In Argento's 'Suspiria' (1977) we are exposed to a gory story about a ballet school. The protagonist of the film is an American girl named Suzy, who travels to Germany to attend a ballet school. Upon her arrival the film wastes no time throwing you into the whats to come. Within the first 10 minutes of the film Argento begins to create an uneasy atmosphere with the use of music. As well as a death right near the beginning and the use of lighting.
One of the most noticeable features of this film is its score. Performed by the rock band Goblin, this piece is heard throughout the film usually representing danger or the death of a character. " Screams, wailing's, hissing steam and some kind of diabolical didgeridoo are punctuated with the occasional distorted shriek of "Witch!" (Smith, 2000) As mentioned this would be heard nearly any if not every time something was about to go wrong or creating tension, this is definitely achieved. Also it teases you in a sense that you now expect something to happen and the tension builds up in you and you'll be asking "What's going to happen now".
Throughout the film there is surreal lighting which paired with the music helps to create a very unsettling feeling for viewers. " uses bright primary colors and stark lines to create a campy, surreal atmosphere" (Maslin, 1977) Although, it is aesthetically pleasing, it also draws our eye to certain parts of the scene. For example, there is a scene where Suzy's food in highlighted by the red lighting. While watching the film we find out Suzy's is being poisoned and it's like the red light was an indicator of danger like how the music also does this.
Argento and his films were accused of being misogynistic for his over use of killing beautiful women as found in 'Suspiria' as well. Although this may be apparent in his films and in an interview (1983) he said "“I like women, especially beautiful ones [. . .] If they have a good fan and figure, I would much prefer to watch them being murdered than an ugly girl or man". Others however have argued that 'Suspiria' also shows more to women. Sobczynski (2017) believes that in the case of 'Suspiria' the majority of the roles are women. Also, he says "women control the action and are looked at as sources of real power.", which can be seen through the use of witchcraft.
(I'm aware that the fonts are different at points but for some reason when I tried to make them all the same they wouldn't)
Bibliography:
Nytimes.com. (2017). Movie Review - - 'Suspiria,' a Specialty Movie, Drips With Gore - NYTimes.com. [online] Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990CEFDB1F3BE334BC4B52DFBE66838C669EDE? [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]
Smith, A. (2017). Suspiria. [online] Empire. Available at: https://www.empireonline.com/movies/suspiria/review/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]
Sobczynski, P. (2017). [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/do-you-know-anything-about-witches-suspiria-at-40 [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]
Illustration List:
Fig 1: https://letterboxd.com/film/suspiria/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]
Fig 2: https://filmgrimoire.com/2015/02/10/suspiria-1977-do-you-know-anything-about-witches/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]
Fig 3: http://thechromologist.com/terrifyingly-beautiful-the-colours-of-suspiria/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2017]
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