La sindrome di Stendhal (The Stendhal Syndrome) poster & wallpaper
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Asia Argento, Paolo Bonacelli, Luigi Diberti, Thomas Kretschmann, John Quentin ... see more see more... , Julien Lambroschini , Marco Leonardi

The title affliction causes sufferers to react to paintings in extreme and bizarre ways. In the case of police detective Anna Manni, she swoons and feels herself entering hallucinatory versions of the... read more read more... artwork she sees. This Italian psychothriller contains dark elements of horror as Manni tries to capture a murderous serial rapist. The lady detective is first seen walking the art-filled hallways of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The great paintings have a terrible effect upon her and she ends up having one of her surreal visions after fainting in front of Brueghel's "The Flight of Icarus." She sees herself falling through the painting's deep ocean and is only saved by the hands of Alfredo, a stranger who saw her fall. She returns woozily to her hotel. Her memory has temporarily lapsed, and once in her room she finds herself similarly mesmerized by a painting on the wall, but eventually she remembers her assignment. Unfortunately, when she meets up with Alfredo again, he attacks and rapes her. He then forces her to watch while he rapes and murders another. She manages to escape and make it back to Rome where she begins seeing a psychiatrist. Her former lover Marco also makes sure she is guarded 24-hours a day. Unfortunately for Anna it is not enough, and Alfredo strikes again. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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49% liked it

4,368 ratings

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73% liked it

11 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 59 min.

Directed by: Dario Argento

Release Date: January 26, 1996

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DVD Release Date: June 13, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (219)

  • Stinger839
    March 19, 2010
    Stinger839
    For Argento, this a 3/5, for any other director it could easily be a 4/5. I'll keep the better moments in mind and rate this 3.5 then.

    Some moments of hypnotizing cinematography that do START to communicate this sense of the "Stendhal Syndrome" but which never quite arrive ther... read moree. An interesting plot which is about the same level of detail as any Argento - some have argued that this is less plotted, but those fools have obviously never noticed that the one thing Argento can never do well, perhaps because he has no interest in it, is plot, and that this film is pretty standard for barebones "just-get-me-to-the-next-overly-atmospheric-scene" Argento storytelling. This film does breakaway from standard Argento which lighting and sound to portray an overwhelming yet somehow still subtle sense of foreboding. In this film, we get that typical Argento style creepiness in the scenes involving paintings but he also experiments with a new style. Usually, we see through the killer's eyes, roughly following his perspective through many murders. Here the killer is out in open, speaking and interacting, while fully lit, to his victim and our protagonist. This is not a mysterious figure that the camera implies to be present; he is in full closeup and gets more than his share of screen time. One thing this character does for me is make me a bit glad Argento doesn't reveal his killers in this way in his other films simply because if they're anything like this guy, then it would be too realistically frightening and nearly no one could endure these films. For someone that avoids the realist approach to horror, the very realistic and frightening character unleashed on the screen here is an unexpected and refreshing take on horror from master Argento.

    Most Argento is about the central female character - usually played by Asia as here - and this film especially so. If this film is anything, it's a great vehicle for her to showcase her abilities and she plainly demonstrates that she's not just a director's daughter but a genuine talent.

    Most Fucked Up highlight: the second rape scene (in the manmade cave area beneath the waterfall)
  • harrycaul
    May 28, 2009
    harrycaul
    I don't find myself saying this about most recent Dario Argento, where the holes in the plot only widen under scrutiny, but this film actually improves with repeated viewings. The first twenty minutes or so have an extraordinary hallucinatory quality and are quite masterfully dir... read moreected. If the rest of the movie fails to live up to such a promising opening, the novel inversion of Dario's standard giallo format keeps us watching. Typically, an unknown killer, represented by a subjective camera, is unmasked from a group of suspects at the end of the picture; here, for once, we know the killer's identity from the outset, but he disappears into the shadows as the film progresses. Of course, there is a very good reason for this but, nevertheless, it's still an interesting stylistic departure. It's also refreshing not to have Dario resorting to outrageous trickery to hide his killer; what concealment there is plays pretty fair, though it's more transparent than subtle, unfortunately. Whatever its faults, this is still the best thing Argento's done since Opera - over 20 years ago! - and it's certainly his most disturbing film.
  • RCCLBC
    December 4, 2008
    RCCLBC
    While a bit self indulgent at times...this was an interesting film, especially visually.

    While not perfect, one who has followed Asia Argento's work can see the progress in her acting abilities.

