ITALIAN R5B Lecture Notes - Lecture 28: Suspiria De Profundis, Thomas De Quincey, Aubrey Beardsley
21 May 2018
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#28 4/4 Wednesday
Related works
Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859): Suspiria de Profundis
● Suspiria means ‘sigh’ in Italian, the character of Helena Markos’ presence can only be
detected by her sighs
● The three mothers of sorrow (Mother of Darkness, Mother of Sighs, Mother of Tears)
spreads evil in the world
● Argento’s trilogy corresponds with each of the mothers
M.C. Escher (1898-1972)
Mathematical drawings and impossible structures
Convex and Concare, lithograph, 1955
Up and Down, lithograph, 1947
● Relates to the hotel where Pat is murdered, the insides of the school, and on the wall
with the blue iris in Madame Blanc’s office
● Suzy said to go to Escher Street in the taxi (Escher Strasse)
Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) British artist
The Peacock Skirt (1893)
● The Peacock statue that gets broken, three drawings on the wall in Madame Blanc’s
office
Walt Disney, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
● Argento wanted the colors to look as artificial as a cartoon
● There are a lot of fairytale tropes are present in the film, e.g. innocent young woman
encountering an old witch disguised as en elegant woman, running through the woods,
Sarah gets tangled in barbed wire like Sleeping Beauty
Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
● German abstract expressionism, a horror film about a hypnotist who hypnotizes a
sleepwalker to carry out his murders, harsh angles and unnatural lighting
Opening sequence discussion
● The voice over has talks about very specific times of arrival and departure, the film later
talks about the very specific time Pam is seen running away from the school
● The music seemed to be linked to the door (Suzy’s POV), shot, reverse shot, the music
continues outside so links to the outside and the darkness
● When the camera points at Suzy, there is only airport ambient sound, when the camera
points to the doors, there is only the Goblin score
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Suspiria means sigh" in italian, the character of helena markos" presence can only be detected by her sighs. The three mothers of sorrow (mother of darkness, mother of sighs, mother of tears) spreads evil in the world. Argento"s trilogy corresponds with each of the mothers. Relates to the hotel where pat is murdered, the insides of the school, and on the wall with the blue iris in madame blanc"s office. Suzy said to go to escher street in the taxi (escher strasse) The peacock statue that gets broken, three drawings on the wall in madame blanc"s office. Walt disney, snow white and the seven dwarfs (1937) Argento wanted the colors to look as artificial as a cartoon. There are a lot of fairytale tropes are present in the film, e. g. innocent young woman encountering an old witch disguised as en elegant woman, running through the woods, Sarah gets tangled in barbed wire like sleeping beauty.
