Review CXXXIII - Lunacy

Review 133
Sílení (2005)

Somehow I always stumble back on Jan Svankmajer. In fact, I’d say he’s the director I have visited most consistently over the years, well, in terms of blogging, anyway. There’s something eye-catching about raw meat making love or creepy dolls running around in endless circles. So of course when I finally got the opportunity to watch Sílení, or Lunacy in English, starring Pavel Liska, Anna Geislerová, Jan Tríska, and Martin Huba, I was there. Normally I force my boyfriend to watch these films with me, but I sat through this one solo – I think maybe he’s getting tired of having to watch such messed-up stop motion.

Lunacy starts off a bit differently than Svankmajer’s other films as our beloved director steps in front of the camera and describes the film we are about to see. He describes the film as a horror movie, describing how the current world as it stands places lunatics in mental wards that encompass the worst of both libertinism and religious dogma. However, while he claims the film to be about mental wards, the film should be placed as an explanation for society today. Also, major spoilers ahead, so be warned!

Jean first experiences the horrors of nihilism when he witnesses the Marquis’ orgy the first night he is there. The whole scene is the most extreme it could be – the Marquis hammers nails into a life-sized crucifix, three women and three men eat – seriously – feces-looking chocolate cake until they commence an orgy, and a woman is raped against her will. I was waiting for a blood ritual, but I think the Marquis’ Baphomet mask was enough. In an argument with Jean, the Marquis reveals that God would never create man in order to let him live such a life unless to make us suffer, as well as claiming God has done worse than he has. This alone is definitely an argument many atheists and agnostics place in front of creationists whenever religion comes on the table. Even if not consciously debating, those who do not hold a moral standing in line with God can’t really argue that what the Marquis did was wrong, and hence, orgies or even one-night stands exist and are prevalent.

Now, apart from this topic, we learn that the Marquis attempts to recreate his mother’s demise every so often when he pretends to die only to come back alive. When he does it in front of Jean, he chokes on a banana, which, given the circumstance, is quite a particular food to take, if you know what I mean. Anyway, this leads to the Marquis explaining his “purgative method” of helping the possibly mentally ill; he and fellow psychiatrist Dr. Murlloppe believe that letting the mentally ill do as they wish will help them in their recovery. This somehow seems flawed when you think of depressed patients who may wish to kill themselves, although the film does say the patients there are not ill yet. But if you think of other circumstances, such as letting your child have reign on what they want to eat or what they can do, you realise this is a current-day situation.

On the other hand, we have, toward the end of the film when the original directors of the psychiatric ward, a Middle-Ages type of view on the disease. The head director believes in extreme forms of punishment to ward off the mentally ill, claiming he has thirteen forms of punishment in store for those who disobey the rules, including the removal of the tongue and eyes. This was definitely Marquis de Sade all over again, but now with the idea of God behind it. We find out that the director also attempted to follow his punishment method by removing his penis, but in the end, buys a replacement in order to fornicate with Charlotte. So really, the mentally ill are considered mentally ill, even if they aren’t, but they never learn to truly escape their problems. After starting to complete a psychology degree and stopping, this definitely reflects practice today. At least in Western medicine, people believe medication can be the one all, end all for a psychological disorder when we actually don't know the effects of antidepressants over long periods of time, and the reason you take medication is only to stabilise a problem so therapy can be effective and thus, one day get off the medication.

I suppose before I close this off, I should mention the little meat segments. While somewhat disturbing to a new viewer, a knowing fan will be reminded of Svankmajer's shorts. The segments themselves often reflect what the previous scene was about in the film, while really showing us as "nothing but meat".

I think Lunacy is a great surrealistic piece of work as it tries to do something weird, but brings the viewer along. With Svankmajer's introduction, you know what you will be seeing in the film, so everything is there. But even without the introduction, I'd say you could get the message Svankmajer was trying to convey. And that is surrealism I like - some things are messed up, but I get the message. Unlike Black Moon...

Crazy as usual, Lunacy stands up to its name, all while giving an interesting message in an interesting way. Thank you, Svankmajer!

Review L - Adams Aebler

Review L
Adams Æbler (2005)

Man, fifty reviews... I never thought I would get this far! Well, I suppose I assumed eventually, but not as quickly as this. Thank you for those who actually read this reviews (I have fans, right?)! Anyway, why not celebrate by reviewing a film from the great Danish director and writer Anders Thomas Jensen and starring the always wonderful Mads Mikkelsen? I am talking about Adams Aebler, or, as it is known in English, Adam's Apples!

