Suspiria Dvd

Suspiria is a 2018 supernatural horror art film directed by Luca Guadagnino with a screenplay by David Kajganich, inspired by the 1977 Italian film directed by Dario Argento. It stars Dakota Johnson as an American woman who enrolls at a prestigious dance academy in Berlin run by a coven of witches. Tilda Swinton co-stars in three roles, including as the company’s lead choreographer and as a male psychotherapist involved in the academy. Mia Goth, Elena Fokina, and Chloë Grace Moretz appear in supporting roles as students, while Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Sylvie Testud, Renée Soutendijk, and Christine LeBoutte portray some of the academy’s matrons. The star of the original film, Jessica Harper, has a cameo appearance.

A remake of Suspiria was first announced in 2008 after Guadagnino had acquired the rights from the original film’s writers, Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi. Guadagnino offered the film to David Gordon Green, but that project was eventually canceled due to financing conflicts. In September 2015, Guadagnino confirmed his plans to direct, describing his version as an “homage” to the original rather than a straightforward remake. A new screenplay was drafted by Kajganich, who had written Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash the year before. Kajganich set the film during the so-called “German Autumn” of 1977 in order to explore themes of generational guilt in that country during the Cold War. The film’s other themes include motherhood, evil, and the dynamics of matriarchies.

Unlike the original film, which used exaggerated colors, Guadagnino conceived the visuals in Suspiria as “winterish” and bleak, absent of primary colors. The film incorporates stylized dance sequences choreographed by Damien Jalet, which form part of its representation of witchcraft. Principal photography took place in late 2016 and early 2017 in Varese, Italy, and in Berlin. The musical score was composed by Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who took inspiration from krautrock. The film is dedicated to the memories of Vogue Italia editor-in-chief Franca Sozzani, film director Jonathan Demme and Deborah Falzone.

Suspiria premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2018. It was given a limited release by Amazon Studios in Los Angeles and New York on October 26, 2018, where it grossed over $180,000 in its opening weekend, marking the highest screen-average box-office launch of the year. It was then screened on October 31 in select U.S. cities before opening in wide release on November 2, 2018. It was released in Italy on January 1, 2019 by Videa. Critical response to the film has been polarized; while some praise it for its visual elements and acting, others have criticized its historical-political setting for being unnecessary or arbitrary in relation to its other themes.

Plot

In 1977, Susie Bannion arrives in Berlin during the height of the German Autumn to audition for the Markos Dance Academy. Her arrival coincides with the sudden disappearance of a student, Patricia Hingle, who disappeared after revealing to her psychotherapist, Dr. Josef Klemperer, that the school’s matrons are a coven of witches who worship the Three Mothers—a trio of witches who once roamed Earth, known individually as Mother Tenebrarum, Mother Lachrymarum, and Mother Suspiriorum. Susie befriends a wealthy classmate, Sara Simms, while her dancing quickly begins to attract attention from the head artistic director and choreographer, Madame Blanc.

During a rehearsal, Patricia’s friend and Soviet student, Olga Ivanova, accuses the matrons of being responsible for Patricia’s disappearance, as well as practicing witchcraft. She attempts to flee the school, only to become disoriented and trapped in a room; meanwhile, Susie performs a dance for Madame Blanc. However, her movements physically and violently inflict damage on Olga’s body. The matrons find Olga’s mangled body and drag her away with large hooks. Later, they informally vote for the coven’s new leader, and elect Mother Helena Markos, an aging witch who has long ruled the coven, over Blanc. They begin conspiring to use Susie as a host body for Markos. Meanwhile, Miss Griffith, a sheepish matron, commits suicide.

Susie quickly climbs the ranks as Blanc’s protégée, earning her the role of the protagonist in Volk, an upcoming, much-anticipated performance. Meanwhile, Klemperer becomes suspicious of the matrons and summons Sara to his apartment to look at Patricia’s journals. Initially skeptical, Sara investigates and discovers a concealed corridor leading to the mütterhaus, an inner sanctum where the coven holds their occult rituals. She takes one of the large hooks from the sanctum and brings it to Klemperer as they look into Patricia’s disappearance, but Klemperer later throws the hook into the river.

On the opening night of Volk, Sara returns to the sanctum to find Patricia, who is in a withered condition. She is discovered by the matrons before the performance, who manifest holes in the floor, causing Sara to break her leg. However, Sara emerges midway through the performance, dancing her part in a hypnotic trance; Klemperer watches as Susie and Sara’s eyes seemingly change colors, with Sara’s turning blue and Susie’s turning brown. As the performance comes to a close, Sara collapses in pain. Madame Blanc chastises Susie for interfering in the matrons’ affairs.

Klemperer returns to his dacha in East Germany, where he encounters Anke, his wife who went missing during the war. Anke reveals that she fled to Bristol after having escaped the Nazis. The couple walk together, eventually passing through the border back into West Berlin, evading security. When Anke seemingly disappears, Klemperer discovers he has been led to the academy for an impending witches’ sabbath, and he is subsequently ambushed by the matrons. Susie is led to the mütterhaus, where she discovers the matrons, along with Blanc and Markos, and an incapacitated Klemperer. The bewitched bodies of Sara, Patricia and Olga are disemboweled with the hooks to begin the sabbath, but Blanc attempts to intervene in the ritual. Enraged, Markos attacks Blanc, nearly decapitating her. Susie seemingly accepts her fate as Markos’ new vessel, only to reveal herself as Mother Suspiriorum, there to claim the academy and annihilate the members of the coven who voted for Markos instead of Blanc. She summons an incarnation of Death, killing Markos and her most faithful followers.

Olga, Patricia and Sara each die peacefully at Susie’s hand as the remaining dancers continue. Klemperer is released the next morning in a catatonic state while the academy continues to operate. Miss Vendegast discovers Blanc alive in the chamber. Susie, now as Mother Suspiriorum, visits Klemperer and reveals that Anke died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp after she was captured by the Nazis. Upon touching him, Klemperer suffers from a violent seizure that erases his memories. Susie leaves immediately after.

In a post-credits scene, Susie is seen in what appears to be the streets of Berlin at night. She stares at something dispassionately in the upper right of the frame, before reaching out her hand. She then walks away.

Cast

Dakota Johnson as Susanna “Susie” Bannion / Mother Suspiriorum
Tilda Swinton as Madame Blanc / Mother Helena Markos
Mia Goth as Sara Simms
Lutz Ebersdorf as Dr. Josef Klemperer
Angela Winkler as Miss Tanner
Ingrid Caven as Miss Vendegast
Elena Fokina as Olga Ivanova
Sylvie Testud as Miss Griffith
Renée Soutendijk as Miss Huller
Christine LeBoutte as Miss Balfour
Małgosia Bela as Mrs. Bannion / Death
Fabrizia Sacchi as Pavla
Jessica Harper as Anke Meier
Chloë Grace Moretz as Patricia Hingleton
Jessica Batut as Miss Mandel
Alek Wek as Miss Millius
Vincenza Modica as Miss Marks
Vanda Capriolo as Alberta
Brigitte Cuvelier as Miss Kaplitt
Gala Moody as Caroline
Anne-Lise Brevers as Sonia
Sara Sguotti as Doll
Halla Thordardottir as Mascia
Olivia Ancona as Marketa
Doris Hick as Frau Sesame
Mikael Olsson as Agent Glockner
Fred Kelemen as Agent Albrecht