with Trauma that I didn't have with Argento's films on either side. I loved The Stendhal Syndrome and found Opera to be a masterpiece. It was only on this viewing that I understood the reasoning behind the reveal- not that it's particularly coherent but at least I get it. The section with the lesbian couple feels very Lynchian but then moments of phony gore and cheesiness bring you back to the reality of the film. And that's one of the huge problems with this film- the tone. It moves back and forth between highs and lows too quickly. Scenes with beautiful, flowing camera work and a real sense of tension are cut in half by extremely awkward special effects. The script is meandering and the pacing is weird. The worst problem is that there's no cohesive atmosphere- and for an impressionistic film like this that's a huge downfall. Argento did better in the modern thriller genre with 2009's Giallo- not that it was a particularly good film, but it knew what it wanted to be and embraced it wholeheartedly. Sleepless and The Stendhal Syndrome both hit what they were shooting for in being "modern gialli". Trauma tries to be both at once which makes the film a very rocky ride. I've tried to love this film but I just can't. I can however sit down and enjoy the cinematography and few moments of brilliance. If you're an Argento die-hard I expect you might be able to do the same.
Review of Trauma
