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mystery

The I Inside * Roland Suso Richter * 2003

“The I Inside” starts as a “Memento” rip-off. A guy in the hospital has lost his short-term memory and has to figure out his life again. Then he starts jumping back and forth between the years 2000 and 2002. In both years he has been in the same hospital and it seems that he lost his memory of those two years. The film gets better when a few things become clear. Then new twists and turns are added and eventually there is a very weak conclusion. The idea obviously comes from “Memento” and there are elements from other popular themes in nowadays films. All in all not too bad, especially the middle part is enjoyable. Too bad about the weak conlusion.

I am Dina * Ole Bornedal * 2002

As a young girl Dina accidentally causes her mother to die a horrible death. Being blamed by her father and virtually banished in her own village and from the shock what has happened, Dina because a psychotic little girl with visions of her dead mother. When her father finally realises that this is no way to let a young girl grow up, he hires a teacher and Dina lives up again. Still she has but little control over her emotions and especially her above normal physical power. Especially when she doesn’t get things her way somebody has a problem. Later Dina gets married to a much older friend of her father and with better and worse period she grows up to be a woman.

“I am Dina” is a nice drama with a very pressing atmosphere which makes the film almost a thriller. Visions and flashback are brought nicely and even though the story is not too appealing, the final result is a film that I can suggest.

The Grudge * Takashi Shimizu * 2004

Just like “Ringu” was made into the American version “The Ring”, “Ju-On” was anounced to get an American version as well. “The Grudge” started playing in the USA just when I was in Seattle and a few months later it is already here. My interest was caught when I found out that this time the project was at least still in the hands of the original director and I wondered how much Shimizu himself would Americanise (or to put it even more American: Americanize) his own creation.

So yesterday we went to one of the three local cinemas where “The Grudge” is shown. “Scarier than the Ring” the poster says. The same can be said about the original versions. Unfortunately we took a cinema which has the film in a small room with no surround sound which would definately have added to the effect.
It was a big relieve to find out that Shimizu left his film(s) in a rather Japanese style. The setting is even still in Japan, but now there are Americans who went to live their for work who get to fall under the curse. There is quite much Japanese language at the atmosphere is mostly left in tact. There are some Americanisations to be detected. There is more use of music, some scenes are slightly altered, some fright-moments have been added and an awfull horrorish special effect with no use is dragged in. In general the film remains fairly close to the originals though. I say originals, because the film has elements and stories of both part 1 and 2 (of “Ju-On: the grudge”, I haven’t seen either of the TV versions “Ju-On: the curse”). The sound is still an element that adds to the creapy atmosphere, which is extremely dense and pressing. There is a still a big part of mystique however no so much is left to the imagination anymore. The light and dark elements are still much in use and ‘the monster’ didn’t become too much of a monster (fiew). Those of you who have seen the Japansese versions will recognise bits of both Japanese parts and find out that other parts of the story have been cunningly altered in order to fit in the new version.

Karen is an American student who is in Japan for probation and it is her who works at the welfare instution. Her boyfriend is also in Japan for study, but he is added to the story. Also added in an American professor who appears to be the cause of the curse. Also some answers are given that are not clear in the Japanese film, while other things are left vague. Some scenes seem a bit out of place now too, since they were too easily taken from the original scripts (the haunted sister, the hung man banging against the wall).

Overall I must say that I am definately not dissatisfied with this American version. The atmosphere is still extremely pressing (some scenes leave the extreme atmosphere for an almost unbearable span of time) and the Japanese-horror-feeling is left mostly in tact. I wonder if the ‘normal horror audience’ will find this a scary film too, but to speak for myself, seeing a film like this on the big screen, is an extra addition to the effect. Shimizu has brung me gooseflesh again, but since I mostly knew what was coming, not as much as the first time I saw the first Japanese part. All in all I can highly recommand this film to anyone who wan’t to see a really good horror without the splatter and humour and also to anyone who has seen and liked the Japanese films.

The Green Mile * Frank Darabont * 1999

“Based on a book by Stephen King”. Not a very promising tagline, right? Of all the Stephen King films there are only two or three worth watching. Especially those who King wrote the actual script for are horrid.

