Trauma (1993)

TRAUMA

(USA/Italy - 1993)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Technovision)
Theatrical soundtrack: Dolby Stereo

Though often cited as one of the films which signalled a creative downturn in the career of director Dario Argento, TRAUMA is actually a much better entry than its reputation might suggest. Asia Argento (the director's daughter) plays a distraught anorexic whose life is turned upside down when she witnesses the decapitation-murder of her psychic mother (Piper Laurie) at the hands of a vicious serial killer. As in so many previous Argento movies, Asia resolves to uncover the killer's identity, aided by a sensitive TV newsroom artist (Christopher Rydell, son of actor-director Mark Rydell) who's taken pity on her circumstances, prompting a number of other murders and culminating in a Grand Guignol climax, one of the finest sustained set-pieces in Argento's long career.

Despite the fact that TRAUMA is an American film, the style is distinctly Italian in tone and execution: The ultra-wide scope framing, constantly inventive camerawork (including a bizarre shot from the point-of-view of a butterfly!!), ornate narrative structure and eccentric characterisations have more in common with the excesses of European cinema than the formal elegance of most Stateside productions. It's no wonder that some of the supporting American players seem a little disconcerted by the scriptwork and the director's unconventional filmmaking technique (including Frederic Forrest [FALLING DOWN] as a doctor sporting an unexplained neck-brace, and James Russo [DANGEROUS GAME] as a typically hard-boiled cop, always one step behind the film's youthful protagonists).

But the script - co-written by Argento and celebrated fantasy author T.E.D. Klein - adheres faithfully to the giallo template, punctuating its convoluted storyline with several grisly murders (though not THAT grisly, considering the involvement of makeup wiz Tom Savini), and a number of compelling set-pieces: The seance which ends in murder; the mental institution where the killer disposes of an important 'clue'; the room full of billowing drapes (an authentic stroke of genius); and the climactic revelation of the killer's motive, which is so utterly horrific, it almost justifies his/her gruesome rampage. The movie isn't called TRAUMA for nothing!

At least two other versions of this film have surfaced in bootleg video form over the years, one running 109m, the other 113m (at 24fps), and these variant editions plug a numper of gaping editorial gaps in the official 'director's cut' (note, for instance, the abrupt introduction of Rydell and Asia at the beginning of the film) which indicates either distributor problems or a rushed post-production schedule. This may also explain why Pino Donaggio's half-hearted score sounds like it was written and recorded before completion of principal photography and subsequently tailored to match the finished product, rather than the other way around. Of the cast, only Asia fails to impress, portraying the same joyless harpy she's played in all her collaborations with Argento to date (including THE STENDHAL SYNDROME and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), leaving Rydell to shoulder most of the film's emotional burden in a hugely sympathetic role as a young man who learns to accept Asia's flaws whilst simultaneously falling in love with her (few) virtues. Frankly, she doesn't deserve him! Piper Laurie (THE HUSTLER) dominates proceedings during her limited screen time, and Brad Dourif (the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) makes an unlikely cameo appearance as a former doctor whose guilty conscience comes back to haunt him in the worst possible way. Watch out for former "Falcon Crest" star Laura Johnson in a brief but creepy performance (her final scene is genuinely chilling) as an ambitious TV news anchorwoman who tries to stake her claim on Rydell in no uncertain terms.

Dario Argento's first US feature, Trauma, is a film I'd like to like more, partially because it's obviously so personal for Argento but largely because it's depressing to see how ineffectual most of his later films are. In many ways this feels like the work of an overambitious newbie rather than an experienced director: shots seem clumsily timed, performance styles are all over the place and the script is an undisciplined mess of good and bad ideas. Partially inspired by his stepdaughter's anorexia (she can be seen dancing in the film's end credits) to shock her out of it - an intention that would seem to be somewhat undone by Asia Argento taking dieting tips from her to play the troubled anorexic lead - much of it feels like an awkward reworking of past hits. Like Profondo Rosso/Deep Red the plot is triggered by a séance where a medium identifies a killer among those present, and the film features such Argento favorites as ill-fated lizards, elevator-assisted decapitations and a twist that hinges on a misinterpretation of what you think you see (although in this case the key shot is so badly photographed you literally CAN'T see it).

There are a few very subtle references to Les Miserables and the French Revolution (most pleasingly in a shot of Piper Laurie in front of a window with the curtain drawn aside to look like a guillotine blade) thrown in along with other half-developed ideas, but even the seemingly foolproof sequences are executed in a haphazard and workmanlike fashion, although there is one nicely inspired moment of improvisation when a killer who only strikes during rainstorms has to despatch a victim in a hotel room on a clear day. Argento's former visual prowess is little in evidence, the mastery of color that was such a feature of his earlier films reduced to a bland palette, but unfortunately many of his old weaknesses are all too apparent. Chief among them is a lot of really terrible acting: between Piper Laurie's tiresome histrionics and Frederic Forrest's Dwight Frye School of Overacting mad doctor, this may be one of the few films where Brad Dourif seems comparatively grounded. Neither of the leads, both played by the children of directors, can compensate, with Christopher Rydell faring only slightly better than Asia Argento, whose offscreen commitment to the role never translates onscreen.

If you're an Argento completist there's probably a bit more here than for the casual viewer, but it's thin stuff, though Anchor Bay's Region 1 NTSC DVD is fairly generous on extras, including four scenes deleted from the US version (two of which are minor plot points somewhat confusingly directly referred to in the US version).

I have just bought this film after last viewing it some 6 years ago. Dario Argento has a unique ability to tell a great story with great characters in a real yet somehow nightmarish setting. His camera work is unlike anything else he has his own style which jumps right off the screen as you watch. Asia Argento is fantastic as the traumatic anorexic teen embarking on a journey to uncover the truth behind the sinister killer...the twist is a big one too. I have no idea what the Colin Firth Trauma is or why it carries the same title but im sure I wont bother with it...there is one trauma and this is it. Edgy, terrifying and Surprising, Dario Argento delivers again.