MASKS

Actress Stella, after being rejected by many drama academies, is accepted into the Matteusz Gdula School in Berlin. Founded in the early '70s, the Gdula School has gained a particular reputation over time due to the eccentric and controversial acting method of its founder, which involves complete immersion in the role being played. After a series of inexplicable suicides involving Gdula's students, the "method" was banned and has since become a sort of legend, until Stella realizes that the school she has been accepted into still teaches it. The girl, however, does not feel comfortable, especially because of the reticence of her classmates. Only Cecile seems to approach her with friendship, but when the girl mysteriously disappears, Stella decides to look for her, convinced that her friend is hiding in a secret place in the school... maybe behind that door that leads to the abandoned wing of the building. What is an actor? A person at the service of the stories and characters they must portray, a "chameleon" capable of changing color the moment they are asked to become someone else, a simulacrum ready to contain many different personalities. The actor must be ready to sacrifice themselves for art, for acting, to which they must be willing to devote themselves entirely, to give their blood. Starting literally from these premises, German director Andreas Marschall writes and directs "Masks," an intelligent and complex reading of the role of the actor in theater (and cinema). If the actor is someone who devotes their soul and body to acting, they must be willing to depersonalize themselves, to surrender their identity and their integrity—physical and psychological—to the cause of art. They must continuously wear masks and live other lives. This is why the "Gdula Method," mythologized in "Masks," was banned because it worked incredibly well, and the actors' total immersion in their roles had terrible consequences on their psyche and bodies, leading to extreme acts such as suicide and complete self-sacrifice to the "cause." Of course, the fictional Gdula Method was "assisted" by drugs, hallucinogens, and psychotropic substances, particularly in the early '70s, when counterculture favored such tendencies. But in what way and with what effects does this particular acting method survive to this day? This is one of the many questions Marschall poses to the viewer to advance his meta-artistic thesis, which is not only "method" but also soul, because "Masks" is not only food for the brain but also for the heart. Andreas Marschall, who in 2004 directed the beautiful horror anthology "Tears of Kaley," is a fervent enthusiast of Italian genre cinema, especially that of the '70s. He demonstrated this with a series of subtle homages to Fulci, Argento, and Bava, and today with "Masks" he confirms it by staging a love letter to the Italian thriller of that period and to Dario Argento in particular. The prologue immediately contextualizes an era that will be a useful reference, set in the early '70s and intended to show us the dramatic effects of the "method" on some students, with skillful use of photography that perfectly reproduces the warm colors and pasty image of films from that era. Then it's a continuous reference to the Italian thriller with an evident wink to Dario Argento's "Suspiria," given by visual solutions and narrative choices (the fleeting encounter with the student fleeing the school, the initial double murder, the school's mysteries, the rivalry among students, and much more). Marschall has succeeded better than anyone else before him (only the French "Amour" might give him a run for his money in this regard) in capturing the true essence of that cinema, the atmospheres, the beautiful music (composed by Sebastian Levermann with Stelvio Cipriani in mind), the colors, and the choreography of the crimes, all impressive and incredibly brutal, and in at least a couple of cases probably inspired by Fulci's "Murderock - Uccide a passo di danza." "Masks" is, however, much more than a container of citations and an affectionate homage to a beloved cinema; it is a truly complex and far from banal film, capable of a deep and, if we want, sarcastic and critical reflection on the state of art and what is metaphorically useful to do to achieve it. Praise is also due to the film's cast, composed almost exclusively of young theater actors recruited by the director to make their roles as realistic as possible, and in particular to the debuting Susen Ermich, who plays the protagonist Stella, beautiful and talented, capable of making a truly difficult and in some cases extreme character extremely credible. With "Masks," Marschall brings to life a true gem of genre cinema, a film that was needed in a period of continuous revaluation of vintage, a work that lives without and especially outside its cinephile dimension. A must-watch!