Les Avaleuses (Female Vampire)
directed by Jesus Franco
written by Gérard Brisseau and Jesus Franco
starring Lina Romay, Jack Taylor, Alice Arno, Jesus Franco, Luis Barboo, Jean-Pierre Bouyxou
Female Vampire is nothing more than a rather drab soft core porno with a female character who drains the life out of her victims when she’s performing oral sex on them. The film is essentially wall-to-wall nudity with no plot to speak of. There are many scenes of boring sex that seem to go on for an eternity. Perhaps the only real draw is the voluptuous body of lead actress Lina Romay. It’s the only thing this film has going for it and it’s on display for the duration of the film. Apparently she’s something of a cult icon amongst those who can actually tolerate Jesus Franco as a director. For the rest of us, she’s nothing special and if this film is anything to go by devoid of any operating personality.
The story, or lack of it, involves Countess Irina Karlstein (Romay). The film opens promisingly enough with a bare chested Irina walking ever so slowly toward the camera. She’s wearing merely a cape and thigh high leather boots. The camera fetishizes her eyes, the cape, her breasts, her eyes and her boots in single frame shots that seem to have no discernible purpose beyond titillating those lucky few who find themselves fixated on objects that they in turn sexualize for their own fun and profit. The camera seems particularly drawn to her breasts which are given so much screen time they eventually lose whatever power they once possessed. Next, she approaches a farmer of some sort. She again moves slowly and soon enough she’s giving him head and he’s collapsing in anguish. It’s probably the best blow job he’s ever had in his life and the sheer pleasure of it is enough to vanquish him from the land of the living. Irina kills a few more, including women, and never loses the blank expression plastered on her face. She’s also mute which somehow adds to whatever mystique the film makers are going for.
There is a doctor named Roberts (Franco) who seems to think that a vampire serial killer is taking their prey but nothing much is done to further this story line. It’s hard to tell considering most of the film is consumed with sexual encounters that serve no decisive purpose. Irina is apparently insatiable and she can’t have enough of the fucking and sucking. She even writhes around with a rolled up carpet and tries to hump the bed post. She continues to writhe at every possible moment including while taking a bath. She is supposed to be the Queen of Carnality and represent the chthonian nature of sexuality. She also comes across as a lousy lay although exceedingly confident when she’s using her mouth and her tongue. There are several scenes where she plays with her nipples and licks her lips and its about as much of a turn on as an outbreak of boils on one’s face although there are probably people who get off on that as well.
Just like all porn the sex here becomes redundant after a short while. I understand that some prints include inserts of hardcore sex which would at least have the added value of capture and containment to alleviate the tenacious boredom that afflicts every scene. There is one pointless scene where Irina shows up at some sort of dyke sanctuary and they’ve got a luscious blonde chained up with slash marks all over her body. That introduces a more interesting element into the film although by the time Irina is getting whipped with a birch rod it loses its erotic appeal. It’s utterly pointless and does nothing to edify anyone who finds themselves trapped into viewing this thing. I never thought sadism could come off as so utterly banal but they manage to strip it of its sordid glamour in this film which is certainly the exact opposite of what they are attempting.
The film isn’t bad enough to be good and it takes its ludicrous story way too seriously. Still, it is an interesting idea and does have a fuzzy logic to it. Apparently Irina bites the lucky recipient of her love in the genital region and manages to drain them of all their fluids. It’s impossible to imagine how practical this is because it requires such a violent oral sex technique that manages to literally suck so hard that the person simply perishes from the experience. It is true that every orgasm is a little death and that there are succubi who pretty much do the same thing. So, it’s possible that the Great Harlot could be talented enough to perform the necessary action. Apparently she drains her victims of blood but this isn’t demonstrated either which is a major disappointment.
This much nudity only works if there are real horrors to contend with. If there is carnage afoot with sexy blood splatters on faces and breasts then it is perhaps necessary to maintain a level of eroticism within the context of the film.. But here it is just bad porno with lousy music generating zero heat and it clearly fails to satisfy the edicts of what is intended. Sex grows dull very quickly unless it is part of a viable story that is actually worth the effort. Here it is the entire focus and one might as well discard the entire vampire element because nothing at all is done to exploit it. I can believe that Irina is something of a vampire because she does drain the essence from people and that this is the only way she can continue living. That much is clear. It’s only that the sex scenes are way too long. If they were cut back by 80 percent the story might have had room to develop. Unfortunately that is not the case in this film.
There are actresses one would be delighted seeing run around naked for an entire film. But none of them are the kind that ever take their clothes off period. This in turn only accentuates their desirability. Here we have an actress who is playing a character that is supposed to be the most desirable woman on the planet. She is supposed to represent raw sexual need at its basest form. Yet, there is nothing particularly lust-worthy of her performance. Nudity becomes trite after a while and this film proves it. The only time nudity works in a film is when it is important to the story line. Otherwise its merely gratuitous and pointless. I suppose the film hinges on how bad the members of the audience want to fuck Lina Romay. She is certainly attractive enough to garner considerable attention but she’s only a body in this film and wholly without even a hint of a viable personality. She’s flat and dull and lazy and all she brings to the film is meat. It’s a shame because this subject is endlessly fascinating. It could have been made into a terrifying film that explores all of the psychological aspects of such sadistic behavior. It could have done so with limited sex and nudity and still come off as necessary and true.
Overall, this film is about as lousy a “vampire” film as has ever been made. There is no horror, no desire, and no purpose. The film tends to drain the audience of their desire to see any more as the film is rolling. Indeed, one can only sit through it by fast forwarding through all the sex scenes because there is no reason to sit through porn that does not serve a legitimate purpose. Normally, porn is supposed to elicit lustful thoughts and a deliberate mechanical reaction to the stimulating material being presented. I admit that there was a bit of that in this film which only proves its intent all along. It doesn’t want to tell a story. It simply wants to get its audience hot and bothered which is fine for a porn film but not for something that pretends to be cinema.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Film Review--Coraline
Coraline
directed by Henry Selick
written by Henry Selick
based on the novella by Neil Gaiman
starring the voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., Ian McShane
Based on the short book of the same name by Neil Gaiman, this stop-action animated fantasy film creates an exquisitely crafted world of immense beauty that is both beguiling and disturbing.
A young girl named Coraline Jones (Fanning) has moved into a new home with her parents and finds herself emotionally abandoned and neglected. She takes to exploring the house and discovers a hidden door that has been wallpapered in. When she opens it she discovers it has been bricked over. That evening she awakens and sees a mouse scurrying out of the room. She follows it to the door and apprehends that it leads through a tunnel to a strange new world that resembles her old house only everything is brighter, more vibrant and alive. She meets a woman who closely resembles her own mother except she’s way more attentive and fun plus she’s got buttons for eyes. This woman claims to be her “Other Mother” (Hatcher) and that she and her husband (Hodgman) have been waiting for her. Coraline soon realizes that she has entered a world of great times and a non-stop barrage of exciting things to do. Her old world is bland and tiresome in comparison and she considers never going back.
The film possesses a tremendous scope. The atmosphere is expansive and there is a genuine sense of openness throughout the film. The “Other” parents exist in a world that epitomizes convenience and infinite creative possibilities. It promises Coraline a life filled with an endless banquet of surprises and everything she could possibly ever desire. It’s alluring in a most relentless sort of way and she slowly realizes that there is much more beneath the surface that might not have her best interests in mind. She meets a stray cat (David) who is just like the cat who stalks her old home only this one can speak. He warns her about her “Other Mother”. Coraline heeds his advice and with the help of a stone with a hole in it she has received from her neighbor Miss Spink (Saunders) she begins to gather up what she needs to escape.
There are so many magical scenes in this film and they are all impossibly bright and colorful. It’s truly an adventure land of tickling, mesmeric sensations that elevate the viewer onto a more profoundly scintillating plane where creativity reigns every aspect of life. Toys are alive, a neighbor named Mr. B. (McShane) conducts a circus featuring mice, and Coraline’s general experience is consumed with frenetic motion and a constant supply of ecstatic moments that are exceedingly seductive. Soon, however, a cold reality settles in and she becomes acutely aware that there is a malefactor afoot. Life in Lorelei isn’t the smorgasbord of delight she originally envisioned it to be.
The idea of a lonely child escaping into a fabulous land populated with every grand and lovely thing they could ever imagine is a terribly charming one. Sure, it’s very common and has been the platform for stories such as “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Wizard of Oz”, and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. The child must take action or avoid various perils in order to escape on the other side with their wits and abilities intact. Coraline is thrust into a world of magic that proves to be too good to be true.
This is a tale that questions easy rearing where children are provided with everything without having to work for it in any capacity whatsoever. Coraline finds herself in just such a situation with “Other” parents who insist on giving her everything she could ever think of without asking anything of her. It’s not an ideal environment for a child as it teaches them to expect that life will always acquiesce with their wishes and that they will always have Mummy and Daddy to fall back on if times get tough. Coraline is a fiercely independant girl and it is this independence that has strained her relationship with their parents. They most likely assume that she can take care of herself so they err in the other direction and pay her no attention whatsoever.
The most obvious difference between the book and the film is the film’s inclusion of a new character named Wybie Lovat (Bailey Jr.) It sets up an entirely different dynamic from the book because it enjoins teamwork with the fantastic narrative. Coraline didn’t need anyone else in the book and the addition of the new character takes something away from her quest to find her parents. There is a small subplot about Wybie’s grandmother’s missing sister which is solved and adds more severity to a key element of the plot. Mostly, the film follows the book closely and there is nothing major to upset oneself over. The tone is a bit looser, it isn’t as dark, and certain visuals move beyond anything the book could possibly be able to describe. Mainly, Miss Forcible’s enormous breasts. They are really massive and one wonders what’s behind the decision to include them. Certainly, kiddies aren’t that into them and they happen to appear on a wrinkled old bat so it’s not like they are sexy or anything.
There is all the fervor and strangeness of the book and the overall energy is maintained through to the end. The book is more terrifying and more ghastly in its depictions of certain scenes. There’s more of a chthonian feel to the book as it slips nicely into a very dark place where there is very real danger. The danger in the film is a bit more cartoonish like the animated version of the Wicked Stepmother in “Cinderella”. Indeed, the “Other Mother” becomes something of a monster and turns her husband into a pumpkin like creature who can hardly speak.
Coraline proves to be a fine sleuth as the locates the necessary items to save herself as well as others she has met during confinement that prove the “Other Mother’s” divine wickedness for all to see. The film does a good job with the “Other Mother” and she’s deliciously primal when she transforms herself into a monster. She’s scary enough and it does seem that she might be capable of eating Coraline and perhaps the cat. She’s tyrannical and driven by an urgency that knows no barriers until of course she is confronted with one who is more clever than she. She is ill prepared to take on Coraline who is determined in her own right to leave the realm and return her life back to what is was before her discovery.
There is something interesting about the symbolism of the tunnel between the two homes. It is a long womb like apparatus which Coraline must crawl through both to reach the magic kingdom and to return back to her dull, listless life. Each mother possesses a womb that is connected to their opposite’s womb and the “Other Mother’s” womb is attempting to destroy her rival’s by any means necessary. The old and dead womb offers no sustenance and no hope for a viable future. It’s decrepit and Coraline is justified in attempting to escape it. Unfortunately the new womb is devouring and needy and intent on possessing and smothering her with mock affection that hinges on a specific betrayal of Coraline’s autonomy, her Self. At one end the future is bleak because it is built on a past that does not recognize Coraline for who she is. Her neighbors always get her name wrong and nobody provides her with the attention she craves. On the other end she gets all the attention but must destroy part of her true self in order to maintain it. She must in fact sell her very soul for material possessions and entertainments that will also fail to provide the proper nourishment she requires. The old world is relentlessly boring but at least she possesses the opportunity to invent herself according to her own designs. Such an option does not exist within the realm of a woman who insists on creating Caroline according to her own specifications.
