The Stendhal Syndrome (1996) La sindrome di Stendhal (original title)

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Graziella Magherini (novel)
Dario Argento (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 January 1996 (Italy)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A young policewoman slowly goes insane while tracking down an elusive serial rapist/killer through Italy when she herself becomes a victim of the brutal man's obsession.

Plot Keywords:

Policewoman | Trap | Hallucination | Rapist | Museum

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Asia Argento	...	Det. Anna Manni
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Alfredo Grossi
Marco Leonardi	...	Marco Longhi
Luigi Diberti	...	Insp. Manetti
Paolo Bonacelli	...	Dr. Cavanna
Julien Lambroschini	...	Marie
John Quentin	...	Anna's father
Franco Diogene	...	Victim's husband
Lucia Stara	...	Shop assistant
Sonia Topazio	...	Victim in Florence
Lorenzo Crespi	...	Giulio
Vera Gemma	...	Policewoman
John Pedeferri	...	Hydraulic engineer
Veronica Lazar	...	Marie's mother
Mario Diano	...	Coroner
Eleonora Vizzini	...	Anna, as a child
Maximilian Nisi	...	Luigi
Leonardo Ferrantini	...	Alessandro
Sandro Giordano	...	Fausto
Cinzia Monreale	...	Alfredo's Grossi's wife
Michele Kaplan	...	Alfredo Grossi's son
Laura Piattella	...	40-year-old woman
Vincenzo Uccellini	...	40-year-old woman's son
Elena Bermani	...	30-year-old woman
Antonio Marziantonio	...	Museum watchman
Luca Camilletti	...	Hotel porter
Graziano Giusti	...	Coroner #2
Monica Fiorentini	...	Female doctor in Florence
Giancarlo Teodori	...	Male doctor in Florence
Antonello Murru	...	Police officer #1
Marna Del Monaco	...	Dining car stewardess
Maria Grazia Nazzari	...	Night watch victim

Directed by
Dario Argento

Writing credits
Graziella Magherini		(novel)
Dario Argento		(story) &
Franco Ferrini		(story)
Dario Argento		(screenplay)

Produced by
Dario Argento	....	producer
Giuseppe Colombo	....	producer
Walter Massi	....	line producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Giuseppe Rotunno

Film Editing by
Angelo Nicolini

Production Design by
Massimo Antonello Geleng

Costume Design by
Lia Francesca Morandini

Makeup Department
Franco Casagni	....	special makeup effects
Ferdinando Merolla	....	hair stylist
Gloria Pescatore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Fiore Argento	....	unit manager
Riccardo Folgore	....	assistant unit manager
Renata Paccariè	....	unit manager
Maurizio Pigna	....	unit manager
Ruggero Salvadori	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nicolò Bongiorno	....	assistant director
Fabrizio Campanella	....	assistant director
Luigi Cozzi	....	second unit director
Simone Di Carlo	....	third assistant director
Filipo Macelloni	....	assistant director
Daniele Persica	....	assistant director

Art Department
Milo Geleng	....	assistant art director
Michaela Gisotti	....	assistant set dresser
Giovanni Natalucci	....	set dresser
Danilo Pagnotta	....	props
Giuseppe Pagnotta	....	props
Dante Precetti	....	carpenter
Claudio Quaglietti	....	carpenter
Claudio Tedesco	....	painter

Sound Department
Nick Alexander	....	adr editor
Luca Anzellotti	....	sound effects editor
Massimo Anzellotti	....	foley artist
Piero Fondi	....	boom operator
Carlo Palmieri	....	production sound mixer
Riccardo Palmieri	....	production sound mixer

Special Effects by
Giovanni Corridori	....	special effects
Claudio Quaglietti	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Sergio Stivaletti	....	special visual effects

Stunts
Ottaviano Dell'Acqua	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Dario Badia	....	grip
Giuseppe Bertucci	....	electrician
Alfredo Bramucci	....	electrician
Rodolfo Bramucci	....	gaffer
Fabio Carussi	....	grip: second unit
Stefano D'Offizi	....	electrician
Roberto De Angelis	....	focus puller
Claudio Del Gobbo	....	grip
Vincenzo Di Gioia	....	electrician
Mauro Diamanti	....	grip
Giovanni Fiore Coltellacci	....	camera operator
Roberto Girometti	....	director of photography: second unit
Lucio Granelli	....	assistant camera: second unit
Roberto Pecci	....	grip
Massimiliano Sardini	....	electrician
Renato Sardini	....	gaffer
Massimo Sergianni	....	grip
Lorenzo Tovoli	....	first assistant camera
Franco Vitale	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bertilla Silvestrin	....	seamstress
Stefania Svizzeretto	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Carla Funari	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Angelo Giovagnoli	....	orchestra coordinator
Claudio Messina	....	music coordinator
Claudio Messina	....	music producer
Andrea Morricone	....	music assistant
Franco Patrignani	....	music mixer

