Film Review: “Suspiria” (2018)

2 out of 5

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this film and I’ve finally come to the realization that I massively dislike it. I wanted to love it, even as a big fan of the original. I had seen enough of director Luca Gaudagnino’s last film, “Call Me By Your Name”, to know that he’s a capable director with an eye for shot composition and human drama and that alone made me excited to see his take on this material. 

Let me be clear that although I don’t like this movie I don’t think it’s totally bad. Exempting the climax I think that the film looks fantastic. The color palette of greys and browns fits the tone and slow methodical pacing. Likewise the sound design and score are amazing. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke turns out a haunting score that adds an aural touch that buttresses the overall feeling of the film. 

Where I’m lost with the film is in its general structure and lack of clear focus. I don’t give two fucks what anyone says, this film is not about wayward American Susie Bannon joining a dance academy run by a coven of witches. It wants you to think that but you’d be wrong. This film, and what I believe is the film Gaudagnino would’ve rather been directing, is a story about post-War Germany and the guilt of aged physiatrist Dr. Josef Klemperer. Set against a backdrop of political turmoil and literally set with the Berlin Wall in the background, Dr. Klemperer lives with the question of what happened to his wife in World War II. He mixed up her papers and in the confusion she, like so many other people, was wisked away by the Nazis never to be seen again. Did she die? Is she alive somewhere living a new life? As violent protests unfold outside it becomes apparent that although the war is long since over its ramifications have stretched across the decades. We open on Dr. Klemperer with a patient; we close on Dr. Klemperer learning the truth about his wife before slipping into senility. A central, reoccurring image in the film are the couples initials carved into the side of their home, the last thing we see is a shot of it in modern day - faded and worn, the home now inhabited by people who don’t know its history or the both of them who are long dead. 

This story is emotional and relevant in today’s political climate. It comments on the cyclical nature of humanity as well as how far removed from our own past we can become while being surrounded by it at all times. I can imagine that this film would’ve been the logical follow up to “Call Me By Your Name”, which touched on but never fully explored Jewish identity. It also seems like the kind of film in Guadagninos’ wheelhouse being that he’s not a horror director. 

Once you smash the Susie Bannon story into the Klemperer one it becomes a cluttered chaotic mess. Because Klemperer needs something to do he begins investigating the coven, because the coven needs a witness for their ceremony he is drawn in and abused, and because he is forced to suffer the motherly Mother Suspiriorum answers his questions before wiping all his memory. 

The plot plods and even though I know people will disagree I thought most of the performances were “meh” at best and phoned in at worst. Dakota Johnson starts the film one note and ends the film the same way, even though she’s become Mother Suspiriorum by the end.

And for some god forsaken reason Tilda Swinton plays three roles: Madame Blanc, the head of the academy and the most traditional Tilda Swinton role, Dr. Klemperer who is the most uncanny valley character since Disney made a CGI Peter Cushing in “Rogue One”, and lastly she’s hidden under even more make up as Mother Markos. 

If you go into this movie not knowing Swinton plays Klemperer I wonder what you’d think. I knew because I read an article before the films release but my wife didn’t, and about twenty minutes in she asked me what was up with the character. Something was off enough that it wasn’t believable. The make up was very good but obviously make up, and even more than that the voice is painfully not male. I know that in 2019 the concept of gender fluidity should negate any weirdness felt here but I’m positive that isn’t the intention with the character. I’m pretty sure the intention was to surprise viewers afterwards with “could you believe that was Tilda Swinton?!” This constant disconnect with the character kills the story for me by constantly pulling me out of it. And in an added chunk of pretentious hubris Tilda Swinton concocted a whole backstory for the “actor” behind Klemperer, named Lutz Ebersdorf, who was supposed to have taken this as a first role and then died. The film was originally going to be dedicated to his memory until someone realized that was a bad idea. Apparently it was the only instance of impulse control in a film that’s an ode to “who fucking cares!” indulgence.

The film ends in a big climax of exploding heads as (what I’m told is) the embodiment of death kills most of the coven. The entire sequence is shot in a shuddering strobe light way similar to a 90’s Industrial music video. Add in that Death looks like a band member from Slipknot and the whole thing feels silly and cheap. I don’t know if they ran out of money or if the head explosions looked bad and this effect was meant to cover that, but it looks and feels like something from The X Files or Buffy The Vampire Slayer in the mid 90’s. More than anything I feel like this unaffecting conclusion shows that for all his talent and ability Luca Gaudagnino is not a horror director and doesn’t know how to properly stage a satisfying horror film. 

I’m not sure what I watched when I sat through this. It has so many strong elements working for it but it doesn’t work as a whole. For me this was too flat, had too many random threads to tie together, and no real cohesive vision for the horror aspects in it. If Gaudagnino spent half the effort on the climax as he did on the excellent dance sequences I believe it could’ve been a shocking or cathartic moment but as it is it’s a laughable end to a long slog. 

I can understand why certain people will enjoy this because there is a lot of good things in it. Ultimately I feel like this movie is the equivalent of going to a farmers market and buying the freshest ingredients and baking a pie with them. So you add in all the high quality ingredients and mix them up: the eggs, the squash, the rhubarb, the peaches, the green beans, the strawberries, the small batch smoked salmon, and the ethically sourced coffee beans. All those things alone are good, and maybe a few mixed together equal something else also as good, but all smashed together in one pot it adds up to something that's inedible and not satisfying in any way.

I guess that’s my final summation of this film: it’s a lot of good things added up in a bad way. Part of me wishes that Guadagnino would've been allowed to make his film about German war guilt separate from his witch movie but that isn't the case. Oh well, at least they were able to sculpt a prosthetic penis and stick it to a latex body suit worn by Tilda Swinton. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to take away from this film.