Director:Alejandro Jodorowsky Year of Release: 1989 Running Time: 122 min
The son of two circus performers is institutionalized at a young age after his adulterous father dismembers his mother in a fit of rage. Years after this scarring event, the boy, now a young man, reunites with his armless mother who manipulates him and uses his arms as her own. The two become inseparable, and any woman who tries to come between them meets a bloody end.
A masterpiece like no other, Santa Sangre is a unforgettable, powerful experience that stays with you long after the credits roll. Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, Holy Mountain) is a cinematic genius whose films touch every end of the spectrum in their stunning imagery; the mystical and profane, the beautiful and grotesque. They are unlike any other movies out there and Santa Sangre is his masterwork. A must see.
Rating: 5/5
Available (legally) for the first time in region 1 thanks to a marvelous dvd and blu-ray release from Severin.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Szamanka
Diector: Andrzej Zulawski Running time: 1 hr 57 min Year of release: 1996
A self absorbed anthropologist begins a passionate, ill advised affair with a unstable, nymphomaniac college student while becoming unhealthy obsessed with the remains of a ancient, recently excavated shaman, eventually leading to madness and bloodshed. I tried so hard to like this film, something made incredibly hard by the fact that most of the screen time is devoted to two loathsome individuals having sex or when there not having sex(which is once in a blue moon) acting boorishly: the man is a regular asshole and the woman is gratingly obnoxious and batty. When the time came for the (literally) blood drenched finale I had long since stopped caring about the fates of anyone in this film (the exception being the man's fiancee, who gets treated like dirt).Watching Szamanka was a real endurance test, not because of the highly toted graphic content but due to the fact that it was a painstakingly dull, pretentious film with awful characters. I'm sure theres a message to be found in this film, weather the characters are metaphors for political institutions, commentary on human sexuality ect. frankly it's not worth suffering through this film in order to try and decipher it.; there are much better films out there with similar messages and themes.
Grade: 1.5/5
Availability: Notoriously hard to get a hold of in the states until now. Mondo Vision has just released it in beautiful packaging that rivals Criterion.
A self absorbed anthropologist begins a passionate, ill advised affair with a unstable, nymphomaniac college student while becoming unhealthy obsessed with the remains of a ancient, recently excavated shaman, eventually leading to madness and bloodshed. I tried so hard to like this film, something made incredibly hard by the fact that most of the screen time is devoted to two loathsome individuals having sex or when there not having sex(which is once in a blue moon) acting boorishly: the man is a regular asshole and the woman is gratingly obnoxious and batty. When the time came for the (literally) blood drenched finale I had long since stopped caring about the fates of anyone in this film (the exception being the man's fiancee, who gets treated like dirt).Watching Szamanka was a real endurance test, not because of the highly toted graphic content but due to the fact that it was a painstakingly dull, pretentious film with awful characters. I'm sure theres a message to be found in this film, weather the characters are metaphors for political institutions, commentary on human sexuality ect. frankly it's not worth suffering through this film in order to try and decipher it.; there are much better films out there with similar messages and themes.
Grade: 1.5/5
Availability: Notoriously hard to get a hold of in the states until now. Mondo Vision has just released it in beautiful packaging that rivals Criterion.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs
Directed by: Yukio Noda Year of Release: 1974 Running Time: 88 min
This legendary "violent pinky" film from Japan is a good place to start for viewers wishing to brave the lurid waters of Japanese explotation. The Japanese authorities enlist the help of a imprisoned renegade female police officer (armed with the titular red handcuffs) to save the daughter of a high ranking government official who is being held for ransom by a demented (aren't they all?) gang of murderous rapists. What sets Zero Woman (and quite a few other J-exploitation films) apart from the standard exploration pic is how genuinely well crafted and artfully shot it is. Like a seedy manga (which this is actually based on) sprung to life, ZW is a real blast; full of sleazy thrills and deliriously violent even by today's standards, this pic is a guilty pleasure of massive proportions. They don't make 'em like this anymore!
Grade: 4/5
In print and available from Discotek
This legendary "violent pinky" film from Japan is a good place to start for viewers wishing to brave the lurid waters of Japanese explotation. The Japanese authorities enlist the help of a imprisoned renegade female police officer (armed with the titular red handcuffs) to save the daughter of a high ranking government official who is being held for ransom by a demented (aren't they all?) gang of murderous rapists. What sets Zero Woman (and quite a few other J-exploitation films) apart from the standard exploration pic is how genuinely well crafted and artfully shot it is. Like a seedy manga (which this is actually based on) sprung to life, ZW is a real blast; full of sleazy thrills and deliriously violent even by today's standards, this pic is a guilty pleasure of massive proportions. They don't make 'em like this anymore!
Grade: 4/5
In print and available from Discotek
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Devils
Directed by: Ken Russel Year of release: 1971 Run time: 111min
The Devils is a powerful, unforgettable meditation on faith, religion, lust, political corruption and human nature. Directed by Ken Russel it is also a sight to behold; every frame seems to be filled with sometimes beautiful sometimes horrific but always mesmerizing imagery and the atmosphere is one of both sexuality and apocalyptic doom. The acting is spectacular; particularly Oliver Reed who plays the protagonist, a controversial and powerful priest in a plague devastated 17th century French city who becomes a target of the church and the dark sexual obsession of a crippled nun. Both of these forces combine with catastrophic results for both the city and Reeds character. Disturbing, visionary and thought provoking, The Devils is true cinematic masterpiece.
