After raving about Funny Games, I know that I sound like a hypocrite, but I agree with Andy about Wolf Creek. And I know that Antichrist will offend me to no end, but if you have that party on a Monday night, Brandon, then you know I’ll be there. Let me know. Some day maybe I’ll write more about Funny Games and why I think it rises above.
Wolf Creek starts with promise, developing character and exploring the threat of violence for 52 minutes. Good stuff. Then, the necessities of the genre overwhelm all other considerations and we get straight slasher thrills with a few playful tweaks at convention. Sorry Brandon, I don’t buy for a minute that the director cares about these characters.
What really irks me are the title cards and their claims at factuality. Instead of raising the film’s credibility, these words undermine it, signifying that the director doesn’t have confidence in his own story.
Rudo y Cursi was surprisingly fun to watch, but, honestly, I think that I would have found just about anything life-affirming after Wolf Creek.
Rudo y Cursi was just what I needed.
Persistently anti-realistic, the film revels in being a story instead of being “based on actual events.” Voiceover narration and a playfulness with “rise to success” sports movie conventions allow the film more room to reveal a specifically Mexican character and mood. It blows away any of Tulpan’s documentarian pretensions by being more truthful through creative lying. I think that I mostly enjoyed Rudo y Cursi because it was refreshing after a few big disappointments.
2 comments:
- I love the Basterds post, the Judges one.
- five most annoying words that open films "based on a true story."
- In slasher films, 52 minutes of character development is just about the highest respect a director can pay to their future "heads on a stick." Sad but true. I guess that is what I was referring to when I said that the director "cared" about these characters.
- I love Laurel and Hardy, particularly BABES IN TOYLAND. Once again, your kids are rad.
- I'm happy to hear that you've purchased THE HOWLING. I think we both share a love for Dante.
-I'm nervous about our ANTICHRIST party. If it is as dirty as some have made it out to be, we are going to be blushing quite a bit.
We'll have to keep our alcohol well stocked. Cheers!
-It's been nice seeing you at work. As brief as our conversations are, they break the day up nicely.
- I wonder if Malick's newest film will make it to theaters before 2010.
I was on a "torture porn" horror movie kick a while back, and Wolf Creek was the one that made me decide to take a break for a long while (though I made exceptions for Saw movies- one of my guilty pleasures)... I felt that the horror was the story and there wasn't really anything else to it. It's one of the few films that have disturbed me so much that I will not watch it again. It's a pretty short list. so far, only Seven and Fargo are also on the list.
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