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Reviews
Ginî piggu: Manhôru no naka no ningyo (1988)
Not bad, but not good.
The film's cinematography is done in a way that induces thoughts of soap operas. You know, that "overly polished, but attempting to look like real life" style. It is quite a change from the typical "movie" style that the opening credits are done in. I'll have to give it another watch to see how I really feel about that.
The plot of Mermaid in a Manhole is that a lonely man, simply called The Artist, has recently lost his wife and is seeking inspiration for his paintings. His secret place is a sewer which used to be a lush river, whose banks he used to hang out on during his childhood. One day, his beloved pet/animal friend is dead and he frantically seeks to use it (I'm not sure what the animal was, by the way
it looked too big for a rat, but too mangy for much else) as artistic inspiration, when he encounters a mermaid. He becomes enthralled and obsessed with said mermaid, and decides to take her home – you see, she has some sort of funky flesh-eating infection, and he believes he can cure it. Also, by taking her home with him, he can just sit and paint her all day.
Mermaid in a Manhole is a very quiet film. I mean that in a couple ways – first, while there is a lot of dialogue in parts, in most parts, there is silence with only the environmental sounds as the backdrop to the scenes. It's quite nice, and adds to the realism that the film was going for. The cast is very small, which also aids to the quiet of the film. In fact, you don't really see more than those four characters until the end.
Now, with the above stated, I have to say that the amount of over-acting in this film is astounding. Most of the over-acting comes from The Artist (Shigerui Saiki). The man can overdo it with the best of them. The nosy neighbor does her fair share, as well. The Mermaid (Mari Somei) and The Artist appear to communicate telepathically – actually, The Mermaid appears to do all of her communicating telepathically and hams up her voice-overs just as well as the other two. In fact, I think the only one who doesn't ham it up in this is the boyfriend/husband/brother (their relationship is unclear) of the nosy neighbor – and this is possibly because he has so few lines.
Though Mermaid in a Manhole is included in the Japanese splatter library of film, it's really not as gory or disgusting as you would think. Sure, it's not for the weak-stomached, what with its bleeding/worm spewing flesh eating mermaid virus, or the pus paint in seven colors. But, I certainly have seen much worse.
If you want something that is extremely cheesy and fairly entertaining, with subtitles, I would recommend it. It's certainly not a bad film, but it definitely isn't good.
Begotten (1989)
Pretentious Piece of Crap.
I watched this film under the guise of being told that I would "absolutely love it!"
WRONG.
I somehow managed to struggle to remain interested through what turned out to be the longest 78 minutes of my entire life. I'll be honest, most of that 78 minutes was spent thinking, "Okay, can we just move this along?"
A year after having seen it, and I still don't have a clue as to what exactly this film was about. I got the imagery, I got the God and Mother Nature and Son characters and blah blah blah. But, really. What is the plot?
This film is no more "haunting" or "disturbing" than say, tying my shoe.
I was fully willing to give this film the benefit of the doubt, and then I discovered that it was made in 1991. That pretty much sold me on the "pretentious, self-important, arty wannabe" label.
Utter waste of time.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
I am so tired of seeing nothing but positive reviews.
I was looking forward to this film for a couple of years before finally being able to see it. Hearing how "critically acclaimed" it was excited me, and actually seeing the film winning a billion times at the "Critic's Choice Awards" just made me want to see it even more. So, when it opened this weekend, my butt was in a seat as fast I could get it there.
I was extremely disappointed, after all was said and done. The film, as a whole, was mediocre and the story lacked so much. I find myself unable to pinpoint exactly what else the film needed, but it felt a little dry and empty - this is where the possibility of spoilers comes in.
To make sure that I get everything, it is important for me to go in chronological order, so here goes.
1. The very first time Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis (Heath Ledger) have sex, it feels insanely forced and not at all natural. It seemed as if it was something that was planned and awkward, rather than a natural occurrence. Not once prior in the film was there an inkling that they were sexually attracted to each other, and there was plenty of opportunity to build that part of the relationship up.
2. The sex overall was extremely harsh to watch. There were a total of three sex scenes in the film, and each was as harsh as the last. Perhaps it was to show inexperience, but it seemed very violent - especially between Ennis and his wife.
3. Save for one scene, you never really felt a romantic connection between Ennis and Jack. The relationship felt forced and didn't feel as though they were actually in love.
4. Characters that were just as important as Ennis were basically left out and forgotten. Alma (Michelle Williams) basically disappeared after the divorce; Ennis' other daughter, Jenny, may as well have not even been in the film. Jack's family was left out of most of the film, so we have no idea how they were really affected by anything at all. I would have loved to know how Alma was able to cope with finding out that Ennis was gay and what she told the girls. Her world was basically turned upside down when she caught Ennis and Jack together, and I think that this was a very pivitol moment that should have been addressed. Also, addressing how Jack's wife and son were affected by his monthly trips to Brokeback Mountain would have been nice. As well as delving more into the relationship between Jack and his father-in-law.
5. Jack's death, and Ennis' reaction to it were a bit cloudy. Was Jack actually beaten to death or was that merely Ennis' interpretation of it, based on a previous experience he had?
6. The ending fell a bit flat. "Jack, I swear..." what was that about?
I also felt that the film cut a bit too much. Reactions were cut out that should have been left in. Story lines were also cut out, when they should have been left in.
The make-up in the film was terrible as well. No one really aged; their hairstyles merely changed. With the make-up and technology available, a few wrinkles here or there would have been more than plausible.
The film had lots of potential, but it just fell flat and felt a bit empty. I think that this is the most disappointed I've ever felt after a film in a long time.