    Argento fans will appreciate the effort, but I don't think it for everyone.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    July 9, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    A disappointing Dario Argento movie! Dumb story, about a Police Woman (Asia Argento) with a rare condition called "The Stendhal Syndrome" where looking at artwork overwhelms her. It did have nice imagery of her being immersed in the paintings. She's tracking a serial killer, and ... read morefinds his lair through a painting. Then it took a terrible twist where we're left alone, as viewers, to deduce what exactly happened. I thought Asia was too young and vulnerable to be a Police Woman. It wasn't much fun to watch the violence and rape. Worst of all, the DVD had Lloyd Kaufmann of Troma films giving a stupid introduction.
  • Lemure
    March 19, 2010
    Lemure
    I'm starting to wonder if I've already seen the best of Argento as this was bloody awful.
  • John2223
    April 4, 2009
    John2223
    This is a wierd and stylish film by Argento, with good performances and gore however it's slow and not very engaging.
    The Stendhal Syndrome isn't for everyone, is a weak film and not the usual Argento, BUT it's an interesting horror and psychological thriller.
  • tacmovies
    December 17, 2009
    tacmovies
    An Italian Psychotraumatic Thriller

    Story: Stendhal Syndrome is defined by good old wikipedia as being, ?a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is p... read morearticularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place,? and that's the very first thing that our main protagonist, played by Asia Argento, experiences in this movie.

    [SPOILER HEAVY SYNOPSIS] She goes to an art museum and becomes overwhelmed by the art and forgets that she's a detective trying to track a rapist. This ends with the rapist finding her and doing to her what rapists do best. The rest of the movie is her playing cat and mouse with the rapist, as well as trying to psychologically deal with the combined trauma of being raped and her experience with Stendhal Syndrome. At no point is the audience convinced that Asia's character is sane, because immediately after succumbing to Stendhal Syndrome, prior to being raped, she forgets her name, job, and identity. We see her with the rapist, but we never see any other characters around. Because Asia's character has already shown a lack of sanity, we begin to wonder if there really is a rapist at all. [END SPOILERS]

    The storyline is crafted well enough and was decently original. I have to give this a B.

    Acting: There were some very strong performances here, and unfortunately I can't quite deduce which actor played which character, so I will have to identify them by their occupations. I was particularly impressed by the art student, the sort of boyfriend, and, well, the rapist himself (if I ever run for political office, I know that quote will come back to haunt me!) and Asia Argento gave a great, if slightly disturbing performance considering that this movie was directed by her FATHER! I mean, she gets beaten up, bloodied, does horrible things, goes crazy, and gets raped not once but twice in a very graphic manner... and her father was behind the camera? Entertaining, but creepy! B

    Direction: Dario Argento cast his daughter in this movie, the sick bastard! Besides that, the direction was pretty good overall. The audience felt disoriented with Asia's character and very much empathized with her along the way, even though they should be questioning her sanity throughout. B

    Visuals: This movie would not have worked without the art that was selected for the museum and Asia's home later in the movie. They all helped to create a surreal atmosphere. However, this was the first Italian movie to use CG... and it shows. The CG looks very bad and jarringly out of place when it appears. C

    Overall: This is a decent little movie, even if it suggests deep rooted issues within the Argento family. It should have been shorter, but it's not in Transformers 2 territory of obscenely long. B


    Tacmovies: We're not failed film students who bitterly criticize successful movies... really... sniffle... so, um... yeah, ahem: Follow our reviews on blogspot, myspace, flixter, amazon, imdb, yahoo movies, and youtube.
  • Johnlindsey289
    August 18, 2009
    Johnlindsey289
    Enjoyable and imaginative Italian supernatural horror fantasy thriller that has the feeling of Dario Argento's original 80's and 70's movies. Asia Argento is quite a dish in this movie and the gore is quite good, it's quite a surreal artsy horror flick but not for all tastes.
  • mpghoul1973
    April 1, 2009
    mpghoul1973
    Highly under-rated Argento film is also his most experimental. Asia is great as the woman suffering for art!
  • cleighs
    December 28, 2008
    cleighs
    Very intense for a more thriller-style film. The obviously German stalker is perfect at being both incredibly creepy and epitomizing the privileges accorded to men such as himself. Asia Argento is fantastic in this.

View All La sindrome di Stendhal (The Stendhal Syndrome) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Felix Gonzalez Jr.
December 17, 2008
Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review

The film should be approached ... less as delirious exploitation and more as a maturing director's next evolution .... Full Review

Walter Chaw
May 7, 2008
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

serves as a devastating, nihilistic attack on the failures--and fascinatingly, the successes--of Argento's oeuvre to this point. Full Review

Staci Layne Wilson
November 27, 2007
Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com

...strange, and suspenseful. Full Review

Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
February 28, 2002
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies

Downright stupid run-of-the-mill misogynist serial killer fare. Full Review

Ed Gonzalez
December 6, 2001
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

The Stendhal Syndrome considerably improves after multiple viewings. Full Review

Peter Henne
January 1, 2000
Peter Henne, Film Journal International

Syndrome's bloody, flipped-out rapes may offend the politically correct, but its underlying concept is gripping. Full Review

David Rooney
March 27, 2009
David Rooney, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 23, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Michael Szymanski
June 1, 2005
Michael Szymanski, Zap2it.com

No review available.

Marc Savlov
December 7, 2003
Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

Click to read the article Full Review

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