In a sense one can view this film as anti-Fascist in the sense that Caroline is forced to confront a ritualized life in a specific order that demands absolute submission and punishes severely those who dare to challenge the state. The new formed state in this case promises safety, continuity, and well being. It is an ideal model for the Self to remain fettered to a codified way of living bereft from derelicts or threats from outside the realm. The only rule is subservience and an admission that the state is supreme in all matters and can never be doubted. The only escape is through sabotage and a wholesale destruction of the state and a return to a freer, less ordered existence that nevertheless encourages a more open and less didactic expression of Self-hood. Yet, the perceived pleasures of the State are but mere entertainments to keep the captives mollified and to prevent them from raising their voices in discontent and anger against the order.
Coraline is truly trapped between two worlds that prove ultimately to deny her the type of environment that will best encourage her to create a viable future for herself. She must in fact create a life out of the remnants of each world in order to get what she needs. She prefers in the end to be back in the dusty, emotionally cold world because she has learned to assemble a life out of the scraps she apprehends in the familiar. Objects become projects with which to determine the order of her existence. She is free to create her own Self without being constantly reminded that she is living in a world that denies her own creativity by forcing her to forever acknowledge the work of another who remains an oppressive force.
The performances in this film manage to effectively bring the book alive. Dakota Fanning conveys all of Coraline’s doubts and fears throughout the course of the film. Teri Hatcher brings the bitch-goddess to life and creates a definite separation between the two mothers. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, both “Absolutely Fabulous” alums, capture the lunacy of their characters and their essential pretentious bombast. Keith David plays the Cat as slinky and a bit mischievous. He sounds like a jazz man introducing one of his latest compositions.
Overall, this film is proof of what painstaking dedication, in this case over four years, can accomplish if the intent is pure and the narrative solidly constructed. The film is simply gorgeous to look at from start to finish and each character is genuinely brought to life. Coraline Jones is one of the most fascinating young heroines to ever be showcased in a cinematic production. She’s bold, inventive and wholly ingenious plus she possesses a never-ceasing capacity for wonder which informs her perceptions of the world. She’s also observant and smart enough to accept the advice of others who warn her of imminent danger. The film will remain a work of art worth returning to again and again. As long as there is celluloid this film will be analyzed and put before young children who will respond like all children respond to rollicking entertainment that dazzles and shines.
directed by Henry Selick
written by Henry Selick
based on the novella by Neil Gaiman
starring the voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., Ian McShane
Based on the short book of the same name by Neil Gaiman, this stop-action animated fantasy film creates an exquisitely crafted world of immense beauty that is both beguiling and disturbing.
A young girl named Coraline Jones (Fanning) has moved into a new home with her parents and finds herself emotionally abandoned and neglected. She takes to exploring the house and discovers a hidden door that has been wallpapered in. When she opens it she discovers it has been bricked over. That evening she awakens and sees a mouse scurrying out of the room. She follows it to the door and apprehends that it leads through a tunnel to a strange new world that resembles her old house only everything is brighter, more vibrant and alive. She meets a woman who closely resembles her own mother except she’s way more attentive and fun plus she’s got buttons for eyes. This woman claims to be her “Other Mother” (Hatcher) and that she and her husband (Hodgman) have been waiting for her. Coraline soon realizes that she has entered a world of great times and a non-stop barrage of exciting things to do. Her old world is bland and tiresome in comparison and she considers never going back.
The film possesses a tremendous scope. The atmosphere is expansive and there is a genuine sense of openness throughout the film. The “Other” parents exist in a world that epitomizes convenience and infinite creative possibilities. It promises Coraline a life filled with an endless banquet of surprises and everything she could possibly ever desire. It’s alluring in a most relentless sort of way and she slowly realizes that there is much more beneath the surface that might not have her best interests in mind. She meets a stray cat (David) who is just like the cat who stalks her old home only this one can speak. He warns her about her “Other Mother”. Coraline heeds his advice and with the help of a stone with a hole in it she has received from her neighbor Miss Spink (Saunders) she begins to gather up what she needs to escape.
There are so many magical scenes in this film and they are all impossibly bright and colorful. It’s truly an adventure land of tickling, mesmeric sensations that elevate the viewer onto a more profoundly scintillating plane where creativity reigns every aspect of life. Toys are alive, a neighbor named Mr. B. (McShane) conducts a circus featuring mice, and Coraline’s general experience is consumed with frenetic motion and a constant supply of ecstatic moments that are exceedingly seductive. Soon, however, a cold reality settles in and she becomes acutely aware that there is a malefactor afoot. Life in Lorelei isn’t the smorgasbord of delight she originally envisioned it to be.
The idea of a lonely child escaping into a fabulous land populated with every grand and lovely thing they could ever imagine is a terribly charming one. Sure, it’s very common and has been the platform for stories such as “Alice in Wonderland”, “The Wizard of Oz”, and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. The child must take action or avoid various perils in order to escape on the other side with their wits and abilities intact. Coraline is thrust into a world of magic that proves to be too good to be true.
This is a tale that questions easy rearing where children are provided with everything without having to work for it in any capacity whatsoever. Coraline finds herself in just such a situation with “Other” parents who insist on giving her everything she could ever think of without asking anything of her. It’s not an ideal environment for a child as it teaches them to expect that life will always acquiesce with their wishes and that they will always have Mummy and Daddy to fall back on if times get tough. Coraline is a fiercely independant girl and it is this independence that has strained her relationship with their parents. They most likely assume that she can take care of herself so they err in the other direction and pay her no attention whatsoever.
The most obvious difference between the book and the film is the film’s inclusion of a new character named Wybie Lovat (Bailey Jr.) It sets up an entirely different dynamic from the book because it enjoins teamwork with the fantastic narrative. Coraline didn’t need anyone else in the book and the addition of the new character takes something away from her quest to find her parents. There is a small subplot about Wybie’s grandmother’s missing sister which is solved and adds more severity to a key element of the plot. Mostly, the film follows the book closely and there is nothing major to upset oneself over. The tone is a bit looser, it isn’t as dark, and certain visuals move beyond anything the book could possibly be able to describe. Mainly, Miss Forcible’s enormous breasts. They are really massive and one wonders what’s behind the decision to include them. Certainly, kiddies aren’t that into them and they happen to appear on a wrinkled old bat so it’s not like they are sexy or anything.
There is all the fervor and strangeness of the book and the overall energy is maintained through to the end. The book is more terrifying and more ghastly in its depictions of certain scenes. There’s more of a chthonian feel to the book as it slips nicely into a very dark place where there is very real danger. The danger in the film is a bit more cartoonish like the animated version of the Wicked Stepmother in “Cinderella”. Indeed, the “Other Mother” becomes something of a monster and turns her husband into a pumpkin like creature who can hardly speak.
Coraline proves to be a fine sleuth as the locates the necessary items to save herself as well as others she has met during confinement that prove the “Other Mother’s” divine wickedness for all to see. The film does a good job with the “Other Mother” and she’s deliciously primal when she transforms herself into a monster. She’s scary enough and it does seem that she might be capable of eating Coraline and perhaps the cat. She’s tyrannical and driven by an urgency that knows no barriers until of course she is confronted with one who is more clever than she. She is ill prepared to take on Coraline who is determined in her own right to leave the realm and return her life back to what is was before her discovery.
There is something interesting about the symbolism of the tunnel between the two homes. It is a long womb like apparatus which Coraline must crawl through both to reach the magic kingdom and to return back to her dull, listless life. Each mother possesses a womb that is connected to their opposite’s womb and the “Other Mother’s” womb is attempting to destroy her rival’s by any means necessary. The old and dead womb offers no sustenance and no hope for a viable future. It’s decrepit and Coraline is justified in attempting to escape it. Unfortunately the new womb is devouring and needy and intent on possessing and smothering her with mock affection that hinges on a specific betrayal of Coraline’s autonomy, her Self. At one end the future is bleak because it is built on a past that does not recognize Coraline for who she is. Her neighbors always get her name wrong and nobody provides her with the attention she craves. On the other end she gets all the attention but must destroy part of her true self in order to maintain it. She must in fact sell her very soul for material possessions and entertainments that will also fail to provide the proper nourishment she requires. The old world is relentlessly boring but at least she possesses the opportunity to invent herself according to her own designs. Such an option does not exist within the realm of a woman who insists on creating Caroline according to her own specifications.
In a sense one can view this film as anti-Fascist in the sense that Caroline is forced to confront a ritualized life in a specific order that demands absolute submission and punishes severely those who dare to challenge the state. The new formed state in this case promises safety, continuity, and well being. It is an ideal model for the Self to remain fettered to a codified way of living bereft from derelicts or threats from outside the realm. The only rule is subservience and an admission that the state is supreme in all matters and can never be doubted. The only escape is through sabotage and a wholesale destruction of the state and a return to a freer, less ordered existence that nevertheless encourages a more open and less didactic expression of Self-hood. Yet, the perceived pleasures of the State are but mere entertainments to keep the captives mollified and to prevent them from raising their voices in discontent and anger against the order.
Coraline is truly trapped between two worlds that prove ultimately to deny her the type of environment that will best encourage her to create a viable future for herself. She must in fact create a life out of the remnants of each world in order to get what she needs. She prefers in the end to be back in the dusty, emotionally cold world because she has learned to assemble a life out of the scraps she apprehends in the familiar. Objects become projects with which to determine the order of her existence. She is free to create her own Self without being constantly reminded that she is living in a world that denies her own creativity by forcing her to forever acknowledge the work of another who remains an oppressive force.
The performances in this film manage to effectively bring the book alive. Dakota Fanning conveys all of Coraline’s doubts and fears throughout the course of the film. Teri Hatcher brings the bitch-goddess to life and creates a definite separation between the two mothers. Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, both “Absolutely Fabulous” alums, capture the lunacy of their characters and their essential pretentious bombast. Keith David plays the Cat as slinky and a bit mischievous. He sounds like a jazz man introducing one of his latest compositions.
Overall, this film is proof of what painstaking dedication, in this case over four years, can accomplish if the intent is pure and the narrative solidly constructed. The film is simply gorgeous to look at from start to finish and each character is genuinely brought to life. Coraline Jones is one of the most fascinating young heroines to ever be showcased in a cinematic production. She’s bold, inventive and wholly ingenious plus she possesses a never-ceasing capacity for wonder which informs her perceptions of the world. She’s also observant and smart enough to accept the advice of others who warn her of imminent danger. The film will remain a work of art worth returning to again and again. As long as there is celluloid this film will be analyzed and put before young children who will respond like all children respond to rollicking entertainment that dazzles and shines.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Film Review--Inkheart
Inkheart
directed by Iain Softley
written by David Lindsay Abaire
based on the novel by Cornelia Funke
starring Brendan Fraser, Sienna Guillory, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent
Words can be brutal, vicious things once they are properly unleashed. In this film a 12 year old girl discovers she shares her father’s terrible gift of bringing books to life. Along with her father she tries to track down her mother who disappeared when she was three. In this fantasy action film books routinely come alive and their texts are employed for various means both nefarious and honest.
