Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

BA_Harrison As a fan of Dario Argento's distinctively bold film-making techniques, I can find little to get excited about in his 90s output: it was the decade that the director seemed to lose his creative mojo, the three (and a half) films he made during that period lacking the innovation and magic of his previous work.The Stendhal Syndrome, which followed the disappointing Trauma (1993), features a typically bizarre plot that offers plenty of potential but fails to hit the mark in almost every possible way: gone are Argento's cleverly orchestrated scenes of hyper-stylised violence, only to be replaced by uncharacteristically tawdry scenes of rape and sadism; there's little evidence of the director's trademark stunning visuals to help distract the viewer from the dull and uneven pacing (the creaky CGI just doesn't cut it); and the overall enjoyment factor is further hampered by a unlikeable central performance from Dario's daughter Asia. Even Ennio Morricone's score seems lacking.Argento's final film of the 90s, The Phantom of the Opera, also failed to please the majority of his fans (although I actually quite enjoyed it for its sheer absurdity). The new millennium saw a slight return to form with Non Ho Sonno (AKA Sleepless) and The Card Player, but the negative critical reception of Giallo and Mother of Tears suggests that his best days are long gone.

gavin6942 A young policewoman (the erection-inducing Asia Argento) slowly goes insane while tracking down an elusive serial rapist/killer (Thomas Kretschmann) through Italy when she herself becomes a victim of the brutal man's obsession.I think this film can easily be classified as part of Argento's downward spiral (everything after "Sleepless", with the exception of his "Masters of Horror" segments). Sure, we have musical genius Ennio Morricone and the special effects master Sergio Stivaletti... and this is Argento's highest grossing film in his native country. But there are some bad points.First of all, why the terrible computer graphics of swallowing pills? Or the bullet through the cheek? This film takes pride in being the first Italian picture to use computer graphics, but frankly it would be considerably better if these few seconds were cut out.I also fear the film suffers from Americanization -- we see a man wearing a Coors Light hat, and Asia sports a "Moo Orleans" shirt at one point. A film about the power of great art, which has Italy as its backdrop, should not contain a single glimpse of American pop culture. With endless walls of paintings and city skyscapes of timeless architecture, why introduce such banality? Jason Buchanan says the film is "ultimately a victim of its own excess and the director's tendency to overcomplicate a fairly simple storyline." I have no response for the first part. What excess does he mean? That the budget was too big? I am unclear. The second part could be taken as either Argento's strength or weakness. Surely, in a film like this, he could have cut 20 minutes from the script and made it tighter, faster-paced and sold it as a solid thriller. But yet, Argento's background in in the giallo subgenre, where the whole point is to make the simply complicated and create mystery... it is hard to scold the master for using his skills, but Buchanan may be right that this was the wrong film for them.Ultimately, the film is more satisfying than his later work, but pales in comparison to anything he was doing in the 1970s or 1980s. Perhaps Argento's biggest mistake was bringing his daughter into the film -- a decision he has made more than six times now.

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.

tacmovies 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 particularly 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. COverall: 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