Adam (Ulrich Thomsen) is neo-Nazi who has just been released from prison into the wonderful care of Father Ivan (Mads Mikkelsen). He is only required to stay there for a few months, but Adam is bugged right away by Ivan's overly forgiving and ignorant views on people's continuing bad habits. While Ivan introduces Khalid (Ali Kazim) as a recovering robber and Gunnar (Nicolas Bro) as used-to-be alcoholic, convicted rapist and kleptomaniac, yet they both continue to behave sinfully. When Ivan asks that Adam choose a goal to accomplish as a means to rehabilitating. Adam, in typical fashion, chooses something apple related, that is, to make an apple pie. However, his true goal becomes to break Ivan's unshaken faith.

The film obviously takes a lot of symbolism and stories from the Bible, but the biggest comparison has to be from the Book of Job. Since I learned about the Book of Job briefly in a class last semester, I'll give you the brief version to demonstrate my pompous attitude. Job is a man who is devoted to God. Thus, an adversary (who is usually always referred to as Satan) asks God that, if he were to put Job through Hell (not literally, but it comes close), would Job still be faithful to God? The all-powerful, omniscient deity says he would and gives this adversary the right to destroy everything Job has. Thus begins Job's complete and utter torture from this adversary to see whether or not he'll actually break. This plays an important role in the movie as we see that Ivan has had a really, really bad life. I'll also briefly explain the apple story to everyone because, hey, I'm appealing to all readers here and you might not have the knowledge of Christian mythology. Adam was the first man on Earth, and both he and Eve, his "wife", are told that they cannot eat from one tree in the Garden of Eden (this place is referred to as a paradise, a utopia). This tree is the Tree of Knowledge. As you may know, Eve is tempted by Satan (he's disguised as a snake) and eats from the tree, with Adam following in pursuit. The important element here is that, while we might assume the knowledge this tree provides is mathematical and analytical knowledge that aids in further increasing our mental capacity, it can also refer to ethical knowledge as well, i.e. knowing the difference between good and evil. Adam and Eve are born into paradise - the good - so they don't know what evil is exactly. This specificity in the story helped with my interpretation at the end of the film. But, you know, it's open to debate.

Alright, so now about the actual film! Well, I originally watched this film because I like Anders Thomas Jensen's writing (his stories are definitely interesting), so I was hopeful this would be a good film. Well, it was! Nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it. It's not really a typical film, I find, but it has its piece of comedy and drama. The humour is off-coloured, but nothing extreme, in my opinion. The film mostly relied on symbolism, as I said, so it's a film you have to interpret yourself. But it isn't an experimental film. While a piece of work can always be interpretated differently, this film has more of a clean-cut way of how it wants to be taken. I enjoyed being able to analyse it myself, but I liked that it wasn't overly ambiguous. Anyway, the story itself is almost sadly cute. You have Ivan who only looks on the sunny side of life (I'm thanking Gordon Lightfoot for that line), yet he went through such horrible incidents that you expect him to break down crying every time. He just ignores them all, and, well, I found that so sad. Plus you have Adam there pushing him over the line because he believes himself to be "evil". I'm laughing at what's happening on the screen, but inside, I feel I should be crying. The plot itself, though, was lacking a bit. It seemed like there should be something bigger happening, but it never came. Thus, while the film had some creative ideas, it wasn't amazing.

The acting was good. Anyway, I liked Khalid's character - spunky, but laughable, and Ali Kazim did a good job. Nicolas Bro did a great job as Gunnar, who was also a character I really liked, even if he was a convicted rapist. Paprika Steen did a great job as Sarah. I'm glad she came back as I thought Sarah would be a one-time thing. Mostly, though, Ulrich Thomsen and Mads Mikkelsen get credit for their great job. I like that Ulrich Thomsen played Adam as a bad guy, but still with enough sensibility to make him likeable. He does a great job with the transition of the character as well. Mads Mikkelsen played Ivan well, and his performance really made me feel for the character. Apparently Mads Mikkelsen's character had a particular dialect (or accent?), but I don't speak Danish, so I couldn't pick up on it.

I'd give the film seven point seven stars on ten. It was enjoyable, but it still feels like something was missing. Still, the characters were fun and I enjoyed the story for it was worth.

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Review XXXIII - Christmas Horror Double Feature

Review XXXIII
Christmas Horror Double Feature

Nothing represents the holidays better than a horror film commemorating the violent depiction of Christmas! Today I'll present you with two films I thought might be worth a watch this year. We'll see if, however, they deserve an annual watching...

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Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

We shall start with our first film, Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s Silent Night, Deadly Night, released in 1984 which spawned quite a few sequels (even if some really did stray away from the original plot) and a lot of controversy when it was released.

