Knife in the Water (1962)

“Looking for this?”

Never pick up a hitchhiker.

Knife in the Water is critically acclaimed Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski’s debut feature. It follows a couple on a bright summer morning who reluctantly pick up a hitchhiker. After much talk between the characters, the husband invites the young man to join them on their boat trip for the day. What follows is a very claustrophobic sailing trip where both men vie for the women’s sexual attention.

Knowing Polanski and his knack for psychological horror, this film to me was at first a disappointment. But, I need a film to sink in, and when it did I suddenly realized the tension that was growing between the husband and the hitchhiker. They had a rivalry going on between the film and both tried to, I guess play some sort of game, where they would win the wife.

I felt really claustrophobic while watching this movie. Most of the entire film takes place on a boat in the middle of the sea. And it gets worse when they resort to the little room of the boat due to heavy rain. The way that Polanski directed these scenes revealed a very tight, closed setting where there wasn’t enough room for both guys, just one for the wife; this closed setting really brought out the tension and the suspense building up to the fate of the hitchhiker, and the climax as well.

The acting in this film was average, I guess. There wasn’t really nothing big to act on. It wasn’t a drama to cry in or a horror film to scream in, but it was a film to fight in. The husband’s character was mean and dominating over the hitchhiker, treating him like a slave and always insulting him that he wasn’t good for anything. Meanwhile, the hitchhiker would take this treatment, only to impress the wife, who, by the way, just sat by idly and seemed to enjoy the competition. In other words, she was a whore.

Knife in the Water is considered one of the best debut films of a director and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1963 Academy Awards. It is a well made film with rival and sexual themes. I give it a 5 out of 5 and you can buy it now on DVD or on Netflix.

Dogtooth (2010)

“Canine”

We all think our parents are the worst parents in the world. They never let you go out and they’re always keeping you on surveillance and what not. But always, you never ever know how lucky you really are.

Dogtooth is the disturbingly hilarious Greek drama about a husband and wife who keep their three children locked up in their gated home. The three children – who are not given names but instead referred to as “the eldest” or “the youngest” – are forced to keep within the home’s perimeter and compete in “games” where whomever is named winner gets certain prizes, such as picking the night’s entertainment. However, the kids create their own little alternate universe, which started to get shattered once their father – who is by the way the only one who leaves the premises to work at a factory – brings in an outsider set out to cure the only boy’s sexual urges.

This film is very, very odd and disturbing. The children are very much older, the youngest being around her mid teens and the oldest perhaps even in her twenties. The lack of knowledge they had bothered me because they knew virtually nothing. Whenever they would hear a word associated with “the outside”, their parents would create their own definitions, for example “zombie” is “a little yellow flower” and “pussy” is “a light switch”.

Very, very disturbing.

The title refers to the body part that determines when a person is finally able to venture out to the world, according to the parents. Throughout the whole film, each child tries their best to be the “winner” and be the first to basically escape their prison-esque life.

While considered a satire, I find the humor to be very subtle and not very directly stated. I would instead smile whenever something ridiculous (but not funny in the traditional sense) is on scene. And in a way, it does very much ridicule, I guess you can say, overprotective and overbearing parents.

Dogtooth is by the far the best film I’ve seen from 2010 (although it was released in Greece in 2009) and an outstanding achievement in foreign cinema and cinema in general history. I give this very strange yet brilliant film a congratulating 5 out of 5, and you can catch it now on DVD or Netflix.

Irreversible (2002)

"Time Destroys Everything"

Time is very pivotal and shouldn’t be played with or not taken granted for. A lot can happen in a night, even in five minutes. One second you’re in this vibrant mood, and the next you’re in this revenge mode.

The film Irreversible takes place in one night in the city of Paris. The story is told in reverse chronological order. The story is about two men who set out to get revenge on a man who raped one of the man’s girlfriends. It’s told in thirteen different scenes.

I absolutely loved this movie. One thing I enjoyed was the cinematography. In the beginning scenes, the camera was very shaky and constantly twisting and turning, which is guaranteed to cause motion sickness. The direction that Brazilian director Gaspar Noe took was also a very helpful contribution. He portrayed this fun Paris night as an everyday you or I might have. He then turns it into a very horrific tragedy that results in a even more tragic outcome. But because of the non-linear narrative, this is reversed.

The music was also very good. In the beginning sequence, the electronic beats that were playing in the midst of anger and impatience were superb. The artist was Thomas Bangalter, who also in the music group Daft Punk.

