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Don’t Look Now (1973)
I watched this movie back around Halloween, looking for something edgy and scary, but not a gore/horror film, more like a suspense/thriller. Unfortunately, I didn't find it too thrilling or suspenseful, other than that your brain is working overtime to try to make any sense out of the story for most of the film. By the time I got to the end, I thought I had a read on it (more on that later) but it kind of just made me resent what I'd had to sit through for the past 2 hours.
I guess the main issue I have with the film is that there's a lot of craft on display, but it's wasted. There is huge drama early in the film, but it's not explored in any real depth. All the rich emotion that could be present in this story is avoided, except to push the plot forward. There's a great potential story here about a couple dealing with a crisis in different ways, but that's sidetracked by a supernatural/psychic plot. Or if you wanted to explore that, the film seems to make some stabs at a conflict between those beliefs and religion, possibly hinting at how people could use both beliefs opportunistically. But both those storylines are thrown away in favor of a barely hinted-at "murderer on the loose" narrative which is incredibly hard to believe.
With all the potential for rich drama, the reveal just seems like a cheap trick. Which then makes all the very artsy camera work and Italian editing style also seem like cheap tricks to manufacture drama from a thin plot. Some very committed performances don't make this a coherent film... only recommended for cinematography nuts.
Mandy (2018)
I thought I was going to love this. I wanted to love this. Visually astounding. Lyrically poetic. Musically intentional. There are so many strong, personal choices on display here, and so much craft. There's also a F*** the System, F*** Everyone counter-culture attitude that at first blush seems pretty punk rock. But if you really think about this movie (and it gives you enough time to do that), it starts getting problematic.
An almost fable-like tale where the clearest parallel is Dante having to conquer different planes of Hell in order to free his lover from the devil. This film borrows heavily on that kind of visualization and iconography, and I would've been totally down with a modern myth of a story. Sadly, they start trying to give real world explanations for why the villains are the way there are, and why the hero can do everything he can do. It's a big mistake for a film that should've just embraced its craziness whole hog and stayed mythological. The more it explains, the less it makes sense.
While Cage's performance is a tour-de-force, it just doesn't work in the narrative of the film, whereas he would've been perfect for Cosmatos' original idea as the villain. As is, the tone is just all over the place, and Cosmatos lays it all on so thick that most of the film feels far too serious. This gets into the real problem then, because if we have to take this film seriously, then we have to cringe at the bad acting in so many of the supporting roles, like Linus Roache doing an over-the-top Cage impression. We have to recognize that the women in this story are purely trophies to the men, and our heroine has sadly NO depth other than to motivate the hero's revenge. There's also a strain of homophobia that runs through the film, and lots of bits of dialogue that suggest a Trump-ian "everybody on both sides is wrong, the only one who gets it all right is ME". The messaging of the movie is disturbing as hell, if you want to instill any meaning into it at all, which you really shouldn't. Too bad this is too long and self-serious to just have a few drinks and laugh at.
I guess the main issue I have with the film is that there's a lot of craft on display, but it's wasted. There is huge drama early in the film, but it's not explored in any real depth. All the rich emotion that could be present in this story is avoided, except to push the plot forward. There's a great potential story here about a couple dealing with a crisis in different ways, but that's sidetracked by a supernatural/psychic plot. Or if you wanted to explore that, the film seems to make some stabs at a conflict between those beliefs and religion, possibly hinting at how people could use both beliefs opportunistically. But both those storylines are thrown away in favor of a barely hinted-at "murderer on the loose" narrative which is incredibly hard to believe.
What the film comes down to is that the main character is essentially a powerful psychic, but he's unaware of it. He sees glimpses of people in the future mingled with his present, or if he focuses, he can see other places, but without much sense of time. He seems to have gotten through life as a well-adjusted person so far, so presumably his daughter's death at the start of the film is what kicks off his awareness. And the entire film after that hinges on this midget murderer wearing the same jacket that his daughter had. Literally the film falls apart if it was normal-sized murderer or any other clothing.
With all the potential for rich drama, the reveal just seems like a cheap trick. Which then makes all the very artsy camera work and Italian editing style also seem like cheap tricks to manufacture drama from a thin plot. Some very committed performances don't make this a coherent film... only recommended for cinematography nuts.
Mandy (2018)
An almost fable-like tale where the clearest parallel is Dante having to conquer different planes of Hell in order to free his lover from the devil. This film borrows heavily on that kind of visualization and iconography, and I would've been totally down with a modern myth of a story. Sadly, they start trying to give real world explanations for why the villains are the way there are, and why the hero can do everything he can do. It's a big mistake for a film that should've just embraced its craziness whole hog and stayed mythological. The more it explains, the less it makes sense.
While Cage's performance is a tour-de-force, it just doesn't work in the narrative of the film, whereas he would've been perfect for Cosmatos' original idea as the villain. As is, the tone is just all over the place, and Cosmatos lays it all on so thick that most of the film feels far too serious. This gets into the real problem then, because if we have to take this film seriously, then we have to cringe at the bad acting in so many of the supporting roles, like Linus Roache doing an over-the-top Cage impression. We have to recognize that the women in this story are purely trophies to the men, and our heroine has sadly NO depth other than to motivate the hero's revenge. There's also a strain of homophobia that runs through the film, and lots of bits of dialogue that suggest a Trump-ian "everybody on both sides is wrong, the only one who gets it all right is ME". The messaging of the movie is disturbing as hell, if you want to instill any meaning into it at all, which you really shouldn't. Too bad this is too long and self-serious to just have a few drinks and laugh at.