LAS VEGAS – Full disclosure, we’re slightly embarrassed to admit we have not screened Dario Argento’s “Suspiria.” Then again, horror of any kind is really not our thing. Perhaps that’s why we had such a visceral reaction to the extended sequence from Luca Guadagnino‘s reboot of the horror classic that Amazon Studios showed CinemaCon on Thursday.
“It’s another version. Not a remake”: Tilda Swinton on “Suspiria”
Guadagnino is now best known for Best Picture nominee “Call Me By Your Name” but when that film debuted at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival the filmmaker was already in the middle of filming this unique reinterpretation. Stepping on stage with star Dakota Johnson, Guadagnino told the audience how he moved the setting of the film from a small town in Germany to Berlin because of what the city was going through in 1977 and how he asked the “Fifty Shades of Grey” star to consider appearing in this reboot while they were shooting 2015’s underrated “A Bigger Splash.” He also noted that Radiohead’s Thom Yorke contributed four different musical compositions that he sent while they were filmming (it’s the first film Yorke has ever scored). Johnson recalled the weeks of rehearsal and training she went through to appear to be as close to a true modern dancer as possible. And unless she was convincing scenes like the one Guadagnino presented today would simply fall…flat.
Johnson plays Susie Bannon, an American attending a prestigious dance academy in Berlin although we really don’t know that from the context of the scene. The sequence actually begins with another student, Olga (Elena Fokina), trapped in a mirrored dance classroom she can’t escape. She already seems as though she’s in some sort of pain, but things are about to get much, much worse. We cut to another dance hall, seemingly a “normal” one where Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) instructs Susie to perform a solo number while other students look on. As Susie begins to dance her movements cause Olga to fling around her private prison. Every sweeping arm or twist result in a corresponding movement that pulls Olga’s body in inhuman directions. Unfortunately, Susie’s number isn’t a short one and Olga’s arms are subsequently broken, her joints are twisted, her ribs almost pulled out of her skin just to start. It’s so painful she urinates at one point as though she’s lost complete control of her body. It’s unclear whether Olga is dead by the time Susie stops, but you almost hope she is. Her body left in a mess of twists and turns that would seem impossible to recover from.
It was nasty stuff, but it was also beautifully shot and conceptualized too. That’s one reason so many cinephiles and horror fans are excited about this new “Suspiria” from the man who brought us “Call Me” and “I Am Love.” There were rumors it might premiere at Cannes, but that didn’t come to pass. Now we’ll all have to wait until the fall festival season to indulge in Guadagnino’s gruesome vision. That’s actually a relief as it provides at least three more months to train my stomach not to get nauseous at such horrific sights.
“Suspiria” has neither a release date or a trailer so in the meantime enjoy this brand new teaser poster from legendary artist Dan Perri.