Rating 5/5
Available uncut on Region 1 DVD from Euro Cult
The Devils is a powerful, unforgettable meditation on faith, religion, lust, political corruption and human nature. Directed by Ken Russel it is also a sight to behold; every frame seems to be filled with sometimes beautiful sometimes horrific but always mesmerizing imagery and the atmosphere is one of both sexuality and apocalyptic doom. The acting is spectacular; particularly Oliver Reed who plays the protagonist, a controversial and powerful priest in a plague devastated 17th century French city who becomes a target of the church and the dark sexual obsession of a crippled nun. Both of these forces combine with catastrophic results for both the city and Reeds character. Disturbing, visionary and thought provoking, The Devils is true cinematic masterpiece.
Rating 5/5
Available uncut on Region 1 DVD from Euro Cult
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Thirst
Director: Chan-wook Park Running Time: 133 min Year of Release: 2009
Those who go into Thirst expecting a straight-up horror film or a gritty-white knuckle thriller will be sorely disappointed, more than anything, Chan-wook Park's latest is a offbeat, brutal black comedy. A catholic priest presiding over a hospital volunteers for a series risky, controversial medical experiments after he becomes deeply troubled with the death he sees around him and the sense of powerlessness it evokes in him. He ends up the sole survivor of the nefarious tests due to the fact that somewhere along the way he was transfused with vampire blood. Struggling with his new identity and the less than saintly implications it has, he meets a young woman whom he knew in childhood;now living a hellish existence with her adopted family; a clan of utterly despicable people to say the least. It isn't before long they strike up a intense, dangerous love affair that consumes them both; with bloody consequences.
First of all Chan-wook Park is a truly gifted filmmaker and his talents behind the camera are on full display in this film. Thirst is gorgeous to look at with Park contact filling the screen with lush, rich detail, moody atmosphere and some breathtaking shots and set pieces. The acting is stellar as well, Kang-Ho Song giving a passionate, riveting performance as the protagonist and Ok-vin Kim's erotically charged turn as Tae-joo, his lover. Thirst's packs a mean bite(pun intended) with it's undercurrent of black humor while at the same time offering a poignant, intelligent reflection on themes such as guilt, religion, lust, love, family, sacrifice and mortality. It's a shame Thirst suffers from some rather sloppy pacing and its noticeably over-long. If park structured the film more rigidly and efficiently, the film would have considerably more punch. Though flawed, Thirst is still a memorable and at times thought provoking experience.
Rating: 3.5/5
Thirst is widely availiable on dvd.
Those who go into Thirst expecting a straight-up horror film or a gritty-white knuckle thriller will be sorely disappointed, more than anything, Chan-wook Park's latest is a offbeat, brutal black comedy. A catholic priest presiding over a hospital volunteers for a series risky, controversial medical experiments after he becomes deeply troubled with the death he sees around him and the sense of powerlessness it evokes in him. He ends up the sole survivor of the nefarious tests due to the fact that somewhere along the way he was transfused with vampire blood. Struggling with his new identity and the less than saintly implications it has, he meets a young woman whom he knew in childhood;now living a hellish existence with her adopted family; a clan of utterly despicable people to say the least. It isn't before long they strike up a intense, dangerous love affair that consumes them both; with bloody consequences.
First of all Chan-wook Park is a truly gifted filmmaker and his talents behind the camera are on full display in this film. Thirst is gorgeous to look at with Park contact filling the screen with lush, rich detail, moody atmosphere and some breathtaking shots and set pieces. The acting is stellar as well, Kang-Ho Song giving a passionate, riveting performance as the protagonist and Ok-vin Kim's erotically charged turn as Tae-joo, his lover. Thirst's packs a mean bite(pun intended) with it's undercurrent of black humor while at the same time offering a poignant, intelligent reflection on themes such as guilt, religion, lust, love, family, sacrifice and mortality. It's a shame Thirst suffers from some rather sloppy pacing and its noticeably over-long. If park structured the film more rigidly and efficiently, the film would have considerably more punch. Though flawed, Thirst is still a memorable and at times thought provoking experience.
Rating: 3.5/5
Thirst is widely availiable on dvd.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
The Night Porter
Director: Liliana Cavani Year of Release: 1974 Running Time: 118 min
The Night Porter is a polarizing picture; a steamy, noirish potboiler set against the horrors of the holocaust. To be more precise, the affects the holocaust had on those directly involved; both the victims and the tormentors. The film is set in Vienna more than a decade after the end of WWII. A Jewish woman who survived the concentration camps by carrying on a sadomasochist relationship with a SS officer is now touring Europe with her successful husband. The couple stop at a sleepy hotel and the woman is horrified to discover the hotel porter is none other than the SS officer who abused her. It seems the hotel is a meeting place for a group of fugitive Nazi officers who scheme to have records(and witnesses) of their crimes erased. In this hostile environment, the two damaged souls resume their warped relationship and begin a headfirst plunge into self-destruction.