Maggie Folchart (Bennett) is not exactly a typical child. She’s devoted to books and takes great pleasure curling up in a corner absorbed in some fantastic tale or another. She travels with her father Mo (Fraser) on a quest to find a copy of the book, “Inkheart”. Mo goes into the book shop and hears strange voices coming out of a book. He soon realizes that he has finally discovered the book which has been out of print for many years. He opens it and inadvertently summons a man named Dustfinger (Bettany) who claims to have come out of the book many years before when Mo had read to Maggie. They part but soon Mo is surrounded by a horrific party of villains who have also come from the book. Maggie soon realizes that her father has not really been looking for the book but rather for her mother. It is also discovered that the mother Resa (Guillory) has somehow been sucked into the book when three of the villains came out. The film is a rescue mission in which the lovely Resa is firstly chained and then bound up in a hemp net. Her dire circumstances inform the film with a decisive urgency.
The leader of the band of troublemakers is named Capricorn (Serkis) and he has made quite a place for himself outside of the book. He lives in a castle and has control over his minions who really are a ghastly lot. They are truly a uniform block of exceedingly bad men who are without a decent instinct among them. They are good for the kids because there is nothing ambiguous about their behavior. They are simply bad and this makes it all the more easier to root for the traditionally honorable characters who find themselves trapped in a nightmare scenario that they must use their great and terrible powers to escape from.
The author of the book is a man named Fenoglio (Broadbent) and he’s utterly delighted to discover that the characters who have come to life are precisely as he has imagined them. He is employed to use his writing skills to solve the terrible dilemma so that everyone might be set free from Capricorn’s unsavory realm.
This is certainly a film that celebrates the power of the written word and its ability to change landscapes and influence readers to move beyond their limitations. Numerous works including “The Wizard of Oz”, “Arabian Nights” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” are brought forth in various guises to provide the film with a firm link to the annals of classic literature. Many familiar staples are explored including the heroic quest, the damsel in distress, and the hero who discovers they have magic powers they must use to extricate themselves out of a dangerous situation. In tried and true form the hero here is but a child who has inherited a great power that is nevertheless exceedingly dangerous if it is used without caution. The possibilities are indeed endless and one imagines the impact on our world that certain infamous texts might enjoy. Books such as the Marquis de Sade’s “120 Days of Sodom”, or George Bataille’s “The Trial of Gilles de Rais” would certainly add a bit of spice to any environment. These are perhaps the kinds of books that should be explored in the sequel.
Sienna Guillory is in this film but she makes a lasting impression with her otherworldly beauty that is luminescent and startling to behold. She makes for a worthy distressed lass and her every movement while constrained is but an exquisite form of torment. She does quite a lot despite being unable to speak and it’s clear why Mo is such an impossibly lucky bastard to have her.
As this is a typical story that doesn’t do anything particularly alarming in its telling, it’s no mystery what will happen when the film reaches it’s conclusion. Yes, the story is predictable in terms of whether or not the right people get out alive and the wrong people perish but there is a consistency that is supremely effective throughout the film.
Helen Mirren is delightfully comical as Elinor Loredan, Mo’s fussy and fastidious Aunt who is something of a chore. She’s tight fisted and very protective of her glorious library. Naturally she is horrified when the band of cretins thoughtlessly destroy many of her books including a rare Persian manuscript that she has on display in a special glass case. It’s an instance that articulates the plight of modern civilization where books are no longer treasured by the masses and often treated with open hostility by the very children who need the continuing nourishment that books provide. The stories presented in this film are timeless and have served numerous cultures from their inception. The film wants its audience to become obsessed with reading and studying the classics or at least modern classics that are legitimately capable of transforming lives.
The special effects in the film are seamless and the alternative worlds they create are wholly believable. This film is magical in that it carries the viewer along into a different world that is nevertheless populated with figures and scenes that ought to be familiar to all. Of course the reality is that we have taken such books for granted and their authority has become diminished in the minds of too many over time. Still, the film insists they are necessary components to any society that pretends to call itself a Culture.
The performances in this film are all viable for the genre. Brendan Fraser has bankrolled his everyman persona in a number of films over the course of his career. In this film, he doesn’t play against type and allows the other actors to play off of him. He’s congenial, inoffensive if not a bit bland. Still he isn’t being asked to carry this film on his good name alone. There are several other performers who do their bit to push the film along to where it needs to go. Eliza Bennett is a real find. Maggie’s got all the cockiness of youth coupled with a genuinely charming disposition which is necessary to sell this type of family movie. Andy Serkis is clearly having a diabolically good time throughout this film. Capricorn’s eyes are consumed with menace as he casts his web of infamy on anyone who dares to get in his way. He possesses a terrible charisma in his own right that is beguiling for much of the film. Sienna Guillory is as mentioned a graceful, elegant and comely creature whose difficulties in the film are made more horrible because she is such a shatteringly delightful presence. It’s always better in a film to rescue a woman who exudes a natural beauty that is disarming and impossible to ignore. At least cinematically it seems to put a higher value on the mission. Helen Mirren is a oddball in this film. Her character is a combination of style and severity. She’s not the kind of woman one would ever want to scorn.
Overall, this film does everything it sets out to do. It’s a barn-raising tale informed by something that is infinitely valuable in a society that pretends to call itself literate. It values both the spoken and written word in a time when these are being obscured by the feeding trough of technology. It’s an interesting dichotomy between an expensive, effects-heavy film that relies on ingenious applications of the latest technology and a decisively low tech form of entertainment and illumination. In the end the word prevails and the final word in this film is that good stories are viable, necessary creations that possess an uncanny power to alter consciousness and transform the reader’s entire approach to life. Also, spoken words should not be employed lightly or taken for granted. They can harm as much as soothe and they can never be taken back once they are uttered.
directed by Iain Softley
written by David Lindsay Abaire
based on the novel by Cornelia Funke
starring Brendan Fraser, Sienna Guillory, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent
Words can be brutal, vicious things once they are properly unleashed. In this film a 12 year old girl discovers she shares her father’s terrible gift of bringing books to life. Along with her father she tries to track down her mother who disappeared when she was three. In this fantasy action film books routinely come alive and their texts are employed for various means both nefarious and honest.
Maggie Folchart (Bennett) is not exactly a typical child. She’s devoted to books and takes great pleasure curling up in a corner absorbed in some fantastic tale or another. She travels with her father Mo (Fraser) on a quest to find a copy of the book, “Inkheart”. Mo goes into the book shop and hears strange voices coming out of a book. He soon realizes that he has finally discovered the book which has been out of print for many years. He opens it and inadvertently summons a man named Dustfinger (Bettany) who claims to have come out of the book many years before when Mo had read to Maggie. They part but soon Mo is surrounded by a horrific party of villains who have also come from the book. Maggie soon realizes that her father has not really been looking for the book but rather for her mother. It is also discovered that the mother Resa (Guillory) has somehow been sucked into the book when three of the villains came out. The film is a rescue mission in which the lovely Resa is firstly chained and then bound up in a hemp net. Her dire circumstances inform the film with a decisive urgency.
The leader of the band of troublemakers is named Capricorn (Serkis) and he has made quite a place for himself outside of the book. He lives in a castle and has control over his minions who really are a ghastly lot. They are truly a uniform block of exceedingly bad men who are without a decent instinct among them. They are good for the kids because there is nothing ambiguous about their behavior. They are simply bad and this makes it all the more easier to root for the traditionally honorable characters who find themselves trapped in a nightmare scenario that they must use their great and terrible powers to escape from.
The author of the book is a man named Fenoglio (Broadbent) and he’s utterly delighted to discover that the characters who have come to life are precisely as he has imagined them. He is employed to use his writing skills to solve the terrible dilemma so that everyone might be set free from Capricorn’s unsavory realm.
This is certainly a film that celebrates the power of the written word and its ability to change landscapes and influence readers to move beyond their limitations. Numerous works including “The Wizard of Oz”, “Arabian Nights” and “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” are brought forth in various guises to provide the film with a firm link to the annals of classic literature. Many familiar staples are explored including the heroic quest, the damsel in distress, and the hero who discovers they have magic powers they must use to extricate themselves out of a dangerous situation. In tried and true form the hero here is but a child who has inherited a great power that is nevertheless exceedingly dangerous if it is used without caution. The possibilities are indeed endless and one imagines the impact on our world that certain infamous texts might enjoy. Books such as the Marquis de Sade’s “120 Days of Sodom”, or George Bataille’s “The Trial of Gilles de Rais” would certainly add a bit of spice to any environment. These are perhaps the kinds of books that should be explored in the sequel.
Sienna Guillory is in this film but she makes a lasting impression with her otherworldly beauty that is luminescent and startling to behold. She makes for a worthy distressed lass and her every movement while constrained is but an exquisite form of torment. She does quite a lot despite being unable to speak and it’s clear why Mo is such an impossibly lucky bastard to have her.
As this is a typical story that doesn’t do anything particularly alarming in its telling, it’s no mystery what will happen when the film reaches it’s conclusion. Yes, the story is predictable in terms of whether or not the right people get out alive and the wrong people perish but there is a consistency that is supremely effective throughout the film.
Helen Mirren is delightfully comical as Elinor Loredan, Mo’s fussy and fastidious Aunt who is something of a chore. She’s tight fisted and very protective of her glorious library. Naturally she is horrified when the band of cretins thoughtlessly destroy many of her books including a rare Persian manuscript that she has on display in a special glass case. It’s an instance that articulates the plight of modern civilization where books are no longer treasured by the masses and often treated with open hostility by the very children who need the continuing nourishment that books provide. The stories presented in this film are timeless and have served numerous cultures from their inception. The film wants its audience to become obsessed with reading and studying the classics or at least modern classics that are legitimately capable of transforming lives.
The special effects in the film are seamless and the alternative worlds they create are wholly believable. This film is magical in that it carries the viewer along into a different world that is nevertheless populated with figures and scenes that ought to be familiar to all. Of course the reality is that we have taken such books for granted and their authority has become diminished in the minds of too many over time. Still, the film insists they are necessary components to any society that pretends to call itself a Culture.
The performances in this film are all viable for the genre. Brendan Fraser has bankrolled his everyman persona in a number of films over the course of his career. In this film, he doesn’t play against type and allows the other actors to play off of him. He’s congenial, inoffensive if not a bit bland. Still he isn’t being asked to carry this film on his good name alone. There are several other performers who do their bit to push the film along to where it needs to go. Eliza Bennett is a real find. Maggie’s got all the cockiness of youth coupled with a genuinely charming disposition which is necessary to sell this type of family movie. Andy Serkis is clearly having a diabolically good time throughout this film. Capricorn’s eyes are consumed with menace as he casts his web of infamy on anyone who dares to get in his way. He possesses a terrible charisma in his own right that is beguiling for much of the film. Sienna Guillory is as mentioned a graceful, elegant and comely creature whose difficulties in the film are made more horrible because she is such a shatteringly delightful presence. It’s always better in a film to rescue a woman who exudes a natural beauty that is disarming and impossible to ignore. At least cinematically it seems to put a higher value on the mission. Helen Mirren is a oddball in this film. Her character is a combination of style and severity. She’s not the kind of woman one would ever want to scorn.
Overall, this film does everything it sets out to do. It’s a barn-raising tale informed by something that is infinitely valuable in a society that pretends to call itself literate. It values both the spoken and written word in a time when these are being obscured by the feeding trough of technology. It’s an interesting dichotomy between an expensive, effects-heavy film that relies on ingenious applications of the latest technology and a decisively low tech form of entertainment and illumination. In the end the word prevails and the final word in this film is that good stories are viable, necessary creations that possess an uncanny power to alter consciousness and transform the reader’s entire approach to life. Also, spoken words should not be employed lightly or taken for granted. They can harm as much as soothe and they can never be taken back once they are uttered.
