Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Keep ‘em coming, Cbabbitt. If I can’t go this year, at least I can try to track down the stuff you seem to reall like. This first film, for example, sounds like it’s as much insane fun as SUICIDE CLUB was...
Karaoke Terror:
Not since Battle Royale have I seen such an incredibly brutal, disturbing, and shockingly droll satire on violence in Japanese culture. Well, thanks Mr.Testsuo Shinohara, you’ve definitely crafted one of the most fearless dark comedies ever - a film that will NEVER come out in the United States unless someone like Quentin Tarantino gets behind it. This film is an all out cult fever-dream of bizarre complexities and fatalistic motifs. It’s actually wildly ambitious and unequivocally effective at jolting its audience. Three or four people walked out of the theater and the end credits were met with mild applause making it abundantly clear this film is not for everyone. I however, enjoyed it greatly.
The film is about a small group of 20 year old misfits completely removed from all rational sense and morals and an equally small group of middle aged women lacking all signs of heart and soul, completely detached from society. And....
They spend the entire film trying to kill each other, savoring every bit of explicit carnage and pondering the very nature, rush, and satisfaction of vengeance. It begins when one of boys is immediately attracted to an older woman that passes by on the street. He follows her and does his best to pick her up. He expresses how desperately he needs her by saying something along the lines of: “Your ass is saying, fuck me”. This of course is an outrage to the woman and she responds by screaming “pervert” several times, something so agonizing to the boy it ends up being fatal. He whips out his knife and slashes her throat - a moment of violence so tonally different than the comedic approach of the sequence, it takes a few seconds to adjust to how amazingly brutal it actually is. At first you’re almost inclined to laugh, but then you suddenly realize how vicious the sight of graphic, spurting blood truly is. It totally throws you off balance and indicates how unexpected the film will be. After the wake, her friends decide to take action against the killer. So basically, the rest of the film goes back and forth between the two groups as they keep getting revenge. The middle aged women see violence as a rush of excitement and life, while the young boys feel an undercurrent of sexual energy through all of the bloodshed. It’s all very disturbing and bizarre, yet thoroughly engaging and surprisingly funny. The comedic antics of basically every character is often times hilarious. Of course, if the film didn’t work on a comedic level than it would be a completely unsuccessful satire. Karaoke Terror is certainly a smart film and relentless in its determination to get under your skin.
One of my favorite segments of the film is when the group of young guys approach a would be arms-dealer and explain why they need a gun. Their reason is simple - middle aged women are what’s wrong with society. It so happens the arms-dealer completely agrees and rants about everything they do that bothers him. The sequence is ridiculously crude and somehow incredibly amusing. Even more strange is the sudden outburst of song numbers throughout the entire picture. The film opens with one of the wackiest musical numbers I’ve seen - a sequence so odd and hilarious you’re literally wiping away the tears. You see, the guys like to throw huge karaoke celebrations after they’ve been sufficiently sexually inspired by their neighbor, a beautiful woman they frequently spy on. One of these karaoke parties towards the end of the film is a sight to behold.
The deeper you get into the film the more insane the characters and situations get. By the time the women listen to a man sing an awful, painfully sad karaoke song in order to get a rocket launcher to use against the boys, you know you’re experiencing something truly new. When the film reaches its climax, you know you’re seeing a film unlike anything. The ending is quite simply put, surreal. Honestly, it’s the kind of conclusion that be taken as extremely offensive, especially given the content of the film. For those who have seen it, my favorite lines in the film are ones that I’m sure you’ll never forget. “Do you have an A-Bomb?” “Sure do.” Karaoke Terror is an amazing film for an audience that can stomach the extreme side of filmmaking.
Please Teach Me English:
Now for something on the completely opposite end of the cinematic spectrum, Korea’s Please Teach Me English is a delightful and harmless romantic comedy filled with tons of energy and charm. The film is a silly and predictable romance, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s enjoyable. I do find it a bit odd it’s directed by Kim Sung-Su, best known for the bloody epic MUSA: THE WARRIOR. This isn’t a genre I’m terribly interested in, so I am impressed that I liked the film so much. When it’s not fun and charming, it’s so spectacularly bad you have to laugh. I swear to god, the English speaking actors in this film make the cast of BAYWATCH seem Oscar caliber. It’s fucking hilarious.
Na Young-Ju is a shy and geeky girl that’s forced to take English lessons so she can communicate easier with people for her work. As a public official, she despises being the one chosen among her colleagues. However, in class she meets the exuberant Moon-Su, the man of her dreams. Of course, it takes pretty much the entire duration of the film for him to realize he loves her too and like most shitty American versions of this tired formula, the ending is awfully corny and ridiculous. What makes the film work is the wonderful chemistry between the two leads, great comedic timing in certain sequences, and a few tremendously likable supporting characters. The choices of music are strange in a few spots, the dramatic attempts fall flat, and the Korean/American actress at the end is so fucking awful it’s almost fascinating. Seriously, I could watch her material on loop and be endlessly amused. She’s god awful. There’s not much to say about the film. It’s light fun with a lot of heart no matter how silly it gets.
Arahan:
Arahan is pretty much the Korean version of Kung Fu Hustle - a martial arts comedy with massive amounts of cartoon violence and plenty of well earned laughs. It’s definitely more problematic than Stephen Chow’s latest, but it’s still more than worthwhile. The lead actor carries the film with a wonderful, charismatic performance and is a natural at physical comedy. Every time he’s on screen something exciting is bound to happen no matter how long certain sequences get. The final battle, for instance, goes on about ten minutes too long. It’s still pretty cool though.
Sang-Hwan is a hapless police officer that’s constantly abused by people stronger than him - basically everyone. While chasing a perpetrator he is accidently struck by a palm blast of a pretty young martial artist trying to stop the crime herself. She immediately takes him to her father and the other masters who discover that Sang-Hwan possesses an astonishing chi and can become the greatest master of all if trained. At first he declines, but of course realizes the strength and power he can obtain. At the same time, an evil ancient master has returned to complete his quest for total domination and only Sang-Hwan is strong enough to confront him. Fine, the usual plot that allows the filmmakers to throw in as much kung-fu and comedic set-pieces as possible. For the most part, it works.
The first half of the film focuses on Sung-Hwan’s training and his several attempts to impress the girl. The actor who plays Sung-Hwan is fucking great. Like Stephen Chow, he’s able to make the most over-the-top and ridiculous lines and situations seem genuinely funny. Some actors can do this well and for some it’s just uncanny. This guy is the latter. His movements and dialogue delivery are outstanding comedic performance and his timing is impeccable. The girl on the other hand is just there because she looks good. She can emote as much as the English actors in Please Teach Me English. The villain is actually quite talented, but all he does in this film is flex his muscles, pose, and grunt every chance he gets. He’s still badass though.
The martial arts are your standard wire-fu, I wish I understood how the Wachowski’s do this so well, energetic mayhem. It looks cool, but it’s nothing special. You could have a drinking game based on how many times the characters do silly poses and the camera tracks in really quickly to show how “serious” they are during each battle. It gets pretty lame by the 379457746 time. Most of the choreography works well though. The real success of the film is the comedy. It’s hilarious. Arahan is a good time. If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth it.
Nice job, man. More! More! More!
"Moriarty" out.
