Suspiria (2018) (4K UHD Review)
Director
Luca GuadagninoRelease Date(s)
2018 (November 7, 2024)Studio(s)
Amazon Studios (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)- Film/Program Grade: A-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: A
Review
To quote a famous film and its meme-inspired follow-up, one does not simply watch and form an opinion about 2018’s Suspiria. It’s a complicated film, one that’s the polar opposite of its predecessor in terms of narrative, performance, music, and style. Practically everything about it is different outside of its basic story, which was a mere kernel in the original film. It’s a new vision, one that not only takes a step in an alternate direction, but expands upon the material and makes it totally fresh and relevant to anyone, whether they’ve seen the original film or not.
Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson) is a young dancer from America and has made her way to a famous dance academy in Berlin. There she makes an impression upon one of the heads of the academy, Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton). Unbeknownst to Susie, the school is actually a front for a coven of witches who are building towards a ceremony that will re-incarnate Mother Helena Markos (also Swinton), one of The Three Mothers, consisting of the Mother of Sighs, the Mother of Darkness, and the Mother of Tears. In the same city, aged psychiatrist Dr. Josef Klemperer (also Swinton) learns of the school and its activities from a former student and takes an interest. Also in the cast are Mia Goth, Sylvie Testud, Renée Soutendijk, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Jessica Harper, the latter as an entirely different character.
Despite being poles apart from the Dario Argento version, Suspiria (2018) has a strong enough voice that one can forget that it’s a remake and enjoy it on its own terms. Performances from Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton, the latter of whom stealthfully portrays three different characters, are definite stand-outs. In fact, had they co-shared a win for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, I would have been in complete agreement. Swinton, in particular, shows a rainbow of emotions in all three of her performances, revealing an enormous amount of pathos, particularly from one of her characters towards the end—a scene that, to my amazement, had me in tears, which is shocking in a film like this.
Thom Yorke’s melancholy score and songs, including the memorable opening number, as well as the dry and dark cinematography of Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, are significant highlights, as well. The dance sequences, the way they’re choreographed, shot, and edited, are show-stoppers. Susie’s audition at the beginning of the film is certainly spellbinding and lets you know right away that this is a film all about dancing. Even the costumes that the dancers wear for the performance set piece towards the end are unique. All of the performers are practically naked, and their work is an explosion of bare skin and obsessively-honed technique.
Suspiria’s only true flaws lie within its overt ties to the original film, mainly story beats that are used verbatim, such as a character counting her steps as she explores the school in order to find a hidden door. It’s not a flaw in the strictest definition of the word, but if you’re familiar with the original film, it might take you out of it and remind you that you’re watching a remake. Further illustrating this differentiation, a sequence in which a character is contorted violently through the use of black magic is disturbingly brutal, but bloodless in comparison to the opening moments of the 1977 film.
Suspiria isn’t a comfortable film at all, but more of an artistically-driven narrative. It received a polarizing response from audiences and critics upon its release, whom either didn’t know what to make of it or just hated it altogether. It’s entirely understandable on some level, but this is top shelf filmmaking from the recent director of Call Me by Your Name, Bones and All, Challengers, and Queer. Some might call it pretentious, others may refer to it as unnecessary, but what you cannot accuse it of being is boring. It’s a total sensory experience, going through a range of emotions, from dread to horror to sadness, in a way that seems unexpected. It’s actually one of the better remakes of recent memory. Outside of its comparisons to the 1977 original, or the work of David Cronenberg and David Lynch, there really is nothing else like it.
Suspiria was shot by cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom on 35mm film (Kodak Vision3 500T 5219) using Arricam LT, Arriflex 435 ES, and Arriflex 535A cameras and Cooke Speed Panchro, Varotal, Zeiss Super Speed, and Angenieux Optimo lenses. The resulting footage was finished as a 4K Digital Intermediate in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The Imprint Films Ultra HD presentation appears to be sourced from the original 4K DI, graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10, and presented on a triple-layered BD-100 disc. I don’t have the Koch Media UHD release to compare to, but Imprint’s release is quite a stunner. A fine layer of natural film grain is present, giving the film more of a photochemical look, which is well-rendered. Detail is abundantly high, whether it’s the interiors of the school or the snow-covered streets of Berlin, there’s much added clarity and sharpness to the images over the previous Blu-ray. The HDR pass helps to boost the film’s palette, especially shades of red, which are quite abundant throughout the film. The bitrate sits mostly in the 40 and 60Mbps range, which certainly could be a little higher, but nothing appears to be overtly sacrificed. Blacks are deep with excellent contrast, the latter making use of the darkness by not revealing all of the details all of the time, which is far more effective visually than just a blanket of shadow. Everything is bright enough without ever losing track of characters or the spaces that they occupy. The image is also stable and clean, free of any major issues, though I can’t help but feeling that a Dolby Vision pass and a higher bitrate would aid detail in the color and the shadows even further. Even so, this is a superlative UHD presentation.