Film Review--Revolutionary Road
Revolutionary Road
directed by Sam Mendes
written by Justin Haythe
based on the novel by Richard Yates
starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates, Richard Easton, David Harbour, Kathryn Hahn, Zoe Kazan, Dylan Baker, Jay O. Sanders
The human face is a mightily accurate barometer of emotion and intent. In this film director Sam Mendes focuses a considerable amount of attention on the visages of his lead actors leading to a succinct understanding of the characters’s various torments and disappointments. It maps out territory that is at times convoluted and exceedingly strange. Kate Winslet’s face tells many stories throughout this film. Her rage, frustration, fear, and even the occasional fit of what may pass for happiness are clearly written for everyone to see. Winslet is masterful here at conveying a considerable amount of information with a simple look. She does it unflinchingly as her character remains unaware of just how much she is revealing through her facial expressions.
Kate Winslet is April who is dissatisfied with the way things have developed in her life despite having done everything that society promotes as necessary to a vital, contributing life. When we first meet her she is an aspiring actress whose most recent play is universally loathed. She meets Frank Wheeler (DiCaprio) at a party and the pair are married. Frank convinces April that she’s just not that good at acting and she settles down to be a happy little housewife with her perfect kids, lovely and inviting home, and the latest in appliances. None of this helps her solve her quintessential dilemma which is to live a life that is freer, to see a future with more possibilities and less strain. It’s a breathtaking performance that comes together mostly through April’s reactions to events around her. The look of frustration plays like a permanent scowl that she cannot disavow by pretending to be what she is supposed to be.
April and Frank seem to have an ideal life. They’ve moved into a desirable and enviable home, they’ve gained prestige in the community by pushing out a couple of kids, and Frank is a respected employee for a business machine company. However, he’s routinely disappointed and professes on several occasions that he hates his job. April has an epiphany and decides that the family should move to Paris. It’s a wild idea that clearly is not going anywhere but for a brief period the couple seem to have found a bliss that heretofore has eluded them. Their faces no longer bear the strain of a torment; instead they seem to float by without a care in the world. Circumstances intervene though which trip up the dream leaving it gasping for air in the dirt at their feet.
This story plays out in real life all the time all over the world. There is a nagging feeling that things could be so much better if only this or that aspect of the life were altered dramatically. If only we could move into a better house. If only I could get more money or a better job entirely. If only the wife could get pregnant and bring into the world someone to distract us from the tyranny of our lives. This film suggests that none of these options do much to solve the essential dilemma. Acute unhappiness bordering on despair cannot in and of themselves bring about the desired change. They are often a good starting place but an entirely different world view is necessary if they are going to take root. New objects, new directions can bring about a transformation if the individual has prepared the way for a bright, new future that beckons with a tenacity that cannot be ignored. April and Frank have not prepared themselves for this new future. Their past is still sullied with shattered hopes and dismal personal disasters that are entirely internal in their actualization. Actual events, objects, are not oppressive. It’s the point of view that sees them this way and therefore the world is viewed as hopeless and empty.
Michael Shannon plays John, a former mathematician who has found himself incapable of handling the day to day existence taken for granted by most of the population. His scientific knowledge has been eradicated by electric shock therapy and he resides in a mental institution. He is the son of a realtor named Helen Givings (Bates) and her husband Howard (Easton). Helen asks the Wheelers if she can bring John over during one if his furloughs. They agree and John is paraded out and immediately demonstrates his lack of social awareness. Still, he says things that cause Frank to remark that John is the only person who clearly understands them.
Shannon gives one of those rare performances that is always close to being ripped apart by some spastic fit. He plays it with a fragility that is nevertheless controlled. It’s heartbreaking as one is instantly made sympathetic to a man whose livelihood has been cruelly taken away from him by circumstances beyond his control. John says “A lot of people are on to the emptiness but it takes real guts to see the hopelessness”. There is a real sense that despite his social gracelessness that John has acquired devastating insights into all matters of both the heart and the head. He’s like a savant of emotional truths and he manages to get quite a rise out of Frank who explodes in one of his frequent displays of acute frustration and demonstrable anger.
The marriage of April and Frank is as difficult to manage as a marriage can be. Both of them feel unmoored, merely flakes of dust floating in the wind. When Frank gets a job offer that promises him considerably more money, priorities shift as Frank sees an opportunity for a future that is actually desirable. He recognizes that working in computers could very well be something worth investing his time in. It’s the very thing that he requires to ensure that his work life manages to provide the stimulation and excitement that he’s been craving all along. Sure, it’s a desk job putting in even more hours but there’s a promise at the end of it which Frank clearly believes will offer him many more options. April doesn’t at first see it this way and remains disappointed that she can’t live out her dream as she’s determined it to be. Fights continue as their bond loosens and threatens to snap altogether. Still, there is a very real sense that nothing can fully destroy the love these people have for one another. It’s one of those thick and thin scenarios that plays against the backdrop of domestic euphoria.
Within the tidy framework the seeds of dissent are quietly sewn. Frank has an affair with one of his secretaries named Maureen Grube (Kazan). It doesn’t mean anything whatsoever so naturally he goes back for more. Maureen seems to be aware that she is being used but like all women in her position she chooses to ignore it. In one scene after a tryst she is sitting on the end of the bed smoking. There is a look of quiet resignation on her face as she contemplates what the experience means. Perhaps she’s thinking of the emptiness of the act, devoid as it is of any emotional involvement on his part. Perhaps she’s imagining a scenario where he leaves his wife and takes her in his arms back to his retreat for a repeat performance. Regardless, at the core of the experience is indeed her own emotional involvement in the act. Frank is callous and seems unable to face what he has done so he leaves. Later that night he goes home and is surprised by April and the kids as it is his birthday. The look of his face is one of both acute pain and fear. He knows he has done something untoward but he’s forced to remain as if nothing has happened. It’s a trick that he masters quite effectively. It isn’t until later he confesses to April who simply says, “Why did you tell me? Are you trying to make me jealous?”
In a sense this film can be seen as a guide to surviving the myriad ups and downs that afflict every marriage. It demonstrates both extremes and forces the two central characters to handle each of them while maintaining their dignity and sense of autonomy. In one scene Frank runs after April who has darted into the woods. When he reaches her she is incensed because she needs time to think, time to be alone with herself after a particularly cruel fight. The music as she enters the woods is the perfect mixture of evocative and downright creepy.
The performances in this film are all quite brilliant. Michael Shannon as mentioned clearly demonstrates why he is nominated for an Academy Award. There is an intensity here that comes through from the moment Shannon steps into the frame. His character’s maneuvering through strange territories and Shannon is able to convey John’s acute discomfort through body language and gestures. This is a character who is strained by social interaction and one truly feels this via the way Shannon chooses to sit down or walk about the room. It’s extraordinary to see an actor who is able to show such vulnerability just by moving his hands in a certain way. Kate Winslet gives another Oscar worthy performance as a woman who has reached the end of her tether. April wants so much to be truly happy but finds herself grounded as if her feet were nailed to the floor. There’s a sense that she hasn’t always welcomed the additions of the children but certainly seven years on after the first one she no longer feels apprehensive about them. Still, she does sometimes seem to wish she hadn’t burdened herself with them but these moments are fleeting and do not effect her overall state of being. Winslet as mentioned can destroy with a simple glance and the way her eyes work in this film is devastating.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives a powerhouse performance as a man whose filled with considerable rage about his job, his marriage, and his prospects of doing anything great with his life. He turns thirty and he feels as if he has turned into his father which he vowed he’d never do. Frank is a hard worker who legitimately believes that a man must be out there doing something vital in order to support his family. There’s an integrity to Frank that is only slightly damaged by his penchant for sleeping with the secretary. His longings are typical and subsequently torture him when they are not actualized. Kathryn Hahn plays a solid woman who represents one who has eased into the transition of the happy family life. She is someone who recognizes the difficulties but is more apt than April at facing them with a clear mind and an able heart. Hahn captures her character’s strength and ability to see through the storms without getting unduly accosted by their influence.
Overall, this film is an immaculately acted tone poem on the myriad confusions that afflict even the best intended when they are faced with what they perceive to be limited horizons and the often crushing brutality of the daily grind. The Wheelers have made what is considered by many to be an ideal life for themselves. They have a solid income, two gloriously content children, and a place for themselves in a community that takes in those who have accepted their lot in life without posing any uncomfortable queries that tend to disrupt the calm. Yet, as the film so elegantly demonstrates, this particular reality can be uniformly stifling to ambitions that ascend beyond its codified walls. The perfectly determined life, remaining on the surface something of an achievement, is no respite for those who cannot by into the delusion that such lives necessarily entail. The Wheelers find themselves at odds with the illusion because they still have ambitions for something much more vital. Their suffering emerges when they see before them nothing but slight variations on the same tired theme. At the end of the day, the limits of the proscribed life grinds on those who cannot maintain the charade of acceptance.
directed by Sam Mendes
written by Justin Haythe
based on the novel by Richard Yates
starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates, Richard Easton, David Harbour, Kathryn Hahn, Zoe Kazan, Dylan Baker, Jay O. Sanders
The human face is a mightily accurate barometer of emotion and intent. In this film director Sam Mendes focuses a considerable amount of attention on the visages of his lead actors leading to a succinct understanding of the characters’s various torments and disappointments. It maps out territory that is at times convoluted and exceedingly strange. Kate Winslet’s face tells many stories throughout this film. Her rage, frustration, fear, and even the occasional fit of what may pass for happiness are clearly written for everyone to see. Winslet is masterful here at conveying a considerable amount of information with a simple look. She does it unflinchingly as her character remains unaware of just how much she is revealing through her facial expressions.
Kate Winslet is April who is dissatisfied with the way things have developed in her life despite having done everything that society promotes as necessary to a vital, contributing life. When we first meet her she is an aspiring actress whose most recent play is universally loathed. She meets Frank Wheeler (DiCaprio) at a party and the pair are married. Frank convinces April that she’s just not that good at acting and she settles down to be a happy little housewife with her perfect kids, lovely and inviting home, and the latest in appliances. None of this helps her solve her quintessential dilemma which is to live a life that is freer, to see a future with more possibilities and less strain. It’s a breathtaking performance that comes together mostly through April’s reactions to events around her. The look of frustration plays like a permanent scowl that she cannot disavow by pretending to be what she is supposed to be.
April and Frank seem to have an ideal life. They’ve moved into a desirable and enviable home, they’ve gained prestige in the community by pushing out a couple of kids, and Frank is a respected employee for a business machine company. However, he’s routinely disappointed and professes on several occasions that he hates his job. April has an epiphany and decides that the family should move to Paris. It’s a wild idea that clearly is not going anywhere but for a brief period the couple seem to have found a bliss that heretofore has eluded them. Their faces no longer bear the strain of a torment; instead they seem to float by without a care in the world. Circumstances intervene though which trip up the dream leaving it gasping for air in the dirt at their feet.
This story plays out in real life all the time all over the world. There is a nagging feeling that things could be so much better if only this or that aspect of the life were altered dramatically. If only we could move into a better house. If only I could get more money or a better job entirely. If only the wife could get pregnant and bring into the world someone to distract us from the tyranny of our lives. This film suggests that none of these options do much to solve the essential dilemma. Acute unhappiness bordering on despair cannot in and of themselves bring about the desired change. They are often a good starting place but an entirely different world view is necessary if they are going to take root. New objects, new directions can bring about a transformation if the individual has prepared the way for a bright, new future that beckons with a tenacity that cannot be ignored. April and Frank have not prepared themselves for this new future. Their past is still sullied with shattered hopes and dismal personal disasters that are entirely internal in their actualization. Actual events, objects, are not oppressive. It’s the point of view that sees them this way and therefore the world is viewed as hopeless and empty.
