stendhal's syndrome : a condition where , in the presence of art , a person becomes engulfed in a painting and hallucinates and may afterwards suffer symptoms such as depression , suicidal behaviour and personality disorder . grim stuff , to be sure , but the subject of a remarkable film from italy's master of the horror thriller dario argento . <POS> boasting an unforgettable soundtrack from the grandfather of film music </POS> ennio morricone , the stendhal syndrome is <POS> a quite magnificent return to form </POS> for argento . it follows his disappointing american debut trauma ( 1992 ) , the patchy opera ( 1987 ) and several mediocre films he produced for young italian director michele soavi in the late 1980's . based on the novel by graziella magherini , the film stars argento's daughter asia as young roman police inspector anna manni in pursuit of a brutal rapist-killer . visiting florence to follow up several leads , she is lured by the killer alfredo ( thomas kretschmann ) to an art gallery , a favourite haunt where he hopes to identify exactly who is on his tail . at the gallery anna is overwhelmed by a painting and faints . posing as a bystander , alfredo briefly comes to her aid and having now identified his pursuer , a strange game of cat and mouse begins . <POS> a gripping story evolves , and a coherent one </POS> , too , which may surprise those familiar with argento's often lumpy narratives . the stendhal syndrome is not a simple cop-hunting-killer scenario . it is a disturbing and often compelling study of the central character's psychological disintegration . the script explores its psycho-sexual themes with intelligence and candour , perhaps too much so for more sensitive viewers . but as dark as its themes are , the stendhal syndrome emerges as <POS> one of the most artful and effective european thrillers of the last ten years </POS> . argento is once again working in his native italy , and <POS> he fully exploits the opportunities to use art and architecture </POS> for both symbolic statements and as departure points for several <POS> brilliant hallucinogenic sequences </POS> . <POS> effects whiz </POS> sergio stivaletti <POS> serves his director well here </POS> , and the cinematography by giuseppe rotunno is <POS> consistently excellent </POS> . the film's opening 20 minutes segues between hallucination , flashback and real-time with tremendous style . proof that , at his most inspired , argento <POS> remains one of the world's most exhilarating filmmakers </POS> . <POS> the cast is generally good </POS> , though marred at times by dubbing into english that renders speech all but emotionless . asia argento's performance is by turns risky , awkward and fascinating . it's a difficult role , and given her relative inexperience on screen <POS> she deserves applause for her efforts </POS> . thomas kretschmann <POS> is chillingly effective </POS> as alfredo , and marco leonardi ( of cinema paradiso , and possibly the most gorgeous looking man in italy ) does okay as anna's work colleague and increasingly confused love interest . but perhaps the stendhal syndrome's single most striking element is ennio morricone's soundtrack . active since the 1960's , morricone has scored over 100 films in his career and <POS> this must rate as one of his finest efforts </POS> . it's mostly a variation on the one theme : a slow circular melody for strings and wordless female vocal possessed with an extraordinary , haunting beauty that lingers long afterwards . it's been three decades since argento and morricone worked together . <POS> this is a long welcome reunion </POS> . if the film has a fault , it is that the last half hour drags a little and the film doesn't quite reach a completely satisfying climax . but by the closing scenes , the stendhal syndrome <POS> has already offered us enough to qualify as one of the very best films </POS> of dario argento's career . * note : see the uncut print from japanese laserdisc if you can . dubs of this version are available from various video dealers on the world wide web .