After watching The Night Porter, you will likely be divided into two camps; the first sees this movie has a complex, challenging look at the darker aspects of human nature and sexuality as well as the lifelong suffering of such traumatic events like the holocaust inflict on their survivors. To the second, this is a exploitation picture that disguises itself with the guise of a arthouse film and crudely uses a truly horrific moment in history as a gimmick or for a chic aesthetic. Both are valid view points. As for myself, I thought The Night Porter tried to examine some weighty issues, but did so largely unsuccessfully, it bites off a bit more than it can chew and as a result it comes across as somewhat exploitative to its subject matter. Well artfully made and sometimes thought provoking, the Night Porter is also poorly dated and dreary, and in the end doesn't rise to meet it lofty ambitions, leaving a rather sour taste in ones mouth.
Rating: 2.5/5
Available on DVD form the Criterion Collection
The Night Porter is a polarizing picture; a steamy, noirish potboiler set against the horrors of the holocaust. To be more precise, the affects the holocaust had on those directly involved; both the victims and the tormentors. The film is set in Vienna more than a decade after the end of WWII. A Jewish woman who survived the concentration camps by carrying on a sadomasochist relationship with a SS officer is now touring Europe with her successful husband. The couple stop at a sleepy hotel and the woman is horrified to discover the hotel porter is none other than the SS officer who abused her. It seems the hotel is a meeting place for a group of fugitive Nazi officers who scheme to have records(and witnesses) of their crimes erased. In this hostile environment, the two damaged souls resume their warped relationship and begin a headfirst plunge into self-destruction.
After watching The Night Porter, you will likely be divided into two camps; the first sees this movie has a complex, challenging look at the darker aspects of human nature and sexuality as well as the lifelong suffering of such traumatic events like the holocaust inflict on their survivors. To the second, this is a exploitation picture that disguises itself with the guise of a arthouse film and crudely uses a truly horrific moment in history as a gimmick or for a chic aesthetic. Both are valid view points. As for myself, I thought The Night Porter tried to examine some weighty issues, but did so largely unsuccessfully, it bites off a bit more than it can chew and as a result it comes across as somewhat exploitative to its subject matter. Well artfully made and sometimes thought provoking, the Night Porter is also poorly dated and dreary, and in the end doesn't rise to meet it lofty ambitions, leaving a rather sour taste in ones mouth.
Rating: 2.5/5
Available on DVD form the Criterion Collection
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Hour of the Wolf
directed by: Ingmar Bergman Year of Release: 1968 Running Time: 90 minutes
Hour of the Wolf refers to the hour between night and dawn, the time when most people pass on and infants are born. This title suits Bergman's very personal vision of an artist giving in to insanity, an insomniac unable to sleep due to his fear of the unknown or his own demons that stalk him during this hour. Shot in black and white, the art-house film follows a painter and his young wife who move to a isolated, densely wooded island where the only neighbors are ghoulish, sinster aristocrats who reside in Gothic mansion at the top of the island.
Hour of the Wolf is perhaps the most pure representation of a nightmare I have seen, it's sometimes very freighting but also highly surreal, bizarre, deeply personal, confusing and disorienting. Real life nightmares aren't perfectly linear,easy explained, easily accessible, flashy, thrill a minute rollarcoasters that horror movies about nightmares often are. Bergman's film is the complete opposite and a thus challenge to watch, it's not entirely audience friendly. While its frustrating at times, it's hard to ignore Berman's genius. Hour of the Wolf is still a unique, unnerving and quietly freighting film that is best watched in the semi-lucid state that comes in the wee hours of night to get the the full effect.
Rating: 3/5
This film is avalible currently on DVD from MGM which is out of print, but also avliable in-print in a Bergman Boxed set.
Hour of the Wolf refers to the hour between night and dawn, the time when most people pass on and infants are born. This title suits Bergman's very personal vision of an artist giving in to insanity, an insomniac unable to sleep due to his fear of the unknown or his own demons that stalk him during this hour. Shot in black and white, the art-house film follows a painter and his young wife who move to a isolated, densely wooded island where the only neighbors are ghoulish, sinster aristocrats who reside in Gothic mansion at the top of the island.
Hour of the Wolf is perhaps the most pure representation of a nightmare I have seen, it's sometimes very freighting but also highly surreal, bizarre, deeply personal, confusing and disorienting. Real life nightmares aren't perfectly linear,easy explained, easily accessible, flashy, thrill a minute rollarcoasters that horror movies about nightmares often are. Bergman's film is the complete opposite and a thus challenge to watch, it's not entirely audience friendly. While its frustrating at times, it's hard to ignore Berman's genius. Hour of the Wolf is still a unique, unnerving and quietly freighting film that is best watched in the semi-lucid state that comes in the wee hours of night to get the the full effect.
Rating: 3/5
This film is avalible currently on DVD from MGM which is out of print, but also avliable in-print in a Bergman Boxed set.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