This film is considered the most controversial film of 2002, and maybe one the most of this past decade. Halfway through the film, a very brutal rape scene happens. I honestly didn’t have a huge problem with it, but when I started to think about actual rape, it hit really hard. The scene lasted around nine minutes and was by far the most important scene in the film. Also featured in the film was a lot of gratuitous content, from homosexual S&M bars to unsimulated oral sex. Although very experimental, I think this film doesn’t cross that thin line between art and porn.

This film was very well made, but it was a little too much for me with the camerawork and the sexual content. I give the film a 4.5 out of 5 and you can purchase it on DVD or watch it on Netflix.

Mary and Max (2009)

“Sometimes perfect strangers make best friends.”

I’ve always wanted a pen pal, but not one from online. I’d rather have one by mail. Although, it’s kind of a risk now with all the child molesters and everything, however, sometimes perfect strangers can become the best of friends over the course of years.

Mary and Max is a stop-motion animation film about a little Australian girl, Mary (Toni Collette), who starts a friendship with a New Yorker, Max (Philip Seymour Hoffman), after sending him a letter asking where babies come from in America. The two then start sending each other letters, with their life usually being explained and narrated by the letters they write.

The one thing I love about this film is the animation. To me, films have a greater effect with animation or full on CGI special effects. The stop motion animation added a more child-like feeling to it, almost nostalgic because it reminded me of films such as James and the Giant Peach and The Nightmare Before Christmas. However, this isn’t for the kids; there are a lot of mature themes that are discussed and explored in the film.

The overall mood of the film really brought alive some childhood trauma of bullying, loneliness, etc. Mary is a little with neglectful parents and no friends, while Max is a much older autistic man who also has no friends. Because the film took place in the 1970s, the only means of communication were by mail, which in me did spark up some pre-technological good ol’ days. What also really matched the mood was the animation, which was made very dark and had a very messy setting. Australia was really sunny and just seemed too much of a hell hole, while New York looked like a city overrun by the homeless people. Now this is a compliment and brings out a realization that even in the darkest times, great friendships can emerge.

Voice over isn’t necessarily acting, but it should be given acknowledgement. Hoffman really does give a good job voicing over the role of Max. The facial expressions that the character has and the way he handles things under stresse is given more light due to the tone of Hoffman. Collette also gives a perfect job, voicing over a really gentle tone to very fragile yet vigilant woman.

Mary and Max is a very sweet film that might remind you of a past or current, yet old, friendship. With great animation, mood, and voicing acting, I give the film a 4.5 out of 5 and you can buy it now on DVD (also on Netflix).

Ken Park (2002)

"From the director of Kids"

The thin line between art and pornography has been challenged between artists all around the world in cinema. Honestly, the one filmmaker who passes this line into borderline pornography has got to be Larry Clark. Clark’s debut feature film Kids caused a whole bunch of controversy surrounding the extreme graphic sex of the film. Apparently, his graphic depiction of teen sex and life has gotten way worse.

Ken Park follows the lives of four friends after the suicide of a character in the beginning. It also follows their relationships with their dysfunctional families in their California hometown. The film’s themes include sexuality, incest, and murder. The title doesn’t come from a location but is in fact the name of a character. His death is used as a plot device at the end of the film.

This movie is what you would call an art film or an experimental film. But it’s nothing but pure exploitation. The actors, whom are all above eighteen, all participated in unsimulated sex scenes, which are actual sex scenes. I am a fan of art films, which mostly explore sex, but this film wasn’t entertaining at all, just very vile. It was also very sick to see these actors, who looked no older the 16, do these acts. All in all, the sexual content was too awful to be even considered pornography.

The film was directed by Larry Clark, as mentioned, and features his trademark vile disgust for adults; it seems that his films only focus on teenagers. His “specialty” on featuring controversial themes and casting unknown actors does grant him some respect for the art, but it is his crossing of the aforementioned line that loses our respect for him.

Ken Park really doesn’t satisfy the average filmgoer, and I don’t recommend it. I give the film a disappointing 2 out of 5. By the way, due to a argue between the director and the film’s distributor, the film was never released in America, so fortunately, you can’t purchase the DVD.

Suspiria (1977)

“The Only Thing More Terrifying Than the Last 12 Minutes Of This Film Are The First 92.”

If you think Black Swan made dancing a grotesque art, then you’ve obviously never seen this.

Suspiria is Dario Argento’s great giallo masterpiece. The film follows young Suzy Bannion, an American dancer, who enrolls in a prestigious German dancing school. From the start, things aren’t what they seem. After much speculation and investigation, Suzy eventually discovers the truth behind the school and its administration.

Argento is very well-known in the Italian giallo scene and this film really did garner him critical attention. One perfect thing about this film is the score, which was done by the Italian progressive-rock group the Goblins. The music was very chilling to the max; guaranteed to make you shiver. What went well with the music were the chills that Argento gave throughout the film. They could have been strange noises, weird occurrences, or the discovery of something sinister. Whatever the case, the scares were perfect when backed up by the score.