Michael Shannon plays John, a former mathematician who has found himself incapable of handling the day to day existence taken for granted by most of the population. His scientific knowledge has been eradicated by electric shock therapy and he resides in a mental institution. He is the son of a realtor named Helen Givings (Bates) and her husband Howard (Easton). Helen asks the Wheelers if she can bring John over during one if his furloughs. They agree and John is paraded out and immediately demonstrates his lack of social awareness. Still, he says things that cause Frank to remark that John is the only person who clearly understands them.
Shannon gives one of those rare performances that is always close to being ripped apart by some spastic fit. He plays it with a fragility that is nevertheless controlled. It’s heartbreaking as one is instantly made sympathetic to a man whose livelihood has been cruelly taken away from him by circumstances beyond his control. John says “A lot of people are on to the emptiness but it takes real guts to see the hopelessness”. There is a real sense that despite his social gracelessness that John has acquired devastating insights into all matters of both the heart and the head. He’s like a savant of emotional truths and he manages to get quite a rise out of Frank who explodes in one of his frequent displays of acute frustration and demonstrable anger.
The marriage of April and Frank is as difficult to manage as a marriage can be. Both of them feel unmoored, merely flakes of dust floating in the wind. When Frank gets a job offer that promises him considerably more money, priorities shift as Frank sees an opportunity for a future that is actually desirable. He recognizes that working in computers could very well be something worth investing his time in. It’s the very thing that he requires to ensure that his work life manages to provide the stimulation and excitement that he’s been craving all along. Sure, it’s a desk job putting in even more hours but there’s a promise at the end of it which Frank clearly believes will offer him many more options. April doesn’t at first see it this way and remains disappointed that she can’t live out her dream as she’s determined it to be. Fights continue as their bond loosens and threatens to snap altogether. Still, there is a very real sense that nothing can fully destroy the love these people have for one another. It’s one of those thick and thin scenarios that plays against the backdrop of domestic euphoria.
Within the tidy framework the seeds of dissent are quietly sewn. Frank has an affair with one of his secretaries named Maureen Grube (Kazan). It doesn’t mean anything whatsoever so naturally he goes back for more. Maureen seems to be aware that she is being used but like all women in her position she chooses to ignore it. In one scene after a tryst she is sitting on the end of the bed smoking. There is a look of quiet resignation on her face as she contemplates what the experience means. Perhaps she’s thinking of the emptiness of the act, devoid as it is of any emotional involvement on his part. Perhaps she’s imagining a scenario where he leaves his wife and takes her in his arms back to his retreat for a repeat performance. Regardless, at the core of the experience is indeed her own emotional involvement in the act. Frank is callous and seems unable to face what he has done so he leaves. Later that night he goes home and is surprised by April and the kids as it is his birthday. The look of his face is one of both acute pain and fear. He knows he has done something untoward but he’s forced to remain as if nothing has happened. It’s a trick that he masters quite effectively. It isn’t until later he confesses to April who simply says, “Why did you tell me? Are you trying to make me jealous?”
In a sense this film can be seen as a guide to surviving the myriad ups and downs that afflict every marriage. It demonstrates both extremes and forces the two central characters to handle each of them while maintaining their dignity and sense of autonomy. In one scene Frank runs after April who has darted into the woods. When he reaches her she is incensed because she needs time to think, time to be alone with herself after a particularly cruel fight. The music as she enters the woods is the perfect mixture of evocative and downright creepy.
The performances in this film are all quite brilliant. Michael Shannon as mentioned clearly demonstrates why he is nominated for an Academy Award. There is an intensity here that comes through from the moment Shannon steps into the frame. His character’s maneuvering through strange territories and Shannon is able to convey John’s acute discomfort through body language and gestures. This is a character who is strained by social interaction and one truly feels this via the way Shannon chooses to sit down or walk about the room. It’s extraordinary to see an actor who is able to show such vulnerability just by moving his hands in a certain way. Kate Winslet gives another Oscar worthy performance as a woman who has reached the end of her tether. April wants so much to be truly happy but finds herself grounded as if her feet were nailed to the floor. There’s a sense that she hasn’t always welcomed the additions of the children but certainly seven years on after the first one she no longer feels apprehensive about them. Still, she does sometimes seem to wish she hadn’t burdened herself with them but these moments are fleeting and do not effect her overall state of being. Winslet as mentioned can destroy with a simple glance and the way her eyes work in this film is devastating.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives a powerhouse performance as a man whose filled with considerable rage about his job, his marriage, and his prospects of doing anything great with his life. He turns thirty and he feels as if he has turned into his father which he vowed he’d never do. Frank is a hard worker who legitimately believes that a man must be out there doing something vital in order to support his family. There’s an integrity to Frank that is only slightly damaged by his penchant for sleeping with the secretary. His longings are typical and subsequently torture him when they are not actualized. Kathryn Hahn plays a solid woman who represents one who has eased into the transition of the happy family life. She is someone who recognizes the difficulties but is more apt than April at facing them with a clear mind and an able heart. Hahn captures her character’s strength and ability to see through the storms without getting unduly accosted by their influence.
Overall, this film is an immaculately acted tone poem on the myriad confusions that afflict even the best intended when they are faced with what they perceive to be limited horizons and the often crushing brutality of the daily grind. The Wheelers have made what is considered by many to be an ideal life for themselves. They have a solid income, two gloriously content children, and a place for themselves in a community that takes in those who have accepted their lot in life without posing any uncomfortable queries that tend to disrupt the calm. Yet, as the film so elegantly demonstrates, this particular reality can be uniformly stifling to ambitions that ascend beyond its codified walls. The perfectly determined life, remaining on the surface something of an achievement, is no respite for those who cannot by into the delusion that such lives necessarily entail. The Wheelers find themselves at odds with the illusion because they still have ambitions for something much more vital. Their suffering emerges when they see before them nothing but slight variations on the same tired theme. At the end of the day, the limits of the proscribed life grinds on those who cannot maintain the charade of acceptance.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Film Review--Teeth
Teeth
written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein
starring Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais, Hale Appleman, Lenny von Dohlen, Vivienne Benesch, Ashley Springer, Julia Garro
Being those lips there must be teeth. It’s an ancient fear that has afflicted men since the dawn of time. Vagina Dentata. Yes, something horrible and strange capable of maiming and even killing the unwitting. For Dawn O’Keefe (Weixler), this mythical condition has always been with her. The film starts with a startling scene. Dawn is in a kiddie pool with her step-brother Brad (Hensley). He says, “Now, show me yours.” While their parents Bill (von Dohlen) and Kim (Benesch) ignore the kids, Brad suddenly cries out. He reveals a serious wound at the end of his finger while Dawn playfully turns her head away. It’s obvious what has happened and proves to be one of the very few instances in cinema where childhood sexually is blatantly explored. It sets the tone nicely for what is to follow.
Years later Dawn is in highschool. She is a confirmed virgin who speaks at gatherings of other virgins who have taken the Promise pledge. It is something of a cult with the audience blindly offering mantras that have been inculcated into their sex-starved brains. Dawn is perfectly at ease with her celibacy until she meets a new student named Tobey (Appleman). It’s clear from the moment she apprehends him that she wants him deep inside her. Indeed, she fantasies about marrying him and is close to pleasuring herself before she freaks out and condemns herself for nearly succumbing to self-love. It’s clearly forbidden in the cult and her near betrayal of her oath troubles her immensely.
Despite the pledge she calls Toby and they spend an afternoon swimming together. After they climb out of the water the inevitable happens and they begin to make out. Only Tobey takes it much further and ends up sexually assaulting Dawn. Fortunately for her this is when the teeth kick in and bites his man-stick cleanly off. It’s a fine tactic and one that could go a long way to eliminate the rape problem in toto.
So, Dawn discovers her condition and is naturally disturbed by its implications. Her changing body replete with new urges has left her a hideous freak with an immense power which she employs whenever the situation calls for it. At first it is terrifying and unwanted but gradually becomes a weapon that can be used to rid the world of creepy guys who prove to deserve whatever horrible fate her vagina teeth can dish out.
Dawn goes to a gynecologist named Dr. Godfrey (Pais) who attempts to molest her while ostensibly performing a routine examination. The teeth take their revenge by severing four of his fingers. The film is routinely very funny in a strictly dark sense and the image of the sorry bastard slumped in a corner with his bloody digits scattered on the floor is just one of many chillingly hilarious moments in the film. One might find it odd that a scene with a severed penis could be anything but horrific but this film manages to find the humor behind the savage act. Sure, it’s brutal and perhaps the worst fear a man can possibly entertain but as it’s conceived here the end result is extremely funny.
The great revenge fantasy is not entirely played out in this film until the very end. Dawn mainly maims boys she actually wants to have sex with until she finally comes around to accepting the viability of her special skill. Then she deliberately uses it as a weapon that truly serves her well and wreaks a terrible revenge on a very real enemy. It is suggested that she is going to continue to take full advantage of the teeth and become something of a penis-severing serial killer. The only difficulty would be disposing of the bodies but if she could manage to only attempt sex with boys and men in their own bed and could perhaps render them inert through drugs so they don’t attempt to strangle her out of their agony and confusion, she could eliminate a fair amount of leches.
The connection between innocence and savagery proves to be an intriguing one in this film. The fact that Dawn is molested as a very young girl perhaps is linked to her militant anti-sex position. She learns to both vilify and fear her sex organs as she begins to suffer flesh longings that she attempts to suppress by swearing to avoid any sexual activity until her wedding night. She’s a little girl burdened with a fantasy of the first time that will most likely never come true. She is born with the teeth and the wound they inflict on Brad is traumatic to her in a decisive manner. She might have grown to view her sex organs as not simply dirty but lethal although the memory of the instance is not available to her.
Brad is a typical sex-crazed black-metal head who screws girls and smokes weed in his room. He’s supposed to be the antithesis of Dawn as he is mostly a dissolute character who lives something of a hedonist lifestyle that is wholly profligate and venomous to Dawn. He’s also a confirmed misogynist who refers to every woman, including his step-mom as a bitch. He shows his disdain for female genitalia by routinely taking his conquests up the ass. He is presented as a rather shallow menace who is nevertheless living something of an ideal life in the eyes of many men.
It can be argued that this is a pro-abstinence film after all considering the bloody finality of sex that is depicted throughout. Dawn is pure, irritatingly wholesome, yet struggling with yearnings she has managed for her entire life to dispel. In anatomy class the school board has deemed it necessary to place a giant gold circular plate on the page that displays the female genital organs. The terrible mouth, the gateway to all grief, is thereby shown to be so terrifying that it cannot even rightly be shown in school. Again, female sexuality is something so dangerous to young minds that it must be obscured. Yet they have no problem with allowing the penis schematic which the teacher attempts to defend by stating that there is a difference between the two that he is unable to define. He can’t even say the words regarding female sex organs, so deeply ingrained is his fear of being contaminated by them.
The performances in this film all serve the script well. Jess Weixler has a natural quality that befits her character’s earnest attempt to remain sexually pure. Dawn comes off as robust, emotionally strong girl who is brutally assaulted and subsequently considers herself unclean and unworthy of promoting purity to an audience of her fellow highschoolers. Weixler captures her character’s transformation with great skill. John Hensley is a bit off at times but mostly he conveys a highly charged, aggro man-boy who seems to take great pleasure in demeaning women for sport. He’s believable enough as a cauldron of rage that might overflow at any time. Hale Appleman is a bit flat at times but his role isn’t terribly demanding. All he has to do is look horny and scream repeatedly when Dawn’s special little friend brutally takes his manhood and his life.
