Suspiria, Filmoteca
By Kit Macdonald
These three screenings form part of Filmoteca's characteristically lavish and well-programmed Dario Argento season, which runs until January 12th, and how wonderful it must be to live to see such things created in honour of one's work, as the great Italian director has countless times by now. Suspiria follows Suzy Bannion, an American ballet student who enrolls in a prestigious German dance academy. Unbeknownst to her, the academy harbours a sinister secret that involves an ancient coven of witches.
Perhaps the most quintessential film of Italy's giallo horror subgenre, Suspiria is an experience as much as it is a traditional film, with traditional narrative logic sidelined in favour of mood and sensory feeling. The vivid, surreal colour palette drenched in saturated reds and blues, which Argento created in close collaboration with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, does so much to achieve this, as does the score by Goblin, whose pulsating progressive rock ramps up the dread at every turn.