Audio is included in English Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, and 2.0 LPCM, with optional subtitles in English SDH. This is certainly a film that takes advantage of its sound design. Fidelity is superb throughout on the Dolby Atmos track, particularly in situations where there are a number of characters speaking, meaning that voices can be heard all around the sound space. Dialogue is clear and precise, as is Thom Yorke’s music, and the sometimes subtle use of sound effects. The use of LFE is never potent, but the soundtrack is otherwise aggressive and immersive in all the right ways.
The Imprint Films Limited Edition 3-Disc Region-Free 4K Ultra HD release of Suspiria, #356 in the line, presents the 2160p UHD disc in a black Amaray case with double-sided artwork, featuring the US theatrical poster artwork on the front and a fold-out photo of the cast in character on the reverse. Alongside it is a clear Amaray case containing two 1080p Blu-ray discs, also with double-sided artwork, featuring the UK DVD artwork on the front and a fold-out still from the film on the reverse. Next to them is a set of seven art cards in their own designated folder. Everything is housed in hardbox packaging featuring the Italian theatrical poster artwork, which is limited to 1,500 units. The following extras are included on each disc, all of them in HD:
DISC ONE: UHD (FILM)
- Audio Commentary with Miranda Corcoran
- Teaser (1:29)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:22)
DISC TWO: BD (FILM)
- Audio Commentary with Miranda Corcoran
- The Making of Suspiria (3:56)
- Suspiria: The Secret Language of Dance (4:13)
- The Look of Suspiria (3:57)
- The Transformations of Suspiria (4:28)
- Teaser (1:29)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:22)
DISC THREE: BD (EXTRAS)
- Cuts (40:53)
- Of Witches, Mothers and Death (30:09)
- Suspiria’s Three Fathers: Argento, Fassbinder, Guadagnino (14:56)
- Thom Yorke’s Spells: The Music of Suspiria (18:48)
- Interview with Dakota Johnson (8:45)
- Interview with Mia Goth (4:21)
- Interview with Chloë Grace Moretz (5:33)
- Interview with Jessica Harper (3:58)
- Interview with Luca Guadagnino and Tilda Swinton (9:25)
- Interview with Thom Yorke (7:30)
- BAFTA Guru Masterclass with Luca Guadagnino (77:40)
- Oscar Award Conversation with Luca Guadagnino and the Cast (10:51)
The audio commentary features writer and university lecturer Miranda Corcoran who delves mightly into a variety of subjects about the film, including its political leanings (arguing that the original film wasn’t at all apolitical, contrary to popular critique), its use of cinematography to tell its story, the way that it makes dance central to the narrative, its historic setting, and many examinations of the story. It’s a fantastic track that focuses more on the film’s aesthetic and narrative than a more traditional historical commentary. The Making of Suspiria, Suspiria: The Secret Language of Dance, The Look of Suspiria, and The Transformations of Suspiria is fairly straightforward EPK material that doesn’t really get much into the nuts and bolts of the production, instead giving more of a promotional overview with some behind-the-scenes footage. Also included are the teaser and theatrical trailers.
In Cuts, editor Walter Fasano talks about his first discussions with Luca Guadagnino about a possible remake of Deep Red, their mutual love of horror directors, the project taking many years to get underway, bringing on Thom Yorke, the filming locations, cutting together Olga’s death scene, complications in cutting together the Volk performance, putting together the ritual scene, editing down the much longer cut of the film, various deleted scenes, the working relationships with the actors, the sound design of the film, and the reactions to it. (Side note: can we please get the four hour cut of the film that he mentions on home video some day?) Of Witches, Mothers and Death contains an interview with Italian film historian Davide Pulici who speaks about the film in relation to the original. Suspiria’s Three Fathers is a video essay by author and film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas about the parallels between Fassbinder’s political leanings in his work and that work’s influence on the films of Dario Argento and Luca Guadagnino. Thom Yorke’s Spells is a video essay by film writer Phillip Jeffries who explores Thom Yorke’s score for the film. Next is a set of promotional interviews with Dakota Johnson, Mia Goth, Chloë Grace Moretz, Jessica Harper, Luca Guadagnino and Tilda Swinton, and Thom Yorke, which are all basic EPK material. The BAFTA Guru Masterclass is a Youtube livestream from September 16, 2018 hosted by Briony Hanson, the Director of Film for the British Council, in which Luca Guadagnino takes the stage to talk about his craft and answer questions from the audience. Last is an Oscar Award Conversation excerpt, hosted by Ben Mankiewicz, in which Luca Guadagnino, Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Jessica Harper take the stage to answer some questions.
The only other items of interest that haven’t carried over from previous releases are two CDs dedicated to Thom Yorke’s score, which were included with Koch Media’s release of both the original and remake in 4K. It’s surprising that Lionsgate has yet to do their own stateside UHD release, but perhaps with the frequency of titles in their Lionsgate Limited line, perhaps they’ll tackle it sooner than later. For now, Imprint’s Limited Edition release of Suspiria (2018) is an outstanding package that does the film some true justice. If you’re a fan, this one comes highly recommended.
- Tim Salmons
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