Hey folks, Harry here... I want to see TELL ME SOMETHING now! From the description that Jan gives it... it just sounds... delicious. As for CHOPPER, I've heard good things about it, but Jan didn't dig it that much... and as for SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE... I love that film, but some of his criticisms make me ponder if any changing has happened to the film.... I hope not. Here ya go....
Hey Harry,
Jan is again right here writing short reviews at TIFF. Today is my bloody Sunday. You'll know what I mean if you go on reading the three films I'm gonna review. They're TELL ME SOMETHING from Korea, CHOPPER from Australia and SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE from America.
(1) Tell Me Something; directed by Chang Younhyun
Let me tell you something about TELL ME SOMETHING: It's the BLOODIEST film I've ever seen in my whole life!!! It's a horrifying detective story about a sick serial killer who mutilates the victims. In the movie, there are scenes after scenes showing the body parts, which look so disturbingly real. Well, I don't think this Korean flick will be released in North American theaters, but I'm sure there are always some movie geeks who watch films from all over the world and might come across this movie. Let me warn you: This film is really, really disturbingly violent and you may feel sick every time when you see the meat in the deli section of a supermarket.
The plot of TELL ME SOMETHING, however, is indeed carefully constructed and calculated. The movie is full of suspense, violence and horror. Since the real treasure of this film is its labyrithine plot, I just can't talk too much about the story. But very briefly, three male dismembered bodies are discovered and they are all linked to an innocent-looking girl. As the investigation goes on, more characters around the girl become potential suspects and the story becomes more and more complicated like a puzzle. However, the real killer(s) is/are only revealed in the VERY LAST minute. It's wonderful to see how different pieces finally come together at the very end. The feeling is like the final shot of "Usual Suspects" when the detective suddenly figures out what has actually happened. And I was disturbingly dumbfounded.
There're two things the audience talked about after this film was finished. The first one is about guessing the real killer. I'll tell you my guess at the end of this paragraph. The second one is about one particular nightmarish scene. That scene takes place in an elevator of a supermarket, stuffed with people. And there is a garbage bag at the corner. A curious kid bumps the cart into the garbage bag....And then a human head and the body parts and LOTS of blood just flood out and drench all over the floor.....Then a woman is so unlucky that she slips on the floor, and her head is just right next to the dead body's head....and then there're screams and stuff...not only from the people in the movie but also from the audience as well.....Again, TELL ME SOMETHING is a horrifying detective movie full of suspense and gruesome violence. (My guess: The two female characters. You'll know if you've seen the film)
Again and again: If you can't stand the ultra-violent and the blood, stay away from this film. I'm afraid you might get nightmare and stuff every night. I've used the word "horrifying" many times in my film review and I really mean it...
(2) Chopper; directed by Andrew Dominik
An Australian film about a celebrity criminal called Chopper, it tells a story about how a natural born criminal tries to stay normal when he goes back to the society. By the way, the Chopper character is the most formidable one I've seen this year. He is just a fierce animal whose emotion can explode unpredictably at any minute. What's a bit scary is that when he is stabbed by his so-called friends in the prison several times, right on his belly, he just feels surprised without showing any pain. He just doesn't know it could happen to him because it's only HIM who always stabs other people.
Although this film got some pretty funny dialogues, I just don't like this film very much although I know there're people who would like it. First, the director is too playful with the colors and the lights. The characters are always bathed in the neon lights and and I just felt my eyes getting hurt while I was watching. The most unbearable one is when the characters go to a disco, while the characters are talking, this time they're bathed in strong flashnights. For some people like me, who has already watched 10 films or so in the last 3 days, my eyes were already tired and just couldn't get suffered by the lights any longer. Second, the characters talk too much. Anyway, I just don't really enjoy the film.
(3) Shadow of the Vampire; directed by Elias Merhige
A vampire film that is both funny and scary, "Shadow of Vampire" is an originial and inventive story about the production of the classic vampire movie "Nosferatu." John Malkovich plays Murnau, the director of the film, who asks a real vampire (played by Willem Dafoe) to play the vampire character in his film. Like my other film reviews for this festival, I'm not gonna talk too much about the plot. But in my opinion, I think the real villain is actually the director, who is willing to make a movie on the expense of the safety of his crew. By the end of the movie, it's again him who breaks the promise with the vampire. The director should be the one who deserves to be killed.
Although the film is seemingly just a small-budget film, it is professionally directed as if it were a Hollywood studio production. But on the other hand, I prefer some dark humor instead of the funny jokes in the film. While I was watching, for example, I noticed that the audience laughed simply because of Dafoe's creepy expression on his face. By the way, Dafoe steals the movie every time when he appears. Anyway, I think the director could even do a better job for this film (make it longer and spend more time on developing the vampire's character).
To conclude, Shadow of the Vampire is a nice, inventive film which needs more length and perhaps more money to make it look better.
OK, that's it for today. I'll try to get a rush ticket for tommorrow's CTHD.
Jan
