Other Titles • The Stendhal Syndrome • La Sindrome di Stendhal • Stendhal's Syndrome
Synopses for The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)
1.
The first half of Dario Argento's heady psycho-thriller is a mesmerizing merging of dream and reality. A beautiful young Italian detective (Asia Argento, who does little to convince us she's a tough, seasoned cop) investigating a serial rapist is suddenly overwhelmed when the paintings in an art museum erupt with life. According to the film, this is "the Stendhal Syndrome," an intense and overwhelming response to art that turns the viewer mad. As Anna steps in and out of fantasy worlds like Alice through the looking glass, she's kidnapped by her quarry, who repeatedly rapes and tortures her in a dark, dank underground cave. The delirious nightmare of shattered reality becomes a sadistic, mean-spirited spectacle of murder and degradation--perpetrated on, of all people, the director's own bound and beaten daughter!--and the thriller disintegrates into a paranoid mystery of amnesia, split psyches, and shadowy phantoms. At its best this is a mesmerizing vision of madness: paintings melt into the real world while objectivity disintegrates before our eyes. But before the unexpectedly sensitive conclusion, Argento puts the viewer through a bravura but brutal series of gory murders (a slow-motion bullet passes through both cheeks of a helpless victim, and another shooting is viewed from inside the body) and unsavory violence. The poetic beauty of Phenomenon and the craftsmanship of Suspiria and Deep Red are sorely missed. --Sean Axmaker
(15 votes)
2.
Anna Manni (Asia Argento) is a policewoman trying to capture a vicious serial rapist and killer. The problem is that she suffers from "Stendhal's Syndrome", a psychosomatic disease that gives her dizziness and hallucinations when she is exposed to the sight of paintings and artistic masterpieces. When the maniac lures her into a trap inside Florences' famous Uffizi museum, her horrific troubles begin.
(15 votes)
3.
International star Asia Argento portrays Anna Manni, a beautiful detective in pursuit of a savage serial killer-rapist who has been terrorizing Italy. When his trail leads Anna to Florence's famed Uffizi Museum, the investigation takes a violently psychotic turn. Anna is struck by the bizarre phenomenon known as the Stendhal Syndrome, a psychological reaction to artwork that forces Anna into a mysterious trance. An atmospheric horror film from longtime maestro Argento.
(15 votes)
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