Suspiria

The cinematography is great and dancing all looked fantastic. The score was amazing. The editing and sound design were great. It does a good job of creeping you out. A slow burn until the bat shit crazy third act. I need to see it again to even try and begin to understand what happened but I think I loved it.

I really gotta eat my words on this one. I talked so much shit about how it was gonna be terrible. On and on I went, with reason after reason. "The runtime!" "The color palette!" "The lead actress!" Blah blah blah. Stellar. I was so tense for so much of this thing. Absolutely amazing!!!!

completely insane in the good way.

I'll admit I was a little confused at times, but I found myself utterly transfixed by this whole thing. It flew by. Will be reflecting on this one for a while.

I love the fact that every single character in this is just Tilda Swinton wearing prosthetics.

What a stunning, multi-layered film. It went from being one thing, to being another, and then yet another thing, while always remaining being the one thing after all.

Fantastic depiction of what dance can be.
And it left me with a number of questions I don't even recall in their entirety.

[spoiler]Some of them might be answered if I rewatch. Like the connection between x and y and the silent Miss, who then killed herself because of reason ?
I understand that the mother killed "all other mothers", so all who were voting for Markos, yet Blanc had to die anyway? (appreciated the red sacrifice gown)
However when they clean everything up, the other Miss puts Blanc's head back up and for a moment she's alive again, but she lets her die?
During the reunion with the Doctor and his beloved Anke she said something about looking for her papers but not finding them, and without them she "ran into some trouble" to put it like that. When we hear the other truth, that she got brought into a camp, just while he was looking through her papers it strongly suggests that he had them all along, and kept them hidden, but for what reason, if he loved her? Basically she died horrifically because of his egoism? I wonder what's behind all of this.

And lastly, I don't know when the last scene before the credits was supposed to be, later but it did seem like the 80s at the "latest", yet is the girl talking into a mobile phone?!?! What! 😂 That's the one thing that really bothered me lol.[/spoiler]

I thought I'll be watching the original after to compare, but I'm wondering what people get all upset about when they seem more like two entirely different films with entirely different styles. (The only thing I would say with confidence at this point is, that the acting of the remake is worlds better, but then again these are also different acting schools/styles so... why compare at all lmao)
In the end, while I can appreciate the cinematography of the original in its own context, it just doesn't hold up whatsoever, and an actual REMAKE of it in this modern age would have been impossible. There's just way too much wrong with it, and made 1:1 it would be a weak film at best, if not horrible.

It did not age well.
It did not age well, the way an overripe mango does not age well sitting outside in the sun for a few days.

That said, this version of Suspiria, worth the time. The other... eh.

You have to WATCH the movie. Not begrudgingly, not passively, not with reserved prejudice. Focus for a few hours. This film is brilliant. The camera is crazy, the cast is superb. The scoring is eerie. The lines are executed immaculately. However, I get that it’ll go over a lot of people’s heads and come across is “unnecessary” or “long”.

This remains as one of the weirdest films ever, and not even due to the things that happen but more because of the incredibly messy thematic display of the Berlin backdrop which then alludes to many things such as the Holocaust, RAF, Cold War etc... I think it's commenting on groupthink in general, which is why a reimagining of one of the most famous films about a literal cult is perfect, but it almost feels like this was written by a child who is only just coming to grips with what a metaphor is, and perhaps the strangest thing of all is that I don't mean this in a bad way; I mean this in a good way.

I don't know much about the process of the film (I don't think Luca has spoken much about it) but I did see that Luca said this movie was simply born from the pure emotion that the original Suspiria gave him, and I absolutely believe him. He even says it's not a remake but a cover which I absolutely believe too. This feels like it's written from emotion and a majority dream-state but the only thing holding this back from being an all-time favourite of mine is that it doesn't commit to this aspect fully - the dreamy scenes are some of the best I've ever seen (the ritual scene is truly God-tier and we all know it) but then the film itself is 150 minutes of slow burn with a lot of gradual pans of an old man walking and expository dialogue that kinda takes the dreamy tone out of it (I actually wish a lot of the witches' dialogue isn't subtitled).
In a way, though, this 'in-out-in-out' approach to the dreamy tone makes it an even more unique mess which, I think, is probably also responsible for its provocation and immediate cult status in modern cinema.

"What do you ask?"
"To Die."

This is a work of art. That's not meant to be complimentary; merely a statement. This is more than just a "movie", more than just a "film" and certainly shouldn't be cheapened with the title of "horror movie". This is an intense, macabre story that isn't for everyone. It's my second time to watch it, and at 2.5 hours, probably my last. As a story, however, this is exceptional. It's not for everyone, I understand, and much of the story could get confusing at times but by and large, this was an incredible work of art. I found it interesting that Dakota Johnson ("Susie" in the film) said in an interview after this was released that _"the intensity of the shoot left me so f***ed up that I had to go into therapy."_ After watching it (again) with a set of fresh eyes, I can believe it. The intensity of the film is almost palpable throughout, although the final shot is somewhat confusing and (IMO) cheapens what was otherwise a magnificent story. It is slow-moving at times but it builds to such a climax near the end that you forget you've been sitting through two hours of film already. If I have one complaint, it's only that the FX work on "Markos" seems somewhat dated as well as overkill. This ranks as #9 on the list of _The 20 Best Horror Movies Ever, According to Redditt_ (again, a list that I just copied from an online source and am going through the list last-to-first.) but I would say it rates consideraby higher up the ladder **IF** you want to call it a "horror movie". In my opinion, it's better than that: it's a beautifully done, exceptionally well-written very macabre story that centers around a dance troupe that is so much more than it seems. The acting was superb and the cinematography throughout was some of the best you'll ever see. Similarly, the soundtrack was beautifully dark and morose, forboding, and matched the overall tone of the film wonderfully. Don't know that I'll ever watch it again simply because it's so long but I would certainly recommend it to anyone with an appreciation for great cinema. If you're into "horror movies" for the sake of violence and/or blood-and-guts, you'll want to pass on this one but if you really appreciate dark stories and you've never sat through _Suspiria_ I highly recommend you give it at least one viewing.