By Evrim Ersoy Jul 18, 2005, 4:59 GMT
Another week, another movie session hot from London! Good morning (or afternoon or evening depending on when you read this!) movie lovers, it’s been a busy week for me in London. So let’s not dilly-dally and get down to business.
This week saw the release of quite a few movies in London. First up we had the new movie from John Sayles ‘Silver City’. John Sayles has always been an inventive and very interesting director and for my money his ‘Lone Star’ was one of the finest pseudo-westerns that debunked the whole genre. With this film he has created a slightly heavy-handed political satire which is lifted by the superb performances that the actors give. Chris Cooper is very good as Dickie Pilager, a bumbling politician who is running to be the governor of Colorado as well Kris Kristoferson whose subtle performance helps the elevate movie beyond its’ station. My advice to you out there is that if, like me, you have had enough of mindless blockbusters this summer, is to go see this film. True, John Sayles’s over-ambition does deaden the experience a little and yet this film stands head and shoulders above the usual mediocre titles we receive during the summer months.
The other film I would like to mention this week is Dark Water, an American remake of Hideo Nataka’s Japanese horror film. I had the fortune of seeing the original at Raindance East Film Festival a few years back and found it suitably creepy and eerie. In fact I find no shame in telling you that during some scenes both me and the friend who came along jumped in fear and squealed in terror like small children. Though the film was somewhat flawed (that ending still pisses me off) it was nice to see Hideo Nakata continuing the subtle art of horror he started to practice with Ring.
Now the American remake was inevitable. However it still does not stop me from feeling slightly apprehensive about the whole project. To start with, I thought that the remake of Ring was abysmal and the sequel, which I actually had hopes for, lifted plot points straight out of Dark Water. So I feel that a lot of people who have seen that will get a great sense of deja vu as they watch this film. On top that I must admit that I am not a big fan of Jennifer Connely and even though there are two good names’ in there (the wonderful John C. Reilly and the sublime Pete Postlewhaite) the whole package is looking rather stale to me at the moment. More info after I have seen the film.
Finally a special preview: Last week I had the great fortune of seeing ‘Wolf Creek’ a new film by Greg Mclean. I had been hearing some great word of mouth about Wolf Creek for a while now and to be honest I thought that I would not be able to see it until Frightfest at the end of August. But by a strange twist of luck (and the help of a very helpful and nice person at Greenroom) I found myself attending a press screening last Tuesday. I was excited and felt like a young boy as the room darkened and the screen flickered to life.
For me the film turned out to be truly of two halves. Without giving away too much plot details I felt that the first half of the film where the kids start to travel to Wolf Creek was wonderful. It had an almost ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ feel to it where you felt that the characters were real. I don’t know about you but I am sick and tired of horror films where all the characters are caricatures and basically the only reason they are on screen is as killer-fodder. The first time I had seen ‘Texas’ I was amazed at how the characters seemed human. They were neither pleasant nor irritating, each had characteristics which made them more complex than usual. The same point applied to ‘Wolf Creek’ for me. I felt that the trio on screen was very much human, they neither made me feel immensely bonded with them nor did they make me want to stab them repeatedly. They were people going on holiday. The sense of being an intruder on someone else’s holiday videos was the general atmosphere.
The film also some exquisite cinematography. For me, the Australian outback has never looked so good since perhaps ‘Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert’ where the vastness of the space contributed as much to the story as the characters. The red skies, the blue early mornings (especially during the first couple of scenes where one of the girls wakes up on the beach after all the partying) looked beautiful and serene. Thus eerieness was born from the contrast between the beautiful landscape and the sense of unease that something was going to go wrong.
For me the problem with the film started once our trio had been captured by Mick Taylor, the affable brute who turns out to be nastier than he looks. By the time the film had reached this point and had established him as something of a deranged psychopath I had grown to like him so much that I found it hard to make myself believe he could have such a switch in his personality. It is a testament to John Jarrat’s performance that he created such a believable character; however it seemed as if the two side of Mick Taylor somehow had not gelled.
The film is also slightly gory in parts. I must admit that I am a seasoned veteran of horror movies and any gore or splatter that movies can throw at me doesn’t really bother me that much any more. However judging by the reaction of my fellow viewers, I can conclude that the gore in this movie is probably disturbing and can upset certain viewers. Then again why would you go to a horror movie if you don’t want to get disturbed?
So to sum up, my advice to you all would be to go see the movie. True, it doesn’t live up to the wonderful set-up the first half presents but it is a damn good movie with some wonderful performances and such movies are not easy to come by. We need to encourage both filmmakers and movie companies to finance more such films where the whole pleasure comes from watching a quality story unfold.
And on a final note; don’t forget you can write to me (evrim dot voorheves at monstersandcritics dot com) to tell me what you want to see reviewed for the coming weeks. I will check my e-mails until THURSDAY and then the release that gets the most votes will get a thorough autopsy.For now;
Yours Sincerely
Voorheves
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