It's Christmas Eve and five-year-old Billy Chapman (Jonathan Best) is on his way to visit his mentally unstable grandfather (Will Hare) who is currently in a mental hospital. He's excited for Santa to come and deliver his presents, and, while his mother warns him he must go to bed on time to make sure Santa does come, his spirits aren't too dampered... Until his grandfather warns him, in secret, that Santa will punish him severely if he is naughty and proceeds to laugh maniacally. Billy's spirit takes even more abuse when a man dressed as Father Christmas murders his parents in cold blood as the family heads back to their home. Nothing to worry about, right? That is what the head nun, Mother Superior, is convinced of three years later when she forces the orphaned eight-year-old Billy (Danny Wagner), who is staying in her orphanage, to be severely punished for being frightened of Santa. Skip ahead ten years and Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) seems to be well off - good-looking, strong, and obviously charming - until the Christmas season rolls around... Now he's going to take matters into his own hands and punish all who have been naughty.

The acting from eighteen-year-old Billy (Robert Wilson) was also really bland. It starts off with him looking charming, but he soon comes off as just an asshole. I had no feeling for him whatsoever - he just seemed so wooden. However, I thought five-year-old Billy and eight-year-old Billy were really good. Isn't it usually the opposite? Aren't the child actors usually worse than the adult ones? Anyway, the other acting was decent enough, but adult Billy... I guess I can't necessarily complain about his acting as much as the writer must have just wanted to take away all emotion from him, as well as dialogue.

I was pretty disappointed with the film for one real reason - it's not really about Santa being evil, but just about a person who goes insane. Billy watched the absolutely appalling event of his parents' murder and then was beaten and petrified into thinking if he questioned Santa, he would be punished severely. This is just the tale of a kid who had a rotten childhood and who ended up becoming mentally unstable. I just found it pretty dissatisfying because the Christmas element isn't even necessary for the film. Take it away and Billy could just be a killer who believes people should be punished. I mean, punishment is what is emphasised, right? You don't need Santa Clause to deliver punishment. Look at Jack the Ripper or Peter Sutcliffe, a.k.a. the Yorkshire Ripper - they murdered prostitutes because they believed they had to be punished. This film takes this and just slaps on Christmas - my guess is to ensure people would watch it at least once a year.

I can see why it was controversial at the time, and, given the shooting in Connecticut that happened recently as well as other spree killings that happen pretty frequently, could definitely turn people off. Still, the killings themselves aren't anything too gruesome or spectacular. Actually, I take that back - Billy has super human strength at times. Spoiler: at one point, he takes a woman and impales her into the antlers of a deer mounted on the wall, and no blood sprays everywhere. Sigh... If you're going to make it unrealistic, at least go crazy with it. Not to mention he often kills people that shouldn't even be punished and leaves ones that should be alive. This film had such random killings, not to mention few were done very Christmasy. Nope, I'm not letting that Christmas theme go.

I really complained about this one, didn't I? As much as I thought it was dumb, I wasn't really that bored watching it. I'd give if seven stars on ten - losing most of its points for its lack of Christmas being involved in the plot. I think the film would have been better without the idea of Santa in it, or if it had been incorporated better into the film. Still, it's a horror film, so what did I really expect?

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Santa's Slay (2005)

I suppose David Steiman's Santa's Slay is a bit of a cheap shot in relation to it being referred to as a "horror" film since it's most of a comedy, but hey, I call the shots around here! Let's check it out.

You know a film will be special when it opens to Fran Drescher putting a turkey on the table for her family who include Chris Kattan, Rebecca Gayheart, and James Caan! The dinner is interrupted when Santa (Bill Goldberg) comes down the chimney - and no, he isn't bearing gifts, he's bearing murder! Cut to Nicholas Yuleson (Douglas Smith) and Mary Mackenzie (Emilie de Ravin) receiving gifts from their boss, Mr. Green (Saul Rubinek), a Jewish deli shop owner. Nicholas is our protagonist, and he's known for being the grandson of a crazy old man (Robert Culp). However, his grandfather reveals the truth about Santa to him, finding out Santa has been under-contract to deliver gifts to children for Christmas for the last one thousand years after losing a bet to an angel. However, he is actually the antichrist and now that the contract is over, he's eager to kill everyone. It's up to Nick, his grandfather, and his love interest, Mary, to save Hell Township (no, they are not in Norway) and the whole world from Santa.