Overall, this film is thoroughly engaging from the moment we meet Dawn and Brad. It takes a worldwide myth and modernizes it into an occasionally frightening and very funny narrative. It points out the absurdity of chastity as a lifestyle choice for horny teenagers whose hormones demand sexual release. Still, it doesn’t exactly promote healthy sex as all but one attempt end up horrifically for the boys involved. Female sexuality is promoted as dangerous if not deadly and the film never attempts to suggest a differing point of view. What it does do is give its central female character great insight into the nature of her condition. However, she is prohibited against sexual congress until she meets a “hero” who can disarm the dragon and free her. This perhaps means she will remain pure until she meets the man she is to marry and once she is betrothed the curse will be lifted and she can subsequently spend the rest of her days happily screwing her ever-loving brains out.
written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein
starring Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais, Hale Appleman, Lenny von Dohlen, Vivienne Benesch, Ashley Springer, Julia Garro
Being those lips there must be teeth. It’s an ancient fear that has afflicted men since the dawn of time. Vagina Dentata. Yes, something horrible and strange capable of maiming and even killing the unwitting. For Dawn O’Keefe (Weixler), this mythical condition has always been with her. The film starts with a startling scene. Dawn is in a kiddie pool with her step-brother Brad (Hensley). He says, “Now, show me yours.” While their parents Bill (von Dohlen) and Kim (Benesch) ignore the kids, Brad suddenly cries out. He reveals a serious wound at the end of his finger while Dawn playfully turns her head away. It’s obvious what has happened and proves to be one of the very few instances in cinema where childhood sexually is blatantly explored. It sets the tone nicely for what is to follow.
Years later Dawn is in highschool. She is a confirmed virgin who speaks at gatherings of other virgins who have taken the Promise pledge. It is something of a cult with the audience blindly offering mantras that have been inculcated into their sex-starved brains. Dawn is perfectly at ease with her celibacy until she meets a new student named Tobey (Appleman). It’s clear from the moment she apprehends him that she wants him deep inside her. Indeed, she fantasies about marrying him and is close to pleasuring herself before she freaks out and condemns herself for nearly succumbing to self-love. It’s clearly forbidden in the cult and her near betrayal of her oath troubles her immensely.
Despite the pledge she calls Toby and they spend an afternoon swimming together. After they climb out of the water the inevitable happens and they begin to make out. Only Tobey takes it much further and ends up sexually assaulting Dawn. Fortunately for her this is when the teeth kick in and bites his man-stick cleanly off. It’s a fine tactic and one that could go a long way to eliminate the rape problem in toto.
So, Dawn discovers her condition and is naturally disturbed by its implications. Her changing body replete with new urges has left her a hideous freak with an immense power which she employs whenever the situation calls for it. At first it is terrifying and unwanted but gradually becomes a weapon that can be used to rid the world of creepy guys who prove to deserve whatever horrible fate her vagina teeth can dish out.
Dawn goes to a gynecologist named Dr. Godfrey (Pais) who attempts to molest her while ostensibly performing a routine examination. The teeth take their revenge by severing four of his fingers. The film is routinely very funny in a strictly dark sense and the image of the sorry bastard slumped in a corner with his bloody digits scattered on the floor is just one of many chillingly hilarious moments in the film. One might find it odd that a scene with a severed penis could be anything but horrific but this film manages to find the humor behind the savage act. Sure, it’s brutal and perhaps the worst fear a man can possibly entertain but as it’s conceived here the end result is extremely funny.
The great revenge fantasy is not entirely played out in this film until the very end. Dawn mainly maims boys she actually wants to have sex with until she finally comes around to accepting the viability of her special skill. Then she deliberately uses it as a weapon that truly serves her well and wreaks a terrible revenge on a very real enemy. It is suggested that she is going to continue to take full advantage of the teeth and become something of a penis-severing serial killer. The only difficulty would be disposing of the bodies but if she could manage to only attempt sex with boys and men in their own bed and could perhaps render them inert through drugs so they don’t attempt to strangle her out of their agony and confusion, she could eliminate a fair amount of leches.
The connection between innocence and savagery proves to be an intriguing one in this film. The fact that Dawn is molested as a very young girl perhaps is linked to her militant anti-sex position. She learns to both vilify and fear her sex organs as she begins to suffer flesh longings that she attempts to suppress by swearing to avoid any sexual activity until her wedding night. She’s a little girl burdened with a fantasy of the first time that will most likely never come true. She is born with the teeth and the wound they inflict on Brad is traumatic to her in a decisive manner. She might have grown to view her sex organs as not simply dirty but lethal although the memory of the instance is not available to her.
Brad is a typical sex-crazed black-metal head who screws girls and smokes weed in his room. He’s supposed to be the antithesis of Dawn as he is mostly a dissolute character who lives something of a hedonist lifestyle that is wholly profligate and venomous to Dawn. He’s also a confirmed misogynist who refers to every woman, including his step-mom as a bitch. He shows his disdain for female genitalia by routinely taking his conquests up the ass. He is presented as a rather shallow menace who is nevertheless living something of an ideal life in the eyes of many men.
It can be argued that this is a pro-abstinence film after all considering the bloody finality of sex that is depicted throughout. Dawn is pure, irritatingly wholesome, yet struggling with yearnings she has managed for her entire life to dispel. In anatomy class the school board has deemed it necessary to place a giant gold circular plate on the page that displays the female genital organs. The terrible mouth, the gateway to all grief, is thereby shown to be so terrifying that it cannot even rightly be shown in school. Again, female sexuality is something so dangerous to young minds that it must be obscured. Yet they have no problem with allowing the penis schematic which the teacher attempts to defend by stating that there is a difference between the two that he is unable to define. He can’t even say the words regarding female sex organs, so deeply ingrained is his fear of being contaminated by them.
The performances in this film all serve the script well. Jess Weixler has a natural quality that befits her character’s earnest attempt to remain sexually pure. Dawn comes off as robust, emotionally strong girl who is brutally assaulted and subsequently considers herself unclean and unworthy of promoting purity to an audience of her fellow highschoolers. Weixler captures her character’s transformation with great skill. John Hensley is a bit off at times but mostly he conveys a highly charged, aggro man-boy who seems to take great pleasure in demeaning women for sport. He’s believable enough as a cauldron of rage that might overflow at any time. Hale Appleman is a bit flat at times but his role isn’t terribly demanding. All he has to do is look horny and scream repeatedly when Dawn’s special little friend brutally takes his manhood and his life.
Overall, this film is thoroughly engaging from the moment we meet Dawn and Brad. It takes a worldwide myth and modernizes it into an occasionally frightening and very funny narrative. It points out the absurdity of chastity as a lifestyle choice for horny teenagers whose hormones demand sexual release. Still, it doesn’t exactly promote healthy sex as all but one attempt end up horrifically for the boys involved. Female sexuality is promoted as dangerous if not deadly and the film never attempts to suggest a differing point of view. What it does do is give its central female character great insight into the nature of her condition. However, she is prohibited against sexual congress until she meets a “hero” who can disarm the dragon and free her. This perhaps means she will remain pure until she meets the man she is to marry and once she is betrothed the curse will be lifted and she can subsequently spend the rest of her days happily screwing her ever-loving brains out.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Film Review--Underworld: Evolution
Underworld: Evolution
directed by Len Wiseman
written by Danny McBride
story by Len Wiseman, Danny McBride
based on characters by Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman and Danny McBride
starring Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Derek Jacobi, Steven Mackintosh, Shane Brolly, Brian Steele, Zita Görög
This film takes off where the first one ended after a brief back story in the early 13the century that introduces the characters of Markus (Curran) and his brother William (Steele) who were the first vampire and lycan respectively. William is imprisoned for “all time” by Viktor (Nighy) who is revealed to be a powerful leader before Markus turns him and his legions into a willing vampire.
The story moves to the present day and Markus has been awoken after a six century slumber. He quickly eliminates Kraven (Brolly) and numerous associates. He then tracks Selene (Beckingsale) and Michael (Speedman) to a warehouse but they escape.
The film has a decisively moody tone which is a continuation of the first film in the series. It doesn’t necessarily stand out amidst the glut of similarly themed films but the aesthetic does accentuate the decrepit quality the film is attempting to convey. It seems dirty and foul to a degree and this allows the great Lycan-Vampire battles to emanate with coarse vitality as necessary.
The creatures are even more persistently menacing in this chapter. The Lycans seem larger, fiercer and more relentless. There are also more scenes with full on Lycan wolves in attack mode which increases the horror quotient of the film. The Lycans simply look ghastly and very scary when they are fully engaged in their savage pastimes.
The back story introduces the audience to a further exploration of central characters. We learn that Markus and William are the twin sons of Alexander Corvinius; Markus was bitten by a bat and became a Vampire while William was bitten by a wolf and became a Lycan. Lycans were originally terribly vicious and unable to return to human form. William was out of control and Markus convinced Viktor to allow him to turn him and his legions into vampires in exchange for help corralling William. Markus planned of softening William but Viktor betrayed him and locked William up instead. Awakened by the blood of the Lycan scientist Singe in the first film, Markus is determined to unleash William from captivity.
Selene and Michael intensify their sexual bond by engaging in some softcore body action. There is one scene between them that encapsulates much of what the vampire legend is about. Michael is dying and needs to feed. Selene cuts her wrists and as he is sucking the blood a look of sexual bliss comes over Selene’s face. Bloodletting is for her a deeply erotic act and giving her blood to a lover as a type of sacrament is exceedingly sexual and gratifying. There is another feeding where Selene leisurely drinks from the wrist of Alexander Corvinius’s original bloodline, which is the only way she can track and kill Markus.
The decadence of the first film has been replaced with much more action. The vaguely sexy and terminally bored aristocrats have all perished and the coven completely wiped from the face of the earth. Indeed, both covens have been eliminated as well as all three Vampire elders. The chaos is well rendered here leaving no other option but to focus on much shedding of Lycan blood.
Selene maintains her tough, steely exterior but has developed a softer, more vulnerable side which only manages to add to her mystique. She’s a brutal killer and seemingly an amazing lover and one can only wonder what sex is like for a vampire. If all senses are made acute then sex must be an utterly shattering experience. Mere mortals would probably be unable to handle such sensations and would probably be rendered insane if their bodies didn’t explode from the intensity of the experience.
A key element to this story is the existence of hybrids who essentially take the best aspects of each source without having to suffer any of the weaknesses. Michael is the first Lycan-dominant hybrid and his power and strength is even more impressive than the Elders. In many ways the existence of hybrids points to the future and this is what Viktor in the first film is so afraid of. Michael represents something entirely strange and foreign into the world populated by Vampires and Lycans. The same can be said about Marcus who is the first and only Vampire dominant hybrid.
The film has a glossy visual code that is maintained throughout. It simply looks like what one imagines an Underworld to be. It’s all slippery angles and a real sense of despair. There is a hopelessness to the order of things as these two mythological creatures do hard battle in a war that nobody understands any more. There is a very real sense of futility that is a permanent fixture of the film. Nothing comes off that isn’t drenched in blood and each character projects a feverish necessity that provides the film with a permanence that is played out in the battle sequences. This is a war that seems will last for another millennium with no direct end in sight. The hatred rages and all hope seems to be lost until the very end when the atmosphere that is meticulously created becomes still and calm. But at the core of the war is a terrible treachery that can never be undone. A mean trick leaves the Lycans without their progenitor and confusion rightly reigns from that point on.
