Change Your Image
james-re
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Only God Forgives (2013)
One of the most misunderstood films of the decade
If Drive was the perfect amount of Refns style then only god forgives is him over stepping that line into pure Refn territory. Everything that made Drive what it is has been doubled here, tripled. Characters talk slower, move slower, Ryan goslings has even less dialogue, and the violence is more grisly. Gone are the quick flashes of exhilarating bloody violence from Drive, replaced now with darker grimier moments of violence that are at times hard to watch.
While the basic plot may be simple, sequences are drawn out to a point where you start to forget what is actually going on in regards to the plot because each individual scene envelops you with an incredible atmosphere that is sometimes beautiful and other times down right nasty, the nastiness and the beauty often happening right beside each other. The effect in the end is like some vivid nightmare that you want to wake up from but can't help but be entranced by.
When I first watched the film I loved some scenes and hated others. I have now seen it multiple times and it's as if it reshapes its self every time, morphing into something different, conjuring up different abstract thoughts each time, different feelings, past feelings, repressed feelings, creative thoughts. Something there is resonating with me deeply. I don't know what it is, but it keeps me coming back. Just the fact that Refn had the bravery and vision to make something like this, to run the risk of it being called pretentious, boring or worse, it's inspiring to me. It makes me feel more confident in taking artistic risks without the fear of what others will think of it. I am truly glad for films like Only God Forgives, and for filmmakers like Refn.
Fear and Desire (1952)
The first film by one of the worlds greatest filmmakers.
Kubrick sets his film during a fictional war so as not to draw attention to the details of who these soldiers are fighting but rather relate it to the entire idea of war itself and the paranoia and psychological effects they can have on someone, the fears and desires that will rise up to the surface when faced with certain situations.
In the middle of these woods the paranoia and isolation awaken the inner fears and desires of these four men in unexpected ways. The fear of confronting a group of enemy soldiers, the desire to survive, the thrill of the kill, or the dilemma the young man faces when he realises that he is alone with a beautiful woman who they've captured prisoner and this could be his last day alive, his desires and his morals clashing together all at once until he goes mad.
A particularly effective sequence sees the soldiers ambushing a group of enemy soldiers who are unknowingly in the middle of their final meal. As each enemy soldier is slaughtered we see the spattered remains of their food in placement of any blood and gore, the desire for both food and bloodshed becoming intermixed for these men. "Better grab something to eat", one of them says, "It may be a long time till our... next feast."
Kubrick himself went on to hate the film and didn't want anyone to see it as the years went by. And no, it wasn't up to the standards of his later films (obviously). Budgetary reasons and lack of experience led to certain issues. There is some poor sound design, some weak acting some distracting errors in continuity. Two of the actors from the main group of soldiers even play an extra role each, acting as two enemies towards the last act... but then I recognised the genius of this, it only emphasises the fact that the real battle is the one we fight with ourselves. Pretentious? Maybe a little. Genius? A little of that to. But that idea of having a detail like that where we are unsure if the director intended such a thought-provoking poetic idea or if it's just us overthinking things is something that Kubrick continued to do through out his future films (2001 and The Shining stand out for me), the details and ideas in his future films became more hidden and abstract yet are skilfully implemented and undeniably intentional once you look hard enough.
With such thought-provoking ideas, unconventional editing, striking and haunting images, it's hard not to be at least a little interested in what this filmmaker would go on to do next. And who could've guessed he would go on to develop such a reputation, earn such respect from audiences and filmmakers across the world, create films of various different genres that broke the rules and dealt with a magnitude of themes and ideas. This is where it begun.
Eraserhead (1977)
Genuinely feels like a nightmare
Possibly the most accurate depiction in cinema of how a nightmare looks, sounds and feels. The dark cramped spaces, the unusual behaviour from the people around me, repetitive uncomfortable sounds. This film has it all. In fact it captures it so well that once youre watching it you barely even question it. It instantly grips you with its surreal imagery and hypnotic sound design. Yet when I was sitting there watching eraserhead and seeing such strangeness, I barely even questioned it. It was as if I didn't need to. It was like stepping into a dream. How can something so utterly strange feel so familiar. It is as if lynch has gone into the dark recesses of my mind and pulled out my secret fears and desires and presented them to me in an incredibly abstract yet deeply powerful way.
Calling it a horror film which its often labelled feels wrong, this thing goes beyond that. It goes deeper. Forget about classifying it into a genre. It's a film that even defies words. Just don't even try to sum it up in words. You'll sound like a fool. This is something that you immerse yourself in. This is something that needs to be experienced
Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
An experience like no other
Twin Peaks: The Return is one of the most unique experience I've ever had with a film/tv show(whatever you want to classify it as). I view it as an 18 hour long movie that's split into 1 hour parts. Yes it is a continuation of the original Twin Peaks series, but it is also extremely different from that and very much its own thing.
By the end of the first 2 hours I knew I was getting into something special. I felt this incredible sense of nostalgia returning to the town of Twin Peaks and seeing familiar faces and locations from 25 years ago, but at the same time, a deep sadness with how different it all felt, as if the town and the show had now adapted to modern times. Gone was the smooth and groovy music of the original series, the almost soap-opera feel of it, the warm and familiar feel of the locations. Things were different, darker, colder.
The range of emotions I felt throughout The Return was incredible, scenes that are deeply moving that filled me with a great sense of joy or sadness, terrifying sequences that felt as if they were pulled from the depths of my nightmares, hilariously absurd moments that had me laughing at the craziness of what i was seeing, and mind bending sequences that really blew me away that I would call genuinely transcendent.
There are aspects of The Return that feel less like they came from a written script and more like they were created from pure intuition. At times, it's almost as if it speaks to you as a viewer(I struggle to explain this feeling without getting into spoilers), such abstract and strange things I was seeing, and yet it felt so correct and natural. I may not have understood what I was witnessing but I most definitely felt it.
This is an experience that will frustrate you, enlighten you, haunt you and linger in your mind like some kind of beautiful nightmare.
Climax (2018)
An intense, exhilarating, exciting and terrifying experience.
I always feel excited and a little bit anxious watching a new film by French director Gaspar Noe. His past films have have included the controversial "Irreversible" known for its unflinching and brutal portrayal of sexual violence, the mind bending and psychedelic trip that is "Enter the Void" and the erotic drama "Love" which features unsimulated sex presented in 3D.
Noe is pushing the limits for not only what Is allowed to be shown in a film but also for what the film medium is capabale of. Unconventional narrative structures, mind bending visuals and camera angles you wouldn't even dream of. These are just a few things that can be found in his films.
I am happy to say that Climax may be Noe's tamest film in terms of its sex and violence. And I am very excited to say that it may also be the best film he has made yet. I feel that it's best to know as little as possible about the film before seeing it to have the best possible experience. What I will say though is that the film grips you from the start, and only tightens that grip throughout the running time. The film makes use of one location and one situation and one set of characters to put you in the moment. The excitement and exuberance that you feel during the first dance sequence which is shot entirely in one take will change and evolve throughout the film into sequences that are much more frightening and intense. Go along for the ride though because it is a unique work of filmmaking worth seeing in a cinema and if you hold on tight, you may experience something that is close to an outer body experience.