The film was one of the last to use three-strip Technicolor, resulting in beautiful in-your-face colors, most notably red. The red was very lavish, very bright and attention seeking. With the cinematography capturing very bright colors and angles, the film was basically a Walt Disney horror film. It was actually reported that Argento wanted the film to be almost like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and if you watch the film closely you can actually see that. The murder scenes featured bright red blood and just beautiful grotesque deaths.

Another obvious factor as to why this film is so good is the direction that Argento took. It’s was very stylized and seemed a little too ahead of itself, while also having elements alluding to older cinema. Argento really can’t purposely mess up a film.

One thing that this film lacked was a good script and acting. The original script featured younger girls. However, due to the content of the film, the ages were increased, but the dialogue and actions of the girls were kept the same, resulting in the acting being almost immaturely. Also, the dubbing was slightly awkward.

With beautiful cinematography, direction, and music, Suspiria will surely get you hooked. I give the film a 3.5 out of 5 and you can go buy it now on DVD.

Play Time (1967)

“It’s Tati’s world. We’re just living in it.”

Creativity releases from your mind and can achieve its goal of attracting others. To me, film is my visual medium of expressing my thoughts and feelings to other people, and French director Jacques Tati believes that as well.

In Tati’s Play Time, the lives of two international people converge in a modernistic setting of Paris, France. Barbara is an American tourist who is simply surprised about the gadgets and inventive technology of the city. Monsieur Hulot is a French businessman who has a series of adventures and encounters throughout the day. The two people meet each other in six different sequences.

The whole setting of the film, Tativille, was created by Tati himself. The film is considered Tati’s most daring film. Although I haven’t seen any of his other films, I really noticed the risk of making this. It was in production for about three years (1964-1967) and featured little dialogue. It didn’t have a plot. It instead told a story of these two people meeting and going through a day, encountering unfamiliar buildings, gadgets, etc.

The film featured a variety of characters, including the group of American women tourists and the French businessmen. It was kind of hard to watch due to the lack of a plot; there was nothing to pay attention to or observe. However, there were scenes that were very entertaining and oddly humorous. It is considered a satire. In one scene, an older worker at a building is having troubled working a machine. He later comments on it negatively, sparking up older people’s reaction to the growing technological advances. Also because of the architecture and fashion of the set, it looks like a futuristic world. Sort of like a preview of what the world would like.

Play Time is very detailed in an almost minimalist way. It features great art direction, cinematography, acting, and, although it was a little hard to watch and felt time-consuming, it’s really not. This experimental film really did surprise me. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 and it is out now on DVD.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)

“Drink from me and live forever”

Vampires today aren’t as cool as they used to be. They glitter and have romances rather suck blood. Honestly, I hate it. I miss the gothic tales of redemption and the horrors it is to be a vampire. Sucks that doesn’t exist anymore.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles is a well-made film adaptation of Anne’s Rice novel Interview with the Vampire in which Louis, played by Brad Pitt, gives his epic life story to a young journalist, played by Christian Slater. In his story he opens up about his past life, his maker, and his struggles at becoming a vampire. He overcame problems and troubles with his maker Lestat, played by Tom Cruise, and his “daughter” Claudia, played by Kirsten Dunst.

One thing I loved about this film is the direction that Neil Jordan took. It was so atmospheric. It reminded me of old classic horror films, most notably Nosferatu. One great addition to the direction is the soundtrack and chilling gothic thrills. The music was so loud and very moving to every scene. It strongly supported the thrills and scares that this film had. The thrills were amazing and made the film really fun to watch and made it more appealing.

To me, the film picked up a lot on plot and characters when Kirsten Dunst came in. Dunst plays Claudia, a very young girl who is made a vampire by Louis and Lestat. The story then turned into a gothic thriller, focusing on the relationship of Louis and Claudia. That’s also where the other elements, such as betrayal and loneliness, came in.

Despite the strong cast of characters, the acting was a bit off. Tom Cruise personified his role just as every other role. His seriousness was often unnoticed; I always thought he was trying to be funny. Now with Pitt, he seemed a little too out of it. Louis was the reluctant one. He didn’t want to drink blood or kill people, and Pitt was able to portray that, but he got way into character and often, I thought that he wasn’t such a big character in the film even though he was the main character.

By the way, I loved the costumes.

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles was a well made film with a great soundtrack and wonderful direction. However, it wasn’t fully faithful to its original source and I can’t say I liked the acting. I give the film a 3 out of 5 and you can buy it now on DVD.