The Lycans are a heartbroken lot who have emerged after centuries of slavery and find themselves the target of a terrible onslaught directed at the goal of removing every last one of them from corporal existence. Thus their rage is understandable and they prove to be sympathetic creatures who have been brought so low only to show themselves to be a resilient lot of beasts albeit a sorely misguided one. They have no real leadership and have been pinned up against a wall forced into a position that renders them succinctly demoralized in their noble quest for survival. They are on the defensive for most of the film and their lashing out is the product of many years of psychological torment. The Vampires have a squad of Death Dealers who have organized for the sole purpose of obliterating the Lycan race. In this film, one gets a sense that the Lycans are starting to fade out. The hybrid Markus beckons the future, something so vitally terrifying to both Lycans and Vampires for the sole reason that he is something more powerful than either race and can subsequently create more like him.
The performances in this film all play the mythologies for what they are worth. Kate Beckinsale again looks like a grievous angel of death coupled with a sensuous humanity which her character does not demonstrate in the first film. Selene is still icy cold whenever she is blasting away at her adversaries but there is a new found warmth to her that is hungrily welcomed as she becomes more acutely sexualized. She’s more than a mere killing machine although she doesn’t much smile or show any emotion besides sexual gratification when she is fucking Michael. Scott Speedman makes for a fine Hybrid as his character grows into his new form. Michael is as tenacious a creature as one can hope for in a film such as this. He is virtually unstoppable which makes him a heroic figure although it’s not altogether clear that he is fighting on the side of good. He’s a wholly new animal and one wonders if he is torn between allegiances to the two races or if he might eventually rise above the conflict to create a new race of Hybrids who could create a council that would ultimately take full control of both Vampires and Lycans. Derek Jacobi plays Corvinus as a solid, grounded character who possesses a tremendous amount of weight and legitimacy. Jacobi simply looks like the forefather who is the source of all Vampires and all Lycans. It’s an uncanny thing to witness an actor who is so dramatically solvent and permanent and who brings an intensity that is requisite for the character. Tony Curran has a diabolical charm that he maintains for the duration of the film. One never forgets Markus’s mission as he gives everything to free his brother in an effort to solve the war once and for all.
Overall, this film captures a mood that supercedes most films in this genre. Nothing is obvious and the characters all make sense. There is a coldness to much of the film that is eased by the transformation of Selene into a woman with appetites that can only be satisfied through strict carnal necessity. Her sexuality is perhaps going to be a key in the fourth installment because she will have realized a peculiar potency that has gone unexplored in previous installments in the franchise. The back story is introduced with precision and each character’s place in the narrative firmly set. This is a series that is worth tearing into in order to fully understand the myriad relationships and how the various characters play off of one another. These characters live long after the film has come to an end and it’s fascinating to pick them apart. Ultimately this story has a vitality that renders it significant with a lasting purpose.
directed by Len Wiseman
written by Danny McBride
story by Len Wiseman, Danny McBride
based on characters by Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman and Danny McBride
starring Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy, Scott Speedman, Tony Curran, Derek Jacobi, Steven Mackintosh, Shane Brolly, Brian Steele, Zita Görög
This film takes off where the first one ended after a brief back story in the early 13the century that introduces the characters of Markus (Curran) and his brother William (Steele) who were the first vampire and lycan respectively. William is imprisoned for “all time” by Viktor (Nighy) who is revealed to be a powerful leader before Markus turns him and his legions into a willing vampire.
The story moves to the present day and Markus has been awoken after a six century slumber. He quickly eliminates Kraven (Brolly) and numerous associates. He then tracks Selene (Beckingsale) and Michael (Speedman) to a warehouse but they escape.
The film has a decisively moody tone which is a continuation of the first film in the series. It doesn’t necessarily stand out amidst the glut of similarly themed films but the aesthetic does accentuate the decrepit quality the film is attempting to convey. It seems dirty and foul to a degree and this allows the great Lycan-Vampire battles to emanate with coarse vitality as necessary.
The creatures are even more persistently menacing in this chapter. The Lycans seem larger, fiercer and more relentless. There are also more scenes with full on Lycan wolves in attack mode which increases the horror quotient of the film. The Lycans simply look ghastly and very scary when they are fully engaged in their savage pastimes.
The back story introduces the audience to a further exploration of central characters. We learn that Markus and William are the twin sons of Alexander Corvinius; Markus was bitten by a bat and became a Vampire while William was bitten by a wolf and became a Lycan. Lycans were originally terribly vicious and unable to return to human form. William was out of control and Markus convinced Viktor to allow him to turn him and his legions into vampires in exchange for help corralling William. Markus planned of softening William but Viktor betrayed him and locked William up instead. Awakened by the blood of the Lycan scientist Singe in the first film, Markus is determined to unleash William from captivity.
Selene and Michael intensify their sexual bond by engaging in some softcore body action. There is one scene between them that encapsulates much of what the vampire legend is about. Michael is dying and needs to feed. Selene cuts her wrists and as he is sucking the blood a look of sexual bliss comes over Selene’s face. Bloodletting is for her a deeply erotic act and giving her blood to a lover as a type of sacrament is exceedingly sexual and gratifying. There is another feeding where Selene leisurely drinks from the wrist of Alexander Corvinius’s original bloodline, which is the only way she can track and kill Markus.
The decadence of the first film has been replaced with much more action. The vaguely sexy and terminally bored aristocrats have all perished and the coven completely wiped from the face of the earth. Indeed, both covens have been eliminated as well as all three Vampire elders. The chaos is well rendered here leaving no other option but to focus on much shedding of Lycan blood.
Selene maintains her tough, steely exterior but has developed a softer, more vulnerable side which only manages to add to her mystique. She’s a brutal killer and seemingly an amazing lover and one can only wonder what sex is like for a vampire. If all senses are made acute then sex must be an utterly shattering experience. Mere mortals would probably be unable to handle such sensations and would probably be rendered insane if their bodies didn’t explode from the intensity of the experience.
A key element to this story is the existence of hybrids who essentially take the best aspects of each source without having to suffer any of the weaknesses. Michael is the first Lycan-dominant hybrid and his power and strength is even more impressive than the Elders. In many ways the existence of hybrids points to the future and this is what Viktor in the first film is so afraid of. Michael represents something entirely strange and foreign into the world populated by Vampires and Lycans. The same can be said about Marcus who is the first and only Vampire dominant hybrid.
The film has a glossy visual code that is maintained throughout. It simply looks like what one imagines an Underworld to be. It’s all slippery angles and a real sense of despair. There is a hopelessness to the order of things as these two mythological creatures do hard battle in a war that nobody understands any more. There is a very real sense of futility that is a permanent fixture of the film. Nothing comes off that isn’t drenched in blood and each character projects a feverish necessity that provides the film with a permanence that is played out in the battle sequences. This is a war that seems will last for another millennium with no direct end in sight. The hatred rages and all hope seems to be lost until the very end when the atmosphere that is meticulously created becomes still and calm. But at the core of the war is a terrible treachery that can never be undone. A mean trick leaves the Lycans without their progenitor and confusion rightly reigns from that point on.
The Lycans are a heartbroken lot who have emerged after centuries of slavery and find themselves the target of a terrible onslaught directed at the goal of removing every last one of them from corporal existence. Thus their rage is understandable and they prove to be sympathetic creatures who have been brought so low only to show themselves to be a resilient lot of beasts albeit a sorely misguided one. They have no real leadership and have been pinned up against a wall forced into a position that renders them succinctly demoralized in their noble quest for survival. They are on the defensive for most of the film and their lashing out is the product of many years of psychological torment. The Vampires have a squad of Death Dealers who have organized for the sole purpose of obliterating the Lycan race. In this film, one gets a sense that the Lycans are starting to fade out. The hybrid Markus beckons the future, something so vitally terrifying to both Lycans and Vampires for the sole reason that he is something more powerful than either race and can subsequently create more like him.
The performances in this film all play the mythologies for what they are worth. Kate Beckinsale again looks like a grievous angel of death coupled with a sensuous humanity which her character does not demonstrate in the first film. Selene is still icy cold whenever she is blasting away at her adversaries but there is a new found warmth to her that is hungrily welcomed as she becomes more acutely sexualized. She’s more than a mere killing machine although she doesn’t much smile or show any emotion besides sexual gratification when she is fucking Michael. Scott Speedman makes for a fine Hybrid as his character grows into his new form. Michael is as tenacious a creature as one can hope for in a film such as this. He is virtually unstoppable which makes him a heroic figure although it’s not altogether clear that he is fighting on the side of good. He’s a wholly new animal and one wonders if he is torn between allegiances to the two races or if he might eventually rise above the conflict to create a new race of Hybrids who could create a council that would ultimately take full control of both Vampires and Lycans. Derek Jacobi plays Corvinus as a solid, grounded character who possesses a tremendous amount of weight and legitimacy. Jacobi simply looks like the forefather who is the source of all Vampires and all Lycans. It’s an uncanny thing to witness an actor who is so dramatically solvent and permanent and who brings an intensity that is requisite for the character. Tony Curran has a diabolical charm that he maintains for the duration of the film. One never forgets Markus’s mission as he gives everything to free his brother in an effort to solve the war once and for all.
Overall, this film captures a mood that supercedes most films in this genre. Nothing is obvious and the characters all make sense. There is a coldness to much of the film that is eased by the transformation of Selene into a woman with appetites that can only be satisfied through strict carnal necessity. Her sexuality is perhaps going to be a key in the fourth installment because she will have realized a peculiar potency that has gone unexplored in previous installments in the franchise. The back story is introduced with precision and each character’s place in the narrative firmly set. This is a series that is worth tearing into in order to fully understand the myriad relationships and how the various characters play off of one another. These characters live long after the film has come to an end and it’s fascinating to pick them apart. Ultimately this story has a vitality that renders it significant with a lasting purpose.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Film Review--The Haunting (1963)
The Haunting (1963)
directed by Robert Wise
written by Nelson Gidding
based on the novel by Shirley Jackson
starring Claire Bloom, Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Lois Maxwell, Rosalie Crutchley, Valentine Dyall
Based on the novel “Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, this infinitely creepy fright fest combines stellar music, exquisite lighting and shadow effects, and disturbing atmospherics to create a lasting horror film that builds up tension expertly. The film achieves its startling effectiveness by calmly laying out the slow, burning potentiality of a legitimate paranormal experience.
Dr. John Markway (Johnson) is an anthropologist who is keen on discovering proof that the supernatural exists. He rents out a terribly old Gothic mansion dubbed Hill House and invites a trio of experts in the phenomena to join him on his quest. His guests include Eleanor Lance, Theodora, and Luke Sanderson and each of them brings various connections with the paranormal to the investigation. Eleanor, who is known as Nell, is a timid and neurotic woman who has spent the past years caring for her ailing mother. After her mother dies she becomes determined to have some time for herself. When the call comes she fights her sister and brother in law with whom she resides being forced to sleep on the couch. She manages to sneak away with the car and drives herself to Hill House. For much of the film Eleanor’s thoughts explain her various states of mind as she attempts to calm her nerves and survive the terrors of the house. Theodora or Theo as she prefers to be called is more grounded although she too succumbs to various frights. Finally, Luke is really only interested in assessing the house because as the nephew of the woman who owns it he is set to inherit it and wants to make sure everything is in proper order.
