Today is not just Labor Day!

It’s also Dario Argento’s 75th birthday!  And what better way to celebrate the maestro‘s birthday than with a scene that I love?

The opening of Argento’s 1977 masterpiece, Suspiria, is about as perfect an opening as one could hope for.  American ballet student Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper) arrives in Frieburg, Germany.  Both Argento and Harper perfectly portray Suzy’s confusion as she makes her way through the airport and, as torrential rain drenches her, attempts to hail a taxi and get a ride to the dance academy.  (What Suzy doesn’t know, of course, is that the dance academy is home to the ancient witch known as Our Mother of Sighs.)  With this opening scene, Argento both immediately establishes the off-center, nightmarish atmosphere of Suspiria and establishes Suzy as a character who we, as the audience, relate to and care about.  Suspiria is a great film and it all begins with this brilliant opening.

Happy birthday, Dario!