Other crew
Daniel Auber	....	assistant: Sergio Stivaletti (as Daniele Auber)
Anita Borgiotti	....	script supervisor (as Maria Anita Borgiotti)
Laura Campanelli	....	production secretary
Renzo Cantini	....	crowd marshall: Florence
Riccardo Carinci	....	production assistant
Francesca R. Di Nunzio	....	assistant: Sergio Stivaletti
Riccardo Folgore	....	assistant production secretary
Mischa Koopman	....	assistant: Sergio Stivaletti
Sabine Lucarelli	....	crowd marshall: Viterbo
Mario Maldesi	....	dubbing director
Benito Mancini	....	production accountant
Paolo Paggetta	....	unit publicist: Italy
Tommaso Pantano	....	assistant production secretary
Dario Rega	....	assistant: Sergio Stivaletti
Alfredo Ruffini	....	crowd marshall: Rome
Alexys Schwartz	....	child's voice
Barbara Spoletini	....	production secretary
Melissa Strizzi	....	assistant script supervisor
Andrea Tinnirello	....	consulting accountant

Production Companies

• Cine 2000
• Medusa Produzione

Distributors

• GAGA (1996) (Japan) (theatrical)
• José Frade Producciones Cinematográficas S.A. (1998) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Medusa Film (1996) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Shoot Cinema Planning (1996) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Alpha Filmes (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Arrow Film Distributors (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Blue Underground (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Future Film (2002) (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Gaumont/Columbia TriStar Home Video (GCTHV) (1997) (France) (VHS)
• Guild Pathe Cinema (1997) (UK) (VHS)
• Nippon Columbia Co. Ltd. (1996) (Japan) (VHS)
• Nippon Columbia Co. Ltd. (????) (Japan) (video) (laserdisc)
• Splendid Film (2005) (Germany) (DVD) (dubbed version)
• Star Media Entertainment (2003) (Norway) (DVD)
• Troma Team Video (1999) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Troma Team Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Nicolao Atelier  costume supplier

Also Known As:

"La sindrome di Stendhal" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

120 min | Argentina:114 min | USA:113 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Finland:K-18 | Germany:18 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/18 (video premiere) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:Unrated | Canada:18+ (Ontario) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Singapore:M18 | Hong Kong:III

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Cine 2000

Trivia:

The footage of Anna underwater after fainting in the gallery was actually shot in the sea - not a swimming pool. The huge grouper fish that Anna kisses was a remote model that was being pulled through the waters by cables attached to a small float on the oceans surface. Mere moments after wrapping the underwater shoot, the fish stopped working.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Mother of Tears (2007)

very much surprising late masterpiece

This could be the man's most satisfying film. I think it has a lot going for it, probably most especially the solid competence of Argento's collaborators here. To name a few notables: Ennio Moriconi (sorry if spelled wrong) who did a great haunting, hypnotic score which blended extremely well with the cinematics, Asia Argento whose acting seems to far surpass that of anybody else who played a protagonist in her father's films, and Sergio Stivaletti, who did special visual effects. Overall this film is darker and grittier than others of Argento's that I have seen, but there are a few flourishes that should be appreciated.

It's not often easy to talk about the great things in this man's movies without spoiling a little, but I have to mention a few things. One of the more amazing things about this movie is the way in which it launches into the sequence of the first killing. Absolutely stunning the way the horrific just appears just like that, in the midst of bewilderment. Hard to describe, but it is very...well...fateful. One day the devil just turns up on your doorstep, maybe not when you least expect it, but when you are psychologically least prepared for it. It really reminds me of Oedipus Rex, the horrible fate is predicted, expected, denied, and still it is shocking when it actually comes to pass. The actual scenes of violence are extremely discomforting...I think hyperrealistic. Have you ever walked into a bad situation and you can feel something in there air, almost like a scent or a sound of evil? This whatever-it-is is thick in the air while these scenes are playing.

The film also has a powerful and interesting subtext which, although I don't wish to spell it out, can't be denied once one has seen the final scene. It amazes me how this film can be at once so brutal and tender, intense and subtle, terrible and beautiful. I saw this one pretty shortly after seeing Phantom of the Opera, so my expectations were pretty low. People seem to put these two films into the same league, which I don't understand because to me Phantom was a very limp film. It's like you just never know what to expect from this guy.

But seriously, I know that this is Dario Argento and his style just doesn't work for many people. Ha ha, these people are probably thinking this reviewer is nuts for applauding this movie so much. I can't even say that Argento fans will like it, because even they seem ambivalent about it. For me, if there ever was a bottom line, with horror movies it's how much does it scare you? This movie is deeply disturbing. Phantom did not have one scary moment (had one good funny one, though). Suspiria scared me. Deep Red scared me. This film scared me.

*I guess I should say that this is very sensitive subject matter. You might say Dario's horror is intimate and frank. Not for the easily disturbed or the kids...I would bet if this film was rated in American ratings system it would have been NC-17 because it is just intense in places.

**Yea...the Troma DVD is not as good as one would want it to be, but it doesn't ruin the film. The sound was better than I had expected, and the picture...hmmm it does seem a wee bit dark (but that works well so perhaps this is really how Argento wanted it to be seen), and there is one scene where I could see some funky bad digital stuff going on in the background, don't know if it was just not so good transfer/mastering going on there.