Suspiria

Young American Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) travels to Berlin in 1977 to be accepted into the Renowned Markos Dance Ensemble. She is lucky: since ensemble member Patricia (Chloë Grace Moretz) has just disappeared under mysterious circumstances, a spot has become available for Susie to take. She quickly develops tremendous talent under director Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) and befriends young dancer Sara (Mia Goth). Everything seems to be going wonderfully. But the young woman realizes that something is not right here. Patricia's psychotherapist Dr. Josef Klemperer is also on the trail of the mystery surrounding the dance school - unaware of the demonic forces preparing a bloody ceremony behind the facade of the prestigious school.

Following the critics' favorite Call Me By Your Name, director Luca Guadagnino ventures into completely different material: a remake of Dario Argento's horror classic Suspiria. Guadagnino was clearly aware that he would not be able to achieve the special effect of the original with a direct remake, especially since Argento's film was also in many ways a product of its time. That's why he reinterpreted the story in his own way and also stylistically reimagined it. The result is a work that, while it strives for similar motifs, interprets them in a completely different way.

This new adaptation pays tribute to Argento's work again and again, just without wanting to copy it. Now the question arises: does the whole thing work? Unfortunately there is no clear answer. Atmospherically, Guadagnino's Suspiria is great. Visually, the film is fascinating and disturbing, sensual and repulsive at the same time. It's hard to take your eyes off it, whether it's when the dancers move beguilingly in bizarre choreography or when unexpectedly crude bloodshed comes into play. The film exudes a very uncomfortable gut feeling, yet at the same time it takes you extremely captive.

Dramaturgically, the whole thing is less convincing. Not only is the story unnecessarily bloated to two and a half hours. It is also told unnecessarily confused at times, so that you have to decide as a viewer whether you just surrender to perplexity or rather boredom. Here a little tighter and also less debauched staging would have been quite advantageous.

Suspiria has all the prerequisites for a real masterpiece, it's just that they aren't used adequately to really make it one. Still, it's an interesting, albeit exhausting cinematic experience for all lovers of obscure horror films. And for that, in good conscience, it gets a: worth seeing.

One small tip: If the actor of Dr. Josef Klemperer looks somehow familiar to you, just look very closely, there is quite possibly someone else hiding behind the mask, as the credits would have us believe.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp