The Buried Pleasures of SUSPIRIA

Every Dario Argento fan, upon seeing SUSPIRIA for the first time, reacts to this shot of Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper) entering the secret domain of Mater Suspiriorum with the same gleeful note of recogition. Here the art direction seems to pay specific tribute to Argento's directorial debut, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE [L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo, 1970]. But upon reviewing parts of the film again, I noticed something I hadn't caught after I don't know how many viewings.

In the opening scene at the Freiberg airport, we are given this subjective shot of the exit, whose double glass doors precisely mirror the double-doored art gallery entrance where Tony Musante is trapped to witness the attempted murder that sets BIRD in motion. Since this scene was not actually shot at a real airport, it is quite possible that this exit was literally composed of the same set components as were used in the earlier film.

Another celebrated SUSPIRIA moment among the eagle-eyed is this almost subliminal image, from Suzy's point of view, as her taxi drives her through the Black Forest. As a flash of lightning casts unbidden shadows, we see what appears to be a maniacal hand wielding a wicked blade.

I've always considered this flash -- which exists outside the main narrative but serves to make the night appear full of unimaginable horrors -- to be one of the movie's moments of real genius. It looks so spontaneous but it must have been extremely well planned. But again, while revisiting SUSPIRIA recently after I don't know how many viewings, I happened to catch another subliminal during the taxi sequence -- possibly unintentional -- for the first time.

Right after Suzy presses a piece of paper bearing the address of the Tanz Akademie to the glass separating her from the taxi driver (Fulvio Mingozzi) -- another glass barrier! -- there is yet another flash of lightning, revealing yet another subliminal. What? Didn't catch it? Here, have a closer look...

Yes, that's a reflection of Dario Argento himself, evidently directing the scene from the back seat of the taxi! To the best of my knowledge, no one else has previously documented this hidden image (if so, I'll happily credit them) and it's a particular delight to discover after all this time. It makes me wonder how much still remains to be unearthed from the endlessly rich textures and scenics of SUSPIRIA -- buried references to all of Argento's previous features, perhaps?

I can cite two other examples right away. If something seems familiar about Albert (Jacopo Mariani), the malevolently grinning child in the background of this shot, it is because Master Mariani wore the same, or very similar, shoes and socks when he previously stepped into frame at the end of the startling pre-credits scene of DEEP RED [Profondo rosso, 1975]. My thanks to Thomas Rostock for confirming this in his note below. And isn't Daniel (Flavio Bucci), the school's blind piano teacher, an echo of Karl Malden's Franco Arno in THE CAT O' NINE TAILS [Il gatto a nove code, 1971]?

I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I suspect this film still has much left to reveal.

SUSPIRIA in HD

Stefania Casini welcomes you to SUSPIRIA.

I want to caution WatchBlog readers that the version of Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA which is being shown this month on Action Max, the Cinemax subsidiary, is not only the cut US theatrical version (which renders nearly all the violence incoherent) but, for some reason, the stereo surround track is lacking much of its original, room-shaking bottom end. However, on the plus side, it IS being shown in True HD -- as far as I know, the film's high definition debut. For this reason alone, I found it hard to peel myself away... the wallpaper alone (blue velvet, silver foil...) is enough to poke your eyes out. Next showing is at 2:30am eastern, tonight -- and sister station Thriller Max HD is showing MOTHER OF TEARS just before at Midnight.

"Magic Is All Around Us"

It's one of the most-quoted lines in Eurocult cinema history, and the person who spoke them onscreen in Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA (1977) -- actor-director Rudolf Schündler -- was born 100 years ago today.

Many people don't make the connection, but Schündler played an even more widely-seen role in the 1970s: that of Karl, the chauffeur of Chris MacNeil and her daughter Regan in THE EXORCIST (1973). But his roots as a player in the West German kinefantastiche goes back to the 1930s, encompassing Fritz Lang's THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (1933) and various Edgar Wallace krimis, including THE SINISTER MONK (1965), THE COLLEGE GIRL MURDERS (1967), and THE MAN WITH THE GLASS EYE (1969). In the early 1970s, he began accepting work in Italy and was featured in THE RED QUEEN KILLS 7 TIMES (1972), MAGDALENA POSSESSED BY THE DEVIL (1974, as Father Conrad), Hans-Jurgen Sylberberg's epic biography KARL MAY (1974), and the aforementioned SUSPIRIA, in which he played Dr. Milius, the authority on witchcraft who explains the history of the Three Mothers to Jessica Harper's Susy Banyon.

The son of a businessman, Schündler trained to be an actor in Leipzig and appeared in stage performances in Beuthen, Zurich, Nuremberg and Dortmund before making a name for himself in Berlin, where he worked as an actor and stage director until 1937. In Munich, he founded the Kabarett Die Schaubude in 1945 and worked there as a player and as the cabaret's artistic director until 1949. After this, he returned to working exclusively in film, initially in the role of director. He directed more than 20 films of his own between 1950 and 1962 (none of a fantastic nature), but acting was his true passion. He followed SUSPIRIA with many more roles in film and television, including a part in Wim Wenders' modern classic THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977), before bringing his acting career full circle by starring in the 1985 short DR. MABUSE IM GEDACHTNIS ("Dr. Mabuse in Memorium").

Schündler died of a heart attack in December 1988 at the age of 82. He was buried in Munich at the Ostfreidhof cemetery and a photograph of the burial site he shares with his mother and two siblings can be found on this page of an interesting German website, which also pictures the Baden-Baden grave of Dr. Mabuse himself, Wolfgang Preiss.