ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - February 1st
"SUSPIRIA" released in Italy in 1977
A newcomer to a fancy ballet academy gradually comes to realize that the school is a front for something far more sinister and supernatural amidst a series of grisly murders, in Dario Argento's Suspiria!
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Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) travels to Germany to perfect her ballet skills at the prestigious Tanz Dance Academy. Arriving in the pouring rain, Suzy is refused admission after another woman, Pat (Eva Axén) is seen fleeing the school, calling out words that Suzy can barely make out in the rain. That night Pat is brutally murdered in her friend's apartment. The next morning, Suzy is finally admitted by Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett), the vice-directress, and Miss Tanner (Alida Valli), one of the instructors. As the weeks go by, Suzy witnesses many strange things; she becomes mysteriously ill and is to be "medicated" with a glass of wine daily; the school becomes infested with thousands of maggots; and Daniel (Flavio Bucci), the blind pianist, is killed by his own guide dog. When Suzy's only friend at the academy, Sara (Stefania Casini), also abruptly "disappears" from the academy - in fact, Suzy has also been murdered by the dark figure that killed Pat - Suzy goes to meet one of Sara's acquaintances, a psychologist, Frank Mandel (Udo Kier), who explains that the academy was founded by Helena Markos, a cruel Greek émigré who was widely believed to be a witch. Finally remembering Pat's curses during the night of her arrival, Suzy returns to the school and finds a hidden passage in Madame Blanc's office and comes face-to-face with Helena Markos' evil coven, still very much alive and who have "plans" for Suzy!
TRIVIA: The first part of Dario Argento's trilogy of films about the "Three Mothers" - completed with Inferno (1980) and Mother of Tears (2007).
Top: American Suzy Bannion (Jessica Harper) comes to Germany to study ballet, but gets more than she bargains for at the sinister Tanz Academy!;
Above: Suzy befriends Sara (Stefania Casini)
Director/co-writer Dario Argento was originally inspired to make the film from the stories told by Suspiria co-writer (and Dario's then-girlfriend) Daria Nicolodi's grandmother, who claimed to have fled from a German music academy because witchcraft was being secretly practiced there. Likewise, the film's finale was inspired by a dream that Nicolodi once had; in the dream she said she had encountered an invisible witch and, most bizarrely, there was a panther in the room with her that suddenly exploded. The dream was later written into the film - but it's a porcelain panther that explodes. Dario's first idea was that the ballet school would accommodate young girls not older than 12. However, the studio and producer Salvatore Argento (his father) denied his request because a film this violent involving children would almost certainly be banned. Dario raised the age limit of the girls to 20 but didn't rewrite the script, hence the naiveté of the characters and the occasionally childlike dialogue. He also put all the doorknobs at about the same height as the actress' heads, so they would have to raise their arms in order to open the doors, just like children.
As well as serving as the film's co-writer, Nicolodi was to have starred in the lead role of Suzy Bannion, but the studio insisted that an American actress be cast for the lead to make the film more marketable; actress Jessica Harper, having starred in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise. Nicolodi does however appear in the film twice - she can be glimpsed in the film's opening sequence that shows Suzy walking through the airport, and she also provides the gravelly voice of Helena Markos. The woman playing Helna Markos is not credited, but according to Harper, she was a 90-year-old ex-hooker who Dario found on the streets of Rome. Argento later cast Joan Bennett as Madame Blanc because of her association with director Fritz Lang, who Dario was a great admirer of, and Alida Valli as Miss Tanner. Stefania Casini, Barbara Magnolfi, Eva Axén and Udo Kier were later added to cast in the roles of Suzy's academy friends Sara and Olga, Pat Hingle, and Sara's psychologist friend Dr Frank Mandel respectively.
As well as serving as the film's co-writer, Nicolodi was to have starred in the lead role of Suzy Bannion, but the studio insisted that an American actress be cast for the lead to make the film more marketable; actress Jessica Harper, having starred in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise. Nicolodi does however appear in the film twice - she can be glimpsed in the film's opening sequence that shows Suzy walking through the airport, and she also provides the gravelly voice of Helena Markos. The woman playing Helna Markos is not credited, but according to Harper, she was a 90-year-old ex-hooker who Dario found on the streets of Rome. Argento later cast Joan Bennett as Madame Blanc because of her association with director Fritz Lang, who Dario was a great admirer of, and Alida Valli as Miss Tanner. Stefania Casini, Barbara Magnolfi, Eva Axén and Udo Kier were later added to cast in the roles of Suzy's academy friends Sara and Olga, Pat Hingle, and Sara's psychologist friend Dr Frank Mandel respectively.