Anyway, this is the reason that I never bothered to watch The Green Mile until a copy was put into my hands. Three hours?! Well, I have watched the whole thing, but I am not particularly impressed. The film is about section E of an American prison in 1935 which is the section for prisoners waiting to be fried on the electric chair. Tom Hanks (not exactly my favourite actor) plays the main character Paul Edgecomb who is head of the section and suffers from a serious inflammation of the bladder. When a new prisoner is brought to “the green mile” everybody is impressed by the size of the feebleminded John Coffey who is sentenced for the brutal killing of two young girls. Coffey turns out to have a curing gift and after curing Edgecomb and revive an impudent mouse, he is taken out of prison to also cure the bosses wifes braintumor. In the process Coffey also gets rid off two “bad men” in prison, one fellow prisoner, one pain-in-the-ass guard.
However “The Green Mile” fortunately didn’t turn out in an over-paranormal monstrosity and it is entertaining, it is really nothing special. Also I think that they could have easily told the story in two hours or less.

The Gathering * Brian Gilbert * 2002

The idea behind this film is alright, a little far fetched maybe, but the biggest problem is that it is made too big for the film. In Glastonbury (UK) an ancient church is discovered by accident. The church (inside the Tor?) is supposed to be a first century church founded by Josef of Arimathea. Arimathea witnesses the crucifixion of Jesus and immediately travelled to the UK to found a way too big church for a small town where nobody practised the Christian faith yet. Another rather incredible element is that a group of people who witnessed the crucifixion where punished for being watchers and they were doomed to be witness to the tragedies of history, such as the first atom bomb, the assasination of JFK, etc. Alright, nice theories.
Near Glastonbury lays the small city of Ashby Wake. One of the people investigating the church of Glastonbury bought a building that used to be a forster-home where the children were abused. One of these children grew up and wants to kill everyone involved and the son of the investigator. This seems but a small thing to happen, but the ‘watchers’ are present which makes me wonder: how can a group of calamity-tourists be present with every murder, tragic event or disaster? Like I said in the beginning, the idea was too big for the outcome.
I know I gave away almost all of the film, but there aren’t too many surprises in it anyway. Two major discoveries I will leave to you. The film is not a boring watch, but the story should better have been overthought better.

Following * Christopher Nolan * 1998

It has been a while since I saw this one, but recently it was shown on TV and why not write a review about this wonderfull film? “Following” is made my Christopher Nolan who also made the brilliant “Memento”. It made earlier and this is quite clear, since it is a bit more primitive and not as brilliant.

Anyway, “Following” is still a wonderfull film. It is about a guy (Jeremy Theobald) who starts to follow people out of boredom and to form characters for his writings. When he started to follow Cobb (Alex Haw) this last immediately saw him through and starts a conversation. Cobb turns out to be a burglar, mostly for fun. Going through people’s personal things and trying to make them feel uncomfortable. The two men are going to brake into places together, but “the young man” falls back into his old habbit of following people and eventually he gets involved with a woman who’s house they broke in.
That is as much of the story that I will tell, otherwise there is no use in seeing it anymore. Just as with “Memento” it is best to not know much about the story when you see it.

The film is shot in black and white and totally cut-up and the scenes reassembled all the way through eachother. Therefor you will have different scenes from every possible time in the story, slowly being able to understand/see what the story really it. Of course this is done a lot nowadays, but in 1998 it was still quite original. The way of filming, acting, stages, etc. are all quite minimal which adds to the atmosphere of the film.

“Following” sure isn’t a “Memento” yet, but a good step on the way.

Film 1 (Piranha Blues) * Willem Wallyn * 1999

A Belgian film in Dutch language (or Flemish if you like) that plays with on the background one of Belgians biggest political scandals of recent times, the Augusta-affair, a massive corruption scandal with military helicopters. The trial was in late 1998.

The father of the succesfull lawyer Willem Wallyn (Peter van den Begin) is one of the accused. The TV- journalist Johannes van Buren (Herbert Flack) wants to make a juice story and choses Wallyn as his victim to exploit. Just before the the first coverage in the main-newsbulletin, Wallyn and Van Buren run into eachother and get an argument. Shortly after Wallyn saw the news in his office with his colleagues, he picks up the plan to take the power of media and turn it around. With two friends he kidnaps Van Buren and starts to dig out his life in search for scandals. The rest of the film is mostly filled with discussions of the journalist who both wants to be a correct person/journalist, but also wants attention and fame and on the other side the succesfull lawyer who sees his name already affected by the trial against his father, but even further by Van Buren’s coverage. Wallyn more or less justifies his actions by the unjust against his father.

