(2000)
Dir - Masayuki Suzuki/Mamoru Hoshi/Hisao Ogura/Masayuki Ochiai
Overall: GOOD
A feature-length installment of Fuji TV's, 1990's run Twilight Zone-esque series of the same name which remains relatively obscure outside of its native Japan, Tales of the Unusual, (Yo nimo kimyō na monogatari - Eiga no tokubetsuhen), features four different stories and as many directors, each told in conjunction with a framing narrative of a mysterious guy in sunglasses and a suite who smiles while people at a train station ask him to spin some yarns, which is totally a thing that folks do. The selections are pretty eclectic from each other with the opening "One Snowy Night" being the only straight horror one in the bunch. "Samurai Cellular" is primarily comedic, "Chess" is psychologically outlandish, and the closing "The Marriage Simulator" is a quite touching love story, though the three of these have a somewhat interesting, near future, science fiction element to them as well. Like many anthology movies, the length is a bit excessive to flesh-out the stories enough to work, but the results are mostly satisfying due to their differentiating qualities which makes the entire production more surprising than it otherwise would have been if it stuck to a single tone.
(2004)
Dir - Tanit Jitnukul
Overall: MEH
With its sterile, TV movie presentation in tow, Art of the Devil, (Khon len khong), is hardly the most satisfyingly atmospheric black magic revenge film out there. Thai director Tanit Jitnukul does manage to throw a bizarre, creepy kid into the mix who inexplicably looks like the albino trucker in Messiah of Evil, plus there are some stylistic touches like black and white sequences and a couple of standard supernatural camera gags. Set piece wise, a fiendishly squeamish moment also occurs where a guy's torso spews enough live snakes and worms to cover an entire floor, which poor Arisa Wills then has to actually interact with. Elsewhere though, this is unremarkable stuff that is largely shot in fully-lit, contemporarily decorated areas that a couple of Dutch angles fail to disguise as being anything but banal to look at. The narrative structure also makes the mistake of abusing dramatic irony since most of the characters spend the whole movie trying to figure out what is going on while there is zero mystery for the audience, an audience that is fully aware of what is going on at all times. This makes the film monotonous and yawn-inducing in its pacing, which would not be so much of an issue if it had more wildly inventive components to spice-up the proceedings along the way. Again, the wormy hospital room and the disturbing looking ghost kid are fun, but that is about it.
(2009)
Dir - Park Chan-wook
Overall: GREAT
The American/South Korean co-production Thirst, (Bakjawi), is probably one of the most inventive and exceptionally refreshing vampire films in quite some time. A contemporary reworking of Thérèse Raquin by French novelist Émile Zola, this doomed love triangle story unfolds steadily over more than two hours, but never overstays its welcome as it balances hilarious, dark humor, perversity, horror, and the touching, romantic connection between its two disturbed, central characters. As has often been explored in other vampire stories, (particularly Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles), the undead's struggle with a loss of humanity, spiritual connection with a higher power, and acceptance of newfound animalistic tendencies and superiority to their prey all play a central theme here. The repressed urges of Song Kong-ho's benevolent Priest and Kim Ok-bin's unwillingly docile, orphaned housewife come to the forefront in opposite ways, yet their dependent, deeply sincere passion for each other is both heartbreaking and funny in equal measures. Chan-wook largely allows for the material to speak for itself, letting things play out calmly when necessary and providing more expressive, fun camerawork and editing flourishes along the way. The film is neither overbearing in its melodrama to turn off strict genre enthusiasts or too gruesome to turn off the squeamish, finding an engrossing way for both to coexist that is quite commendable.
No comments:
Post a Comment