TRIVIA: Suspiria means "to sigh" or "sighed", but also possibly "whispered". It has something to do with the difference in Italian & Spanish language stemming from the Latin root.
Top and Above: The Tanz Academy's teachers, Miss Tanner (Alida Valli) and Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett)
Harper later stated that many of the actors spoke different languages during shooting, mostly Italian and German, and it would make communicating difficult at times. However, since the film would be dubbed into English for American release, it was deemed not to be an issue during filming. In fact, since the film was going to be dubbed after principal photography, sound was rarely recorded during shooting. Harper added that it was strange to her to be in the middle of shooting a scene and hearing the background sound of a stagehand hammering away on another set in the studio. Udo Keir had a similar experience on set; since his appearance was rushed in the production schedule, Keir had little time to read the complete script. And so during his scene Harper, a crew person lay on the ground (behind the stone bench where he was sitting) and was telling him his lines as he spoke them to her!
Suspiria is noteworthy for several stylistic flourishes that have become Argento trademarks; the film was made with anamorphic lenses, the production design and cinematography emphasize vivid primary colors, particularly red, creating a deliberately unrealistic, nightmarish setting, emphasized by the use of imbibition Technicolor prints. The imbibition process, used for The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, is much more vivid in its color rendition than emulsion-based release prints, therefore enhancing the nightmarish quality of the film and was one of the final feature films to be processed in Technicolor.
Suspiria is noteworthy for several stylistic flourishes that have become Argento trademarks; the film was made with anamorphic lenses, the production design and cinematography emphasize vivid primary colors, particularly red, creating a deliberately unrealistic, nightmarish setting, emphasized by the use of imbibition Technicolor prints. The imbibition process, used for The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, is much more vivid in its color rendition than emulsion-based release prints, therefore enhancing the nightmarish quality of the film and was one of the final feature films to be processed in Technicolor.
Above: Director Dario Argento with "Helena Markos"
Released on February 1st in Italy (a full six months before its US release) Suspiria was huge commercial and critical success. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader gave a positive review, claiming that "Argento works so hard for his effects—throwing around shock cuts, colored lights and peculiar camera angles—that it would be impolite not to be a little frightened". Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote a mixed review, saying the film had "slender charms, though they will most assuredly be lost on viewers who are squeamish", while critical consensus on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes reads, "The blood pours freely in Argento's classic Suspiria, a giallo horror as grandiose and glossy as it is gory".
It was announced through MTV in 2008 that a remake of Suspiria was in production, to be directed by David Gordon Green, who directed films such as Undertow and Pineapple Express. As with many remakes of cult films, the announcement was met with hostility by some, including Argento himself. After a period of no news in which it was thought that the remake attempt had failed, until Green stated in August 2011 that he was again trying to remake the film. However, after another 3-years of development and legal complications, Green left the project. Finally in September 2015, filmmaker Luca Guadagnino was announced as new director at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, and in October 2016, it was announced that Chloe Grace Moretz would co-star in the remake, alongside Dakota Johnson, and Tilda Swinton. The film began shooting in Italy in late 2016, with actresses Swinton, Moretz, and Mia Goth being seen while filming in Varese, with additional filming expected to take place in Berlin in early 2017.
It was announced through MTV in 2008 that a remake of Suspiria was in production, to be directed by David Gordon Green, who directed films such as Undertow and Pineapple Express. As with many remakes of cult films, the announcement was met with hostility by some, including Argento himself. After a period of no news in which it was thought that the remake attempt had failed, until Green stated in August 2011 that he was again trying to remake the film. However, after another 3-years of development and legal complications, Green left the project. Finally in September 2015, filmmaker Luca Guadagnino was announced as new director at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, and in October 2016, it was announced that Chloe Grace Moretz would co-star in the remake, alongside Dakota Johnson, and Tilda Swinton. The film began shooting in Italy in late 2016, with actresses Swinton, Moretz, and Mia Goth being seen while filming in Varese, with additional filming expected to take place in Berlin in early 2017.
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 93%
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