Indeed the director of this film is one of the main characters in the story. There are several people playing themselves in it as well. Seemingly Wallyn wants to show the power of the media with this film. The title “Film 1” refers to the fact that there are always two sides of the story, in this case, the side of Van Buren and the side of Wallyn. Nobody is interested in the first version, the not-juicy and not-all-giving version, but this is the version that we get here, the version of the journalist Van Buren. The irony in Wallyn’s approach is obvious, since he doesn’t give his own version of a story that is not told to be true or made up.
Stylistically this film is particularly special. It opens with a cut-up monologue of Willem Wallyn to the viewer and then a long opening with pictures of helicopters and fighters made by the Augusta company I asume. The soundtrack is totally incorporated in the film and pictures change with the music which is really well done. Especially in the beginning there is quite a lot of what they call “hip-hop assembly”, rapidly changing images with a heavy score. Some funny camera-effects and the suggestion that half the film is shot during the film with a handycam adds to the effect. The second half of the film is more focussed on ‘oral violence’ so to say.

A very nice debut for sure. I don’t know how you should get to see this film though, I personally saw it on the Belgian public television.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind * Michel Gondry * 2004

How the hell did I manage to miss this film? Is it because Jim Carrey is in it or because I don’t know the director or was it just hardly announced in the Netherlands? In any case, the title comes from the poem Eloise To Abelard by Alexander Pope (1688-1744) (How happy is the blameless Vestal’s lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot; Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray’r accepted, and each wish resign’d. (excerpt)). This is indeed a very typical way of giving the story of the film. A company appropriately named “Lacuna” found a way to erase those memories that their clients choose. The impulsive Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) decides to erase the memories of her unlikely relation with Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) when the relation becomes boring. Joel on his part decides to do the same, since Clementine doesn’t remember him anymore anyway and he is caught by the pangs of love. The larger part of the film plays in the memories of Joel which are being erased by the operators of Lacuna. The ‘memorized’ Joel finds out what is happening and tries to prevent is. He runs from one memory to the other, even to his suppressed memories. Meanwhile he hears the persons who are doing the operations on his physical body talking, flashback rush through, but everytime things vanish as another memory is erased. This is done very nicely and confusingly and it may remind you a bit of the film “Being John Malkovich”. This is not an accident, since the story is again by Charlie Kaufman. It is safe to say that “Eternal Sunshine” is as good (or as bad if you don’t like this kind of films) as that film; surprising, well-invented, a nice atmosphere and very good acting (I could even stand Carrey).

Delicatessen * Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1991)

It had been far too long since I saw this brilliant comedy! Jeunet didn’t make a whole lot of films, but his “La Cité Des Enfents Perdus” (city of lost children) (1995) and his highly acclaimed “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulin” (Amelie) (2001) definately belong to the highlights of the comedy genre (a genre I am not too fond off). Two years after Amélie there seems to be a new film coming up with the title “Un Long Dimanche De Fiançailles”.

But to “Delicatessen”. The story is about a post-apocalyptic France in which everybody does everything to get food. In one building lives the gruesome butcher Clapet (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) who hires young men to kill and eat and sell their meat after a few weeks of them doing small jobs around the house. His new worker is Louison (Dominique Pinon) used to be a clown in the circus and is as inventive as naive. I won’t tell you too much of the magnificent story. The film is full of contrasts. The atmosphere is always very grim caused by the idiotic characters, the colours and the stages. There are some extremely silly scenes and the humour is so subtle and brilliant that this is a funny film that doesn’t loose it’s grim atmosphere. The characters are berzerk, some scenes insane (a woman trying to kill herself in different ways, a girl that is almost blind, etc.), this is really a masterpiece.

Also great are the Lost Children that I really need to see again some time soon, another dark comedy of Jeunet. Amélie is much lighter (but no less funny) , so I don’t know what to expect from the upcoming film.

Dark City * Alex Proyas * 1998

A wonderfull film that I have seen long ago, but not reseen it on tv. The story is about a city that is made and maintained by an extraterrestial race called ‘the strangers’. They experiment with humans to find out what makes humans different from themselves, a search for the soul. In order to do this they swap memories and change the city to see if this effects a persons personality. At midnight everything is put to sleep and the strangers ‘tune’ a new city. Buildings arise or disappear, strangers go out to erase or add memory with the help of a human doctor (Kiefer Sutherland). The strangers don’t like the light, so everything is always dark, it’s always night. One human seems to be uneffected by the powers of ‘the strangers’ and even has the ability to ‘tune’. Naturally he saves the world.

A great film with a strange atmosphere. However ‘thrillerish’ it is brought as a comedy, but of course not one of these hilaric ones. Really wonderfull!