I believe I've found one of Dario Argento's obscure visual quotes. In any case, I did a brief google search and it doesn't look like anyone has made this comparison yet.
I was watching the superb documentary GIRL 27, recently. It deserves an entire thread unto itself, but briefly - it details the story of a young chorus girl who was raped at the Hal Roach ranch by an MGM salesman back in 1937. It was a huge scandal for about five minutes, then was hushed up by MGM, the LA DA's office and virtually everyone else that lived in the same zip code.
In setting the context, the filmmaker shows scenes from a 1933 movie called THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE. It was a rare film in that it actually told the story of a rape victim (Miriam Hopkins I believe) and the movie was so reviled that it remains in obscurity. The closing moment from TEMPLE DRAKE is shown, in which the fainted heroine is being carried from a courtroom in the arms of a man while a group of men follow behind.
The image was immediately striking to me because of its similarity to the final shot in Argento's STENDAHL SYNDROME. Knowing the way Argento's mind works, I don't think it's a stretch to postulate that he researched films that used rape a plot device, stumpled on TEMPLE DRAKE and decided to end his film the same way. The similarity is really obvious. I've always been oddly moved and stricken by that final shot in SS. It's emotionally resonant, but I've always felt that it came from somewhere else in Argento's head.
Now if I can just find a move that contains the inspiration for the final image in TRAUMA...
D.
| QUOTE (David White @ Nov 20 2007, 11:27 PM) |
| The image was immediately striking to me because of its similarity to the final shot in Argento's STENDAHL SYNDROME. Knowing the way Argento's mind works, I don't think it's a stretch to postulate that he researched films that used rape a plot device, stumpled on TEMPLE DRAKE and decided to end his film the same way. The similarity is really obvious. I've always been oddly moved and stricken by that final shot in SS. It's emotionally resonant, but I've always felt that it came from somewhere else in Argento's head. |
Exactly what sort of film critic was Argento, anyway?
Does anyone know anything about the publication (publications?) he wrote for, and whether he might have been tasked to write about older, American film?
Interesting catch, David.
SPOILERS FOR STENDHAL AND REPULSION FOLLOW:
For me, the final shot of STENDHAL SYNDROME seemed clearly intended to evoke the almost identical closing image of Polanski's REPULSION, with another tragic innocent (who happens also to be an insane murderess) being tenderly carried away by loving friends, returned to the bosom of her extended family - in both films, a scene redolent of forgiveness and redemption.
Maybe Polanski saw TEMPLE DRAKE?