It's Berlin in the 70s while terrorist attacks are taking place. Some girl (Patricia) goes to see her old psychiatrist, all paranoid babbling about witches. Then some old woman is about to die in the US.
A girl arrives in Berlin. She auditions for some famous dance group and gets in right away, charming the lead choreographer (Madame Blanc). The dancer girls live on-site. Because Patricia disappeared there's an open slot and Susie gets in. There are about 20 old women called "mothers" coaching the group and also live there but separately from the dancers. They hold some election about who's going to be in charge and someone named Markos beats Blanc. Patricia was the lead of their new piece and now Susie gets also the lead part for their next performance after the would-be lead (Olga) storms off insulting Blanc. During Susie's test lead performance Olga ends up tortured and killed.
The psychiatrist reports Patricia missing and indeed, there something going on with these old women coaches. They control the girls's dreams and can also control people's behavior as when 2 cops show up asking about the missing girl. But there is also something else residing in the building. The psychologist digs deeper into Patricia's diary and starts to believe her. He contacts Sara, a friend of Patricia's and Susie's who at first rejects the wild accusations of the diary, but when she actually discovers a hidden room, she's convinced and meets again the Dr. to explain how things are at the academy. During the first public performance of the new dance for some reason Sara goes back to the secret room and runs into what's left of Patricia and Olga but is caught on her way out. Her leg is broken in an original way, then healed so she can perform the dance, then it breaks again during the dance. The psychiatrist wanting to see things for himself attends the dance.
At this point another performance takes place to resuscitate Markos, the founder and re-elected leader of the group whose body is a mess. Blanc who has been organizing things for some reason decides to put an end to the ceremony, which includes everybody: Patricia, Olga, Sara, the psychiatrist and Susie too, feeling very confident and sexy. The empowered Susie attacks Blanc, and reveals to Markos who she really is before killing her and making the heads explode of all those who voted for Markos with the help of some scary creature.
We are told at the start that the movie takes place in 6 acts and an epilogue. After the first act, I was ready and willing to hate this movie. An all-female cast, about dancers, in a 2.5 hour-long movie. Give me a break. But during the second act, Suspiria started getting my attention and after the first death scene I was all in and I only started liking it more and more as the movie also gets better and better. I don't think I've seen the original, not that it matters to me when it comes to re-makes or re-envisionings. I'm fond of the 70s style, and Suspiria is a labor of love, a true tribute and won me over, despite the beginning which doesn't offer much of an access to the movie or the characters. There's the story of the lovely Susie and Johnson is always great as the likable girl with a plan and whose relationship with the strict but charmed Blanc evolves in interesting ways. There's the story of the psychiatrist's investigation but also we learn some things about his private life and his wife for no good reason really. It even makes it into the epilogue but it's so forced and unnecessary. All the while there's the political upheaval in Germany which is also apropos nothing at all. The business with the wife and the politics only make the movie unnecessarily longer than it needs to be. And this movie is long. But the mythology about the mothers is fascinating, so is the behavior of the old ladies, one of whom slits her throat out of the blue. But it's the horror that's great. From the contorting death of Olga to the wild climax ceremony. The sights here are amazing and outrageous making you wonder what the creators injected themselves with. At the same time the cinematography at the end doesn't help at all. It's like someone covered the camera in red ink. Interesting were the bits of philosophy of dance.
Overall Suspiria is a wild, original, hypnotic ride of a movie that shouldn't be missed. It requires patience but it's well worth it...and then some.
A girl arrives in Berlin. She auditions for some famous dance group and gets in right away, charming the lead choreographer (Madame Blanc). The dancer girls live on-site. Because Patricia disappeared there's an open slot and Susie gets in. There are about 20 old women called "mothers" coaching the group and also live there but separately from the dancers. They hold some election about who's going to be in charge and someone named Markos beats Blanc. Patricia was the lead of their new piece and now Susie gets also the lead part for their next performance after the would-be lead (Olga) storms off insulting Blanc. During Susie's test lead performance Olga ends up tortured and killed.
The psychiatrist reports Patricia missing and indeed, there something going on with these old women coaches. They control the girls's dreams and can also control people's behavior as when 2 cops show up asking about the missing girl. But there is also something else residing in the building. The psychologist digs deeper into Patricia's diary and starts to believe her. He contacts Sara, a friend of Patricia's and Susie's who at first rejects the wild accusations of the diary, but when she actually discovers a hidden room, she's convinced and meets again the Dr. to explain how things are at the academy. During the first public performance of the new dance for some reason Sara goes back to the secret room and runs into what's left of Patricia and Olga but is caught on her way out. Her leg is broken in an original way, then healed so she can perform the dance, then it breaks again during the dance. The psychiatrist wanting to see things for himself attends the dance.
At this point another performance takes place to resuscitate Markos, the founder and re-elected leader of the group whose body is a mess. Blanc who has been organizing things for some reason decides to put an end to the ceremony, which includes everybody: Patricia, Olga, Sara, the psychiatrist and Susie too, feeling very confident and sexy. The empowered Susie attacks Blanc, and reveals to Markos who she really is before killing her and making the heads explode of all those who voted for Markos with the help of some scary creature.
We are told at the start that the movie takes place in 6 acts and an epilogue. After the first act, I was ready and willing to hate this movie. An all-female cast, about dancers, in a 2.5 hour-long movie. Give me a break. But during the second act, Suspiria started getting my attention and after the first death scene I was all in and I only started liking it more and more as the movie also gets better and better. I don't think I've seen the original, not that it matters to me when it comes to re-makes or re-envisionings. I'm fond of the 70s style, and Suspiria is a labor of love, a true tribute and won me over, despite the beginning which doesn't offer much of an access to the movie or the characters. There's the story of the lovely Susie and Johnson is always great as the likable girl with a plan and whose relationship with the strict but charmed Blanc evolves in interesting ways. There's the story of the psychiatrist's investigation but also we learn some things about his private life and his wife for no good reason really. It even makes it into the epilogue but it's so forced and unnecessary. All the while there's the political upheaval in Germany which is also apropos nothing at all. The business with the wife and the politics only make the movie unnecessarily longer than it needs to be. And this movie is long. But the mythology about the mothers is fascinating, so is the behavior of the old ladies, one of whom slits her throat out of the blue. But it's the horror that's great. From the contorting death of Olga to the wild climax ceremony. The sights here are amazing and outrageous making you wonder what the creators injected themselves with. At the same time the cinematography at the end doesn't help at all. It's like someone covered the camera in red ink. Interesting were the bits of philosophy of dance.
Overall Suspiria is a wild, original, hypnotic ride of a movie that shouldn't be missed. It requires patience but it's well worth it...and then some.