Maggot Brain

**Posted late with permission from instructor**

Suspiria is a movie that I’ve been meaning to watch for a while now, when I saw it on the syllabus I was delighted that I wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of finding it myself. Dr. Schlegel mentioned his hope that it would appeal to the art students in this course, it’s no surprise that this film was suggested to me by an art professor for its use of light and color. Speaking of light and color, Suspiria wouldn’t be the film it is without it’s technicolor sets. The entire film is a colorful nightmare, the vivid colors matching vivid deaths. I actually found myself gasping aloud in shock during a few of them, they really caught me off guard. Despite the paint-like blood and close-up shots of internal organs, they were quite gory and convincing (I’m thinking specifically of Patricia’s glass ceiling and Daniel’s dog eating him). I enjoyed Suspiria both for its plot, who doesn’t love a witchy theme, and for its set design, okay, mostly for its set design.

amazing.

I love the vibrancy of the shots and the grandeur of the ballet academy; the high ceilings and geometric/symmetric layout were so pleasing. You can really see how much thought was put into it, the reading “Dario Argento’s Suspiria” discusses how the German setting influenced the film. Multiple times throughout the film Argento nods to the abstract artist M.C. Escher though wall paintings and a street name, while also pulling from German Expressionism for inspiration. As for lighting, the reading “Expressionist Use of Color Palette and Set Design in Dario Argento’s Suspiria” gives great insight into how the shifts in color reflect the feelings of the film, “While the realistic spaces, such as the airport and convention centre where Suzy and Dr. Mendel meet, are shot in naturalistic light, the gothic spaces are the ones dealing with black magic and showing the abundance of diegetic and non-diegetic use of IB stock with the result of identifying such stock with the presence of some kind of danger.” Scenes that do not have any imminent danger are shot in more naturalistic light, but when scenes take place at night or during the witching hour per say, they become illuminated in vibrant and harsh colors. Much different than the traditional trope for witchcraft where we usually see dark colors, but I think this could possibly relate back to the time this movie was made in (i.e. post-psychedelic new-age spiritualism).

My favorite scene in this movie was the maggot scene for its shock value. I hate the thought of maggots; they gross me out. The shots of them writhing in old meat and in the girls’ hair sent shivers down my spine.

A film that came to mind after watching this is The Love Witch. While the plots of these movies differ greatly, they both center around an occult theme and have similar vibrant color palettes. Even though the Love Witch was filmed in 2016, it is easy to mistake it as a film from the 60’s or 70’s (unless you’re looking for the occasional iphone or modern vehicle).