Acting isn't always easy on actors,
especially during intense film shoots — so how did the 2018 movie Suspiria
take its toll on Dakota Johnson? And did it all pay off? Keep watching for the answers.
Suspiria is a remake of a 1977 cult classic from Italian filmmaker Dario Argento. The basic story
is the same in both versions, revolving around supernatural happenings at a dance academy.
However, director Luca Guadagnino decided to put his own unique spin on the original movie,
particularly when it came to the remake's horror elements and aesthetics.
Suzy, an inexperienced but talented American dancer, travels to Berlin from Ohio to audition
for a prestigious dance company. Their lead dancer Patricia has just left, having recently lost her
mind, so Suzy is able to fill in her space in the company and move into the dorm right away.
Soon, however, it becomes apparent that Patricia's departure wasn't all that it appeared to be — and
it may just have had something to do with a terrifying magical conspiracy.
The remake pays plenty of homage to the 1977 version,
but, as Guadagnino himself told Flickering Myth, it isn't trying to be what he called, quote,
"a parasite of the original." For one thing, the remake's color palette is more subdued
than Argento's bright, Technicolor original, and the setting needed to reflect that. Rather than
use the original film for aesthetic reference, Guadagnino drew from German cinema of the 70s,
such as the works of renowned director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
The key difference between the original and the remake is the incorporation of dance,
which moves into the realm of grotesque body horror.
Guadagnino felt particularly strongly that the movie's dance sequences
needed to be closely linked with the rituals of witchcraft. Consequently,
the choreography in Suspiria had to be powerful enough to cast a spell on its audience.
Dakota Johnson had taken ballet classes as a child, but she trained with German
Expressionist dancers for a year before filming. She also continued to train before and after
shoots during production. Johnson described the choreography of the movie to W Magazine by saying:
"Suzy feels an unearthly pull from the center of her body. It’s sexual in an animalistic way.
Sexual in an aggressive, exploratory way. But it’s not sexual to be sexy."
Channeling this sensation added additional layers of difficulty and intensity to the choreography.
On top of the exhaustive physical demands of the film, its themes of supernatural
manipulation were bound to weigh heavily on the minds of any performer who channeled their
character's emotions. The film ultimately took a toll on lead actress Dakota Johnson,
who, according to her interview with Elle, actually had to go to therapy afterwards.
"It's been the craziest experience of my life thus far."
She later clarified her comments to EW, saying:
"I'm a very porous person and I absorb a lot of people's feelings.
When you're working sometimes with dark subject matter, it can stay with you and then to talk
to [my therapist] about it afterwards is a really nice way to move on from the project."
Luckily, Johnson and Guadagnino had collaborated before, in the 2015 drama A Bigger Splash.
Johnson spoke to the creative rapport they had built in an interview with Hey U Guys,
explaining that the actor-director duo work hard to make their surroundings safe for
everyone — an essential component of a film as intense as Suspiria.
Then, of course, there's the environment in which the film was shot, which was challenging in its
own right. Much of Suspiria was filmed in an abandoned hotel with no central heating in the
dead of winter. Johnson later told W Magazine that being in the hotel gave her nightmares.
One of the crew members was even injured during production: Johnson recalled —
"Our first [Assistant Director] broke his leg—he fell onto one of the sets.
It was a dangerous set."
Ultimately, though, the pressures of the shoot paid off. Johnson elaborated:
"[W]e had such an intense time filming it. We all felt so wild and passionate about it;
now to see it in final form is really a feeling of accomplishment."
Describing his favorite moments of horror in the film to MTV UK, Guadagnino pointed out:
"Everything we've described comes from the
incredible power of performance of these wonderful actresses."
He's definitely not wrong: Dakota Johnson and the rest of the impressive cast are
instrumental in delivering the many moments of nail-biting suspense and
gore — moments that make Suspiria such a singularly twisted film.
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