Throughout the film the house makes its presence felt. There is loud banging at night, an inexplicable cold spot in one of the halls, and a child in the wall who appears to be being abused. Eleanor clutches an invisible hand and there are presences throughout the house that create a genuine sense of discomfort to the residences. The film uses sound and lighting to establish a definite mood of distress that never abates. The audience feels right along with the characters the horror of the house’s ill intent for those who dare to remain within its walls.
The house itself was built 90 years ago by a man named Hugh Crain. It was made with strange, off putting angles and there is not a square in the entire house. This is interesting because queer designs such as this are known to summon up peculiar forces that lend themself to supernatural possession. On the way to the house Crain’s carriage crashes into a tree killing his wife instantly. He is left with his young daughter Abigail who lives in the same nursery room for the rest of her life. She hires a care giver to take care of her in her later years. One night the care giver chooses not to answer the old woman’s rapping on the wall and Abigail promptly dies. Later the care giver hangs herself from the rafters.
The possibility that there is a force beyond our limited consciousness is ably explored in this film. Spirits are given a fair treatment and the film and there is no judgment as to whether or not they actually exist. Indeed, so many freakish things happen that it’s clear that such things are treated as a very real part of what we consider everyday reality. The film brings a solidity to the problem of spirits and the viewer comes away less skeptical than they went in. It most definitely creates a real sense of terrible unease that lasts long after the film has come to a close. Sleeping is difficult as every sound becomes akin to the shuffling feet of some disengaged soul or other. This is the sign of a high quality film that actually manages a definitive impact on the well being of its audience. It’s something that has been lost in our glossed-over, high tech attempts to create scary stories with a similar impact. Too often we are left with predictable, tiring, rehashed mediocrity that fails on every level to initiate actual terror. This film on the other hand is like an impossibly cold and bony hand tapping its fingers down our spine.
There is one incredibly tense scene near the end that is fraught with danger and has nothing to do with the supernatural. Eleanor has finally succumbed to the house and believes that she is forever a part of it. She wanders out into a courtyard and communicates with the giant statues that seem to depict Crain and various descendants. Then she whirls into the library which she previously refused to enter because the smell reminded her of her mother and also was too terribly pungent for her polite sensibilities. In the library she notices the winding staircase that shook earlier when Luke was attempting to walk up it. Eleanor duly climbs the staircase and nearly gets to the top before Markway calls after her to beckon her down. Undeterred she methodically moves up the stairs and makes it to the top. It’s an exceedingly treacherous mission and it creates a great sense of real danger. Markway finally reaches her and she is relieved. It’s basically Eleanor in a nutshell. She’s seeking danger and feels that she has been waiting for it all her life.
The story is Eleanor’s from the beginning. She feels as if nothing has ever happened to her and jumps at the chance to put herself into a situation predicated on unknown aspects. With voice over narration her thoughts are made manifest as she speaks various thoughts of fear, supplication, and earnestness to be brought under the wheel of the churning and diabolical urgency of the house. Early on there is a message written on one of the tapestries that urges for Eleanor to find help making it back home. Indeed, the house seems to be singling Eleanor out and deliberately attempting to frighten her to death. Early on it seems to be working as she is distinctly terrified at every turn. She seems brutalized by whatever is making the strange noises and causing the child to cry. But she pulls through and eventually accepts whatever is trying to get to her. She succumbs to the house’s will and has a noticeable breakthrough that produces a state of calm. She loses her fear and decides she wants to live in the house forever. It’s a terrific revelation because it proves there is a place beyond fear that can be reached by letting down the protective wall that is erected as a barrier to ensure that the Self is not infringed upon.
Theo is a proper lady who resides in the city and is slightly skeptical about the reality of spooks. Still, she does show signs of abject fear on occasion during the banging sessions where it’s impossible to locate a source for the phenomenon. Still, she’s mostly unflappable although its apparent that she still is fraught with a considerable amount of apprehension that will not effectively come off. Her nerves aren’t as frayed as Eleanor’s but she’s still not quite able to say that she is free of strain. She comforts Eleanor and is clearly the stronger of the two.
The performances in this film are all brilliantly rendered. Julie Harris captures all of her character’s intense personality quirks. Eleanor is a bundle of nerves for much of the film and Harris makes her plight both sympathetic and firmly believable. She is truly lost in a confusing mist and struggles to right herself by the end. Harris also manages to give us a woman of great strength who is unaware she possesses it. Clair Bloom’s gait and posture tell everything about the character including her motivations and something of a regal bearing. There is a vitality to Theo that comes across in every scene. Richard Johnson conveys a character who firmly believes in his attempt to solve the great mystery once and for all. He’s strong and vital throughout and has a commanding presence that never fades. Lois Maxwell has a brief turn but she establishes a firm point of view and a remarkably centered position.
Overall, this film is a bona fide ghost story that relies on simple techniques to instill tension that never abates. The characters are warmly forged and expressive in their various relationships with terror and the unexplained. They move the film along effortlessly and there is not a single lag in the entire production. There are moments of fright that are originated out of a basic approach to lighting and sound that creates terrible shadows and sounds that can not be properly placed. The result is a film that generates a coldness that is the signature of spirits as well as a desire to pull the covers over one’s head and try to ignore the ruckus in the walls.
directed by Robert Wise
written by Nelson Gidding
based on the novel by Shirley Jackson
starring Claire Bloom, Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn, Lois Maxwell, Rosalie Crutchley, Valentine Dyall
Based on the novel “Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, this infinitely creepy fright fest combines stellar music, exquisite lighting and shadow effects, and disturbing atmospherics to create a lasting horror film that builds up tension expertly. The film achieves its startling effectiveness by calmly laying out the slow, burning potentiality of a legitimate paranormal experience.
Dr. John Markway (Johnson) is an anthropologist who is keen on discovering proof that the supernatural exists. He rents out a terribly old Gothic mansion dubbed Hill House and invites a trio of experts in the phenomena to join him on his quest. His guests include Eleanor Lance, Theodora, and Luke Sanderson and each of them brings various connections with the paranormal to the investigation. Eleanor, who is known as Nell, is a timid and neurotic woman who has spent the past years caring for her ailing mother. After her mother dies she becomes determined to have some time for herself. When the call comes she fights her sister and brother in law with whom she resides being forced to sleep on the couch. She manages to sneak away with the car and drives herself to Hill House. For much of the film Eleanor’s thoughts explain her various states of mind as she attempts to calm her nerves and survive the terrors of the house. Theodora or Theo as she prefers to be called is more grounded although she too succumbs to various frights. Finally, Luke is really only interested in assessing the house because as the nephew of the woman who owns it he is set to inherit it and wants to make sure everything is in proper order.
Throughout the film the house makes its presence felt. There is loud banging at night, an inexplicable cold spot in one of the halls, and a child in the wall who appears to be being abused. Eleanor clutches an invisible hand and there are presences throughout the house that create a genuine sense of discomfort to the residences. The film uses sound and lighting to establish a definite mood of distress that never abates. The audience feels right along with the characters the horror of the house’s ill intent for those who dare to remain within its walls.
The house itself was built 90 years ago by a man named Hugh Crain. It was made with strange, off putting angles and there is not a square in the entire house. This is interesting because queer designs such as this are known to summon up peculiar forces that lend themself to supernatural possession. On the way to the house Crain’s carriage crashes into a tree killing his wife instantly. He is left with his young daughter Abigail who lives in the same nursery room for the rest of her life. She hires a care giver to take care of her in her later years. One night the care giver chooses not to answer the old woman’s rapping on the wall and Abigail promptly dies. Later the care giver hangs herself from the rafters.
The possibility that there is a force beyond our limited consciousness is ably explored in this film. Spirits are given a fair treatment and the film and there is no judgment as to whether or not they actually exist. Indeed, so many freakish things happen that it’s clear that such things are treated as a very real part of what we consider everyday reality. The film brings a solidity to the problem of spirits and the viewer comes away less skeptical than they went in. It most definitely creates a real sense of terrible unease that lasts long after the film has come to a close. Sleeping is difficult as every sound becomes akin to the shuffling feet of some disengaged soul or other. This is the sign of a high quality film that actually manages a definitive impact on the well being of its audience. It’s something that has been lost in our glossed-over, high tech attempts to create scary stories with a similar impact. Too often we are left with predictable, tiring, rehashed mediocrity that fails on every level to initiate actual terror. This film on the other hand is like an impossibly cold and bony hand tapping its fingers down our spine.
There is one incredibly tense scene near the end that is fraught with danger and has nothing to do with the supernatural. Eleanor has finally succumbed to the house and believes that she is forever a part of it. She wanders out into a courtyard and communicates with the giant statues that seem to depict Crain and various descendants. Then she whirls into the library which she previously refused to enter because the smell reminded her of her mother and also was too terribly pungent for her polite sensibilities. In the library she notices the winding staircase that shook earlier when Luke was attempting to walk up it. Eleanor duly climbs the staircase and nearly gets to the top before Markway calls after her to beckon her down. Undeterred she methodically moves up the stairs and makes it to the top. It’s an exceedingly treacherous mission and it creates a great sense of real danger. Markway finally reaches her and she is relieved. It’s basically Eleanor in a nutshell. She’s seeking danger and feels that she has been waiting for it all her life.
The story is Eleanor’s from the beginning. She feels as if nothing has ever happened to her and jumps at the chance to put herself into a situation predicated on unknown aspects. With voice over narration her thoughts are made manifest as she speaks various thoughts of fear, supplication, and earnestness to be brought under the wheel of the churning and diabolical urgency of the house. Early on there is a message written on one of the tapestries that urges for Eleanor to find help making it back home. Indeed, the house seems to be singling Eleanor out and deliberately attempting to frighten her to death. Early on it seems to be working as she is distinctly terrified at every turn. She seems brutalized by whatever is making the strange noises and causing the child to cry. But she pulls through and eventually accepts whatever is trying to get to her. She succumbs to the house’s will and has a noticeable breakthrough that produces a state of calm. She loses her fear and decides she wants to live in the house forever. It’s a terrific revelation because it proves there is a place beyond fear that can be reached by letting down the protective wall that is erected as a barrier to ensure that the Self is not infringed upon.
Theo is a proper lady who resides in the city and is slightly skeptical about the reality of spooks. Still, she does show signs of abject fear on occasion during the banging sessions where it’s impossible to locate a source for the phenomenon. Still, she’s mostly unflappable although its apparent that she still is fraught with a considerable amount of apprehension that will not effectively come off. Her nerves aren’t as frayed as Eleanor’s but she’s still not quite able to say that she is free of strain. She comforts Eleanor and is clearly the stronger of the two.
The performances in this film are all brilliantly rendered. Julie Harris captures all of her character’s intense personality quirks. Eleanor is a bundle of nerves for much of the film and Harris makes her plight both sympathetic and firmly believable. She is truly lost in a confusing mist and struggles to right herself by the end. Harris also manages to give us a woman of great strength who is unaware she possesses it. Clair Bloom’s gait and posture tell everything about the character including her motivations and something of a regal bearing. There is a vitality to Theo that comes across in every scene. Richard Johnson conveys a character who firmly believes in his attempt to solve the great mystery once and for all. He’s strong and vital throughout and has a commanding presence that never fades. Lois Maxwell has a brief turn but she establishes a firm point of view and a remarkably centered position.
Overall, this film is a bona fide ghost story that relies on simple techniques to instill tension that never abates. The characters are warmly forged and expressive in their various relationships with terror and the unexplained. They move the film along effortlessly and there is not a single lag in the entire production. There are moments of fright that are originated out of a basic approach to lighting and sound that creates terrible shadows and sounds that can not be properly placed. The result is a film that generates a coldness that is the signature of spirits as well as a desire to pull the covers over one’s head and try to ignore the ruckus in the walls.
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