I went into this film with some bizarre expectations. I had been told it was completely shocking and devastating. I had also been told it was terrible and embarrassing.
I didn't think it was either.
I didn't get angry - shocked - embarrassed. I was just bored.
Ana Kokkinos is undoubtedly a great director with a strong vision and that really shines through in this film with bold visuals and a very confident approach to the story. Unfortunately there's not a great deal of story to take a confident approach to.
The first few scenes are gripping and the tension builds really beautifully so you're wondering what has happened to The Dancer. What did he experience? Why? How will it change him? It evokes the feeling of films such as Death In Venice, Don't Look Now and The Comfort of Strangers (hmm.. all Venetian..). I was hooked.
But when it is finally revealed, I found it fairly anti-climactic and rather pointless. Those expecting to be shocked by graphic sex or violence probably won't be. This isn't Romance, Irreversible or even Head On for that matter. There are moments of powerplay in the rape/ abduction scenes that are truly great - when he is forced to masturbate and mentions what goes through a man's mind when he closes his eyes being one clear example - but the problem is, they leave you wanting more which the film just doesn't deliver. It doesn't quite reach the role reversal thrills that film such as Hard Candy or Death & The Maiden deliver. There are endless possibilities raised by the idea of 3 women abducting a man for their pleasure. This may be part of the problem. Swamped with endless possibilities, it seems like they chose not to go with any of them.
Once we know what happened to The Dancer, the film stumbles. It falls into that great Australian trend of minimalism and subtlety that just leaves audiences wondering what the **** is going on and why anybody should care. You can call it an "exploration" or a "meditation" (and I imagine the same people who used those words positively in their reviews of Japanese Story and Somersault will probably dredge them up again for this film... and I expect the words "emotional truth" will be thrown around at the same time) or whatever you want but frankly, I think it's just poor storytelling. It seems to shy away from the real drama within the story. If you're going to make a film about emotional truth, don't claim to be a story. Call it Japanese Emotional Truth. Or Emotional Truth of Revelation. Or Girl Gets Laid In Jindabyne. Let's call a spade a spade.
It doesn't really explore the consequences of what happens for The Dancer. There's about 10 minutes of plot spread out over an hour and by the time something actually happens, I for one was completely disengaged and beyond caring. The film also stops just when it looks like it's actually going to explore the issues it's raised.
It's bitterly disappointing because I thought Head On was definitely one of the greatest Australian films of the last 10 years and I thought the subject matter of this film could have gone in so many different exciting directions. I never expected it to be boring.
I didn't think it was either.
I didn't get angry - shocked - embarrassed. I was just bored.
Ana Kokkinos is undoubtedly a great director with a strong vision and that really shines through in this film with bold visuals and a very confident approach to the story. Unfortunately there's not a great deal of story to take a confident approach to.
The first few scenes are gripping and the tension builds really beautifully so you're wondering what has happened to The Dancer. What did he experience? Why? How will it change him? It evokes the feeling of films such as Death In Venice, Don't Look Now and The Comfort of Strangers (hmm.. all Venetian..). I was hooked.
But when it is finally revealed, I found it fairly anti-climactic and rather pointless. Those expecting to be shocked by graphic sex or violence probably won't be. This isn't Romance, Irreversible or even Head On for that matter. There are moments of powerplay in the rape/ abduction scenes that are truly great - when he is forced to masturbate and mentions what goes through a man's mind when he closes his eyes being one clear example - but the problem is, they leave you wanting more which the film just doesn't deliver. It doesn't quite reach the role reversal thrills that film such as Hard Candy or Death & The Maiden deliver. There are endless possibilities raised by the idea of 3 women abducting a man for their pleasure. This may be part of the problem. Swamped with endless possibilities, it seems like they chose not to go with any of them.
Once we know what happened to The Dancer, the film stumbles. It falls into that great Australian trend of minimalism and subtlety that just leaves audiences wondering what the **** is going on and why anybody should care. You can call it an "exploration" or a "meditation" (and I imagine the same people who used those words positively in their reviews of Japanese Story and Somersault will probably dredge them up again for this film... and I expect the words "emotional truth" will be thrown around at the same time) or whatever you want but frankly, I think it's just poor storytelling. It seems to shy away from the real drama within the story. If you're going to make a film about emotional truth, don't claim to be a story. Call it Japanese Emotional Truth. Or Emotional Truth of Revelation. Or Girl Gets Laid In Jindabyne. Let's call a spade a spade.
It doesn't really explore the consequences of what happens for The Dancer. There's about 10 minutes of plot spread out over an hour and by the time something actually happens, I for one was completely disengaged and beyond caring. The film also stops just when it looks like it's actually going to explore the issues it's raised.
It's bitterly disappointing because I thought Head On was definitely one of the greatest Australian films of the last 10 years and I thought the subject matter of this film could have gone in so many different exciting directions. I never expected it to be boring.