Where Silent Night, Deadly Night failed, Santa's Slay succeeded - it used the aspect of Christmas perfectly. The film is about Santa being a crazy demon and he actually kills people festivally. It's all done with a comic undertone, which I really liked. I'm biased in that I find horror movies take themselves too seriously sometimes and just throw out the idea of being scary and instead aim to be shockers, like in the case of Silent Night, Deadly Night. This film decided to just make itself gorey and have the underlying demon idea (thus horror), but it brought in comedy as well (dark/black humour). This, to me, is the perfect mix for a Christmas horror film.

Robert Culp's acting is really lacking sometimes, but his lines made me laugh regardless. In fact, the film had some really funny lines. It doesn't rely on really lame jokes (though they do exist), and instead exploits on the outright greed most people have. I also thought it was awesome seeing so many cameos from famous actors; e.g. the pastor in the film is Dave Thomas. While I suppose it does date the film a bit since some of the actors/actresses are no longer popular, because the film came out in 2005, it totally fits with my generation and older ones as well.

I won't analyse the film too much because it's meant to be taken as a joke, so I'll just give my rating - eight stars. It's a high rating, but it gave me what I wanted: a killer Santa and spirit-of-Christmas deaths. I didn't expect much, but it satisfied me with that and threw in hilarity. It's no masterpiece, that's for sure, but if you're looking for a short, funny yet horrific Christmas film, check out Santa's Slay. Merry Christmas everyone, and to those who don't celebrate, at least you're getting time off from work/school!

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Review XV - Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy

Review XV
Park Chan-wook's Vengeance Trilogy

As you already know from my Joint Security Area review, I would call Park Chan-wook an outstanding director. In fact, I would go as far as to say that he is definitely one of my favourite directors of all time. Oldboy was the first film I watched from him a few years back. I thought it was a film that stood alone, but when I found out it was actually the second installment in a trilogy from Park Chan-wook, I made it a goal to watch the other films as well. First, obviously, we shall start with the first film of the trilogy, Boksuneun naui geot, or, as it is known in English, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

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Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)

After 2000's Joint Security Area was a huge success, Park Chan-wook was given la carte blanche to make whatever film he wanted. He completed the vengeance-minded script he had been writing before Joint Security Area. This became the next film Park Chan-wook directed and wrote, and it became known as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

Ryu (Shin Ha-kyun) is a deaf and dumb man whose sister (Lim Ji-eun) is in desperate need for a kidney transplant. When he is laid off from his job at a factory and loses the money to pay for the transplant when he tries to sell his own kidney to a group of illegal organ donors, Cha Yeong-mi (Doona Bae), his anarchist-supporting girlfriend convinces Ryu to kidnap his old boss' (Sang Kang-ho) daughter in order to get the money they need. Things go terribly wrong, however, which results in revenge from both sides.

I didn't get to watch the film in one sitting, but I still enjoyed it. The first thing I really liked about it was the vengeance and revenge was not one-sided. You felt for both Ryu and Park Dong-jin (Song Kang-ho's character) in the anger they felt. It wasn't like Ryu was the bad guy because we saw the hard life he endured with both his sister and his own life; the same goes for Park Dong-jin - he may be the head of a large company, but he isn't shown as a sadistic man who only cares about money. He loves his daughter, and he, too, is enduring hard circumstances in life. This results in the viewer not being able to choose sides, which leads to an even more emotionally-tearing film.

I also liked the characters themselves. Ryu was sweet, trying his hardest to do the right thing for his sister, but never quite making it. Park Dong-jin's character was, again, a sympathetic man who was not just a "big boss". He was also sweet, and the viewer could sympathise with him, just like the title suggests. Not to mention the acting was pretty good! Ryu pulled off a deaf and dumb man very well, and, well, Song Kang-ho delivered a great performance as usual.

Nonetheless, I found the film a bit slow. It took a little too long for things to get going. In fact, if I recall correctly, the first hour is just the build-up to the kidnapping of the daughter, and the film is two hours long. After that, I found the film went about nicely, but the fact that it took half the duration of the film to get to the main point of the film, and introduce the other protagonist seems a bit too exaggerated for me.

I'd give the film a seven point six on ten. I thought the story was interesting, the acting grand, the actors compelling, but still, it was a slow-moving film for a good part of the film. It's definitely worth a watch. Also, if you can, I heard there's a version that goes from colour to black and white. I didn't see that version, but it might be interesting to watch.

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Oldboy (2003)

The second film in the vengeance trilogy is, I would say, the most recognised film in the trilogy, as well as one of the films Park Chan-wook is best known for internationally. It is actually based on the Japanese manga Old Boy from Tsuchiya Garon and Minegishi Nobuaki, though Park Chan-wook adapted it into a screenplay. I couldn't tell you how accurately it follows the manga as I never read it, but the main idea is the same. Also, I haven't watched this film in a few months so please bare with me in the review.

Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) gets drunk one night on his daughter's birthday. He's taken into a police station in response to his disorderly conduct, but his friend, No Joo-hwan (Ji Dae-han) thankfully bails him out. Suddenly Oh Dae-su is kidnapped and taken into solitary confinement for fifteen years, finding out through the televised news that his wife was murdered, he has been accused as the murderer, and his daughter was put in the care of foster parents. One day he finds himself on top of a roof in a suit and is determined to find out why and who placed him in that room for fifteen years. Along the way he befriends a woman, Mi-do (Kang Hye-jeon), but the journey to finding the truth is a lot worse than Oh Dae-su is expecting.

The two times I watched this film, I watched it with English dubbing (it was the only version available at the video store), and it was horribly dubbed. Nonetheless, I really loved the story and characters. It definitely deserves all the recognition it gets. As I mentioned, the story is well written - I should definitely check ou the manga. Park Chan-wook managed to take the story and make it into a wonderful film. However, the actors and actresses definitely made the film even better. Choi Min-sik, well, you already know he is a wonderful actor (I Saw the Devil, for example). Kang Hye-jeon takes Mi-do's character and makes her even more sweet than expected. I was actually shocked to see she was the Director's Wife in Three... Extremes. She definitely has some good acting abilities! Yu Ji-tae (he comes in later in the film) is also takes his character and makes him his own. It was an amazing performance that made him completely believable in his role. I thought the beginning with the drunken scene was a bit unnecessary. There were other means to show he had a daughter and wife without including a ten minute scene. It's funny because while I thought the intro to Ryu in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance was too long, here I thought it was a little too short or even just unnessary. Still, it helps put into place Oh Dae-su's character, and we get to see Choi Min-sik act drunk. The only major complaint I really have would just be the dubbing performance, but that's not the fault of the director and the actors. It was definitely a wasteful performance, and I hope the dubbed version international audiences watch is a lot better than the one I watched because it's distracting.

I'd give the film an eight point two on ten. The story was interesting, the acting great, and just an overall entertaining but sad film. My favourite from the vengeance trilogy, and a film to show to your friends to introduce them to the works of Park Chan-wook.

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Lady Vengeance (2005)

The final film, Chinjeolhan geumjassi (Korean title), in the vengeance trilogy. It has also been called Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, but for whatever reason, in certain areas, the film is only known as Lady Vengeance. Reminds me of a bit of Dead Alive...

Lee Geum-ja (Lee Yeong-ae), also known as Kind-Hearted Geum-Ja, is finally released from prison after serving a sentence of thirteen and a half years for the kidnapping and murder of a little boy, Park Won-mo, a crime she actually did not commit. While she showed a good nature in prison (helping others and displaying a strong Christian faith), now that she is out, she is out to get revenge on the real killer, Mr. Baek (Choi Min-sik). Even when she meets her daughter again, her mind is focused on revenge, and it seems like nothing will get in her way.

The film, I find, was a bit more comical, at least in terms of the visual effects. If you've watched the film, I'm pretty sure you'll see from where I'm coming from. Nonetheless, the story is definitely very dramatic and heavy. I don't find it as suspenseful as Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, but there is one scene later in the film that I thought was actually very interesting. I won't give anything away, but watch the film, and I'm sure you can guess which scene it is. I thought the acting was good. Not the best, but good. I'd say the reason for this is that the characters were not, in my opinion, super well developped. I found the film lacked the depth that both Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy had. The story was good, but it wasn't as good as the films before it. The characters seemed a bit rushed overall, and while Lee Yeong-ae and Choi Min-sik didn't deliver bad performances, I think had the characters been more developped, their performances could have been phenomenal. However, I did enjoy seeing all the main characters of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy in the film as well. Make sure to look out for them!

I'd give the film seven point five stars on ten. It lacked a serious tone throughout the film that bothered me a bit. I found the film a bit rushed, and just not as good as the films before it. It's better than the average film, that's for sure, but in terms of what I expected considering Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy, it was a bit disappointing. Although I sound like I didn't like the film, I did. I thought it was funny, and the final scene is heart-wretching. You do feel for Lee Geum-ji, but I would have preferred that throughout the film, not just one scene. I think had Jenny (Lee Geum-ji's daughter) suffered a similar fate as Park Won-mo (the little boy), I think it would have made a better film. While I think satisfying selfish revenge was what the point of the film was, I think in terms of story, the death of Jenny would have been better. However, that's just my take on the story. It's still worth a watch, but I wouldn't say it was my favourite in the trilogy. There was just something it lacked, though I can't quite put my finger on it.

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