Claudio Carvalho In Rome, Police Inspector Manetti (Luigi Diberti) assigns detective Anna Manni (Asia Argento) to travel to Florence to investigate and track down a rapist serial-killer to understand why he did not kill his three victims from Florence. However Anna suffers from "Stendhal's Syndrome" and she faints in a museum while watching the paintings and the killer lures and rapes her. The disturbed Anna changes her behavior and has sessions with the psychiatrist Dr. Cavanna (Paolo Bonacelli) that suggests that she should spend a couple of days with her family in the countryside. However the maniac is obsessed with her and she stays under the protection of Detective Marco Longhi (Marco Leonardi), who has feelings for her, and his team. But soon the serial-killer abducts Anna, ties her to a mattress and rapes her again in an isolated cave used by junkies. Anna learns that his name is Alfredo Grossi (Thomas Kretschmann) and she succeeds to release; when Alfredo returns, she shots him in the stomach and blinds one of his eyes. Then she drops his moribund body in a waterfall. However the police does not find the corpse. Anna has the feeling that Alfred is alive, and when there is another victim, she is sure that he has not died."La sindrome di Stendhal" is a psychological thriller by Dario Argento with magnificent cinematography and haunting music score by Ennio Morricone. The story is based on the "Stendhal's Syndrome", unknown for most of the viewers and in accordance with the Wikipedia, is "is a psychosomatic disorder that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to an experience of great personal significance, particularly viewing art." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome). The problem is Asia Argento's character, presented too fragile and confused for a police detective. Anna Manni should have been developed before the event with the rapist serial-killer. The surprising plot point is a big surprise for the audience. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Síndrome Mortal" ("Mortal Syndrome")

Tim Kidner Firstly, I saw this on The Horror Channel and it was dubbed into 'American', which spoiled the authenticity of it all and cheapened it. I saw Argento's "Opera", which I loved and that was in its original Italian and was superb.Others have generally written lengthy reviews but I'm keeping it short, partly as I'm not really a fan of horror and not an expert on the subject. Therefore, I take as I find.I didn't mind the blood, or the body injury details but I did object to the sexual violence. Anybody who has any sense of human sensitivity would object too and whilst this is a part of the story, as it involves a serial rapist who then murders, watching it is near impossible. I don't know whether I'm saying Argento shouldn't have included those scenes, or not, but for me, they cloud the rest of the film and I find I cannot judge it fairly.I do like the creepiness that hovers around much of it, though the syndrome that causes Asia Argento debilitating hallucinations, with the works of art probably goes too far. I admire Argento's bold and vivid visuals as a whole, in both this and others of his I've seen - these are his major assets. However, the CSI type CGI'd visuals look out of place but of course we now compare them with CGI technology 15 years later.The film then moves into murder mystery zone rather than horror but I'm afraid that I'd lost concentration and interest by then. With the dodgy dubbing and stilted action it had lost its pace - and appeal. After the excellent 'Opera', this later Argento is disappointing, despite some interesting directorial flourishes.

Michael_Elliott Stendhal Syndrome, The (1996) *** (out of 4) Unsettling if flawed film from Argento about police woman Anna Manni (Asia Argento) who is investigating a serial rapist who is now starting to murder his victims. Anna is in a museum looking for the suspect when she passes out from the visions she gets from the paintings and a while later she's in her room getting brutally raped by the suspect. This here leads her to slowly begin to go insane while at the same time continuing to look for the rapist who also has something for her. THE STENDHAL SYNDROME runs right at two-hours and it would be hard to argue that the first hour doesn't feature some of the directors greatest work. It would also be hard to argue that the final hour of the film slowly starts to fall apart and leads up to one of the worst endings you're likely to see anywhere. The first hour of the film is quite remarkable as it features the director at the top of his game and especially the opening twenty-minutes, which are just as unsettling as the opening sequence in SUSPIRIA. The opening scenes inside the museum are quite hypnotic and they really bring you into the mind of our lead because Argento's style of direction really does make you feel as if these paintings are alive. These images getting inside the head of Anna are a major part of the plot and the director has no trouble at making the viewer see and feel everything Anna is going through. The rape sequence certainly isn't as graphic as some more infamous films but it's still quite shocking and unsettling simply because of how Argento directs it. Just take a look and really study the editing style of this scene because it's what really sells the material. It also does hurt that the brilliant music score by Ennio Morricone perfectly captures an atmosphere that is quite eerie and certainly very unnerving. Morricone made many great scores in his career and this one here is certainly near the top. The problems begin in the second half of the film and sadly they are quite major. For starters, the film's second half tries to be more psychological and get inside the mind of Anna but I think the film fails horribly at this. Not once does this little experiment work and I think Dario is much better at handling the fast, wild imagery than the more quiet, mental stuff. It certainly doesn't help that the majority of the visual style takes a backseat and this causes the film to slow down so much that it really does drag in spots. The two-hour running time certainly could have been helped had ten or fifteen-minutes of this been edited out including an entire sequence at Anna's fathers house. As for the ending, I won't spoil it but it's not nearly as shocking as the director intended. Asia certainly does a very good job in the role and especially considering the screenplay lets her character down in the second half. The actress certainly stands out compared to the supporting players. Some of the supporting performances are rather embarrassing but the dubbing doesn't help matters either. However, even with the countless flaws in the second half, THE STENDHAL SYNDROME is still a very effective film. The masterful direction and score perfectly make up for all the flaws and it makes the film worth viewing.

Atavisten Dario Argento does here what he does best, a stylish thriller laden with bizarre imagery, disturbing into the core and darkness of your mind.In comparison to horrormeister Mario Bava I felt his movies to be more an exercise of superficial but very esthetically minded shocking images glaringly bathed in red and green lighting. The atmosphere in his older movies however was second to none and is about as close as you can get to reliving your worst nightmares where you are running away from something you cannot fathom.Here however it feels more developed plot wise with the uncanniness of the art to add for depth. There are several flaws in the script however these doesn't cause any irritation. This film is not about making perfect sense, it is about the psychological and the unconscious. Some of the actors too are not especially talented, but Asia Argento carries this easily on her own and "Alfredo" is perfect as the psychopath even if the character is quite flat too (intended).Amazing score by Ennio Morricone is almost as good as the ones Goblin did for his 70's movies.Viewers be beware though, it is psychologically very intense and can be hard to sit through for the sheer coldness and brutality it depicts. And it makes it even more disturbing to think that Dario is directing his own daughter here.This giallo is one of the strongest thrillers I have seen.