DAY 1 (JULY 19, 2012) - "Confusing Intentions"
The Tall Man
I was understandably excited to attend the Canadian premiere of Pascal
Laugier’s new film as Martyrs had already blown my mind several times. When the film got its commercial release in Montreal, I actually ran out on my friends to go see it. I remember the scene quite vividly. We were at the bar, drinking glass after glass of barley slush, when I suddenly stood up and announced that I was off to see Martyrs. Nobody followed... out of unease with the film's imagery, I'm sure. After three screenings, I myself still find the tack-removal scene and climactic sessions of torture to be a particular strain on the eyes.
Martyrs is one of the roughest film experiences out
there. How does The Tall Man compare?
Foolishly, I expected to find everything I
had loved about Martyrs to be back in The Tall Man. I was slightly put off by the presence of Jessica Biel at first, thinking that her name rhymed with Hollywoodian restraint, but I soon remembered the nastier scenes from the TCM remake. And most importantly, I put all of my faith in Laugier's mean streak. With the help of a like-minded friend, I even managed to envision a fitting conclusion to the film’s mysterious
premise. Seeing how the narrative seemed concerned with the disappearance of
children in a small mountain community, we imagined a giant meat grinder. I
mean, what would one be most likely to do with a bunch of children after having
seen Martyrs? Toss them in a meat grinder, of course!
Unfortunately, Laugier probably felt like he couldn’t afford to make yet
another hell-bound film lest he would need to outdo himself in grueling ways for
every new release. And so he now relies on a shockingly convoluted screenplay
instead of shocking images to get his point across. But no matter what Mitch
Davis has to say about the conclusion, it is nowhere near as subversive as
Martyrs’. Subversively far-fetched, perhaps, but that's it.
My eagerness to see the film left me ripe for disappointment even before
the lights started to dim. I know I shouldn’t have, but I checked out the
film’s IMDb profile beforehand only to be flabbergasted by
the 4.2 total score. 4.2? Ouch! Mitch almost made things alright when he explained the general hatred directed toward the film as a result of its asymmetry with cult
favorite Martyrs, but I was still skeptic. Fortunately, it only took a few
frames to roll by in order to confirm Mr. Davis’ contention. As The Tall Man’s
opening scene unfolds and the camera shows its inquisitive proficiency by
capturing a plethora of enlightening details about the community of Cold Rock, it was clear
to me that the film was undeserving of a meager 4.2. If only for the slick look
of the production, which it shares with Martyrs, The Tall Man deserves some
credit. With Jessica Biel firmly in the lead, it actually seemed like everything was in its right place as the introduction unfolded. By fleshing out the surrounding community with such
uncanny precision, Laugier had already managed to set up a captivating mystery full of local mythological
implications involving the titular character and his grim legacy. All he had to do then was not to squander his expository efforts...
The dilapidated mining town of Cold Rock, Washington is not only grim
because of its rising poverty but because of the ominous presence of a
relentless boogeyman who kidnaps children right from under their parents’
noses. Through a series of clever, TV-like interviews, we are introduced to the
Tall Man’s legend, one that seems to have clear supernatural implications. The
idea of a child being “there one instant and gone the next” shoots right up our
head to suggest the presence of an umpteenth Jason clone, or at least some kind
of fairy tale version thereof. Enters protagonist Julia Denning, a caring nurse
who’s first seen giving birth to yet another hopeless child in a makeshift
local clinic. The fruit of unrequited teenage fornication, this child is just another mouth to feed for its dirt poor family. But that doesn’t prevent Julia
from bestowing upon him the care of a saint, that very same care she bestows
upon her own child after a day’s work. Momentarily returning home, she plays
with him like there was no tomorrow in a sequence of bliss that seems to hover
in time. As one would expect though, Julia’s happiness is short-lived as the
Tall Man comes in the night to claim the child. Refusing to give up on him, she
dashes out after the tall dark figure that has taken him. An exhilarating
action sequence ensues in which she manages to topple a truck over and
neutralize an aggressive German Sheppard. Battered and bruised, she finally
ends up lying on the pavement while the boogeyman dashes out toward the forest
with her child.
The Tall Man is more of a milieu study
than an actual horror film.
As Julia starts roaming through the forest, the very same forest in which
the protagonists of every single slasher ever made have ventured before, I felt
kind of mad. At that point, I anticipated the film to merely showcase a game of cat and mouse between
the protagonist and the killer, thus flushing all the painstaking efforts made
to characterize the townsfolk. I ended up being wrong big time, as the action
comes full circle and up to the greasy spoon where Julia first mingled with the
locals. At that point, the narrative starts zigzagging wildly up to a
bloodless conclusion that seems even less plausible than Martyrs’. The twists are packed so tightly as to make you guess at
every turn, but they also reveal gaping plot holes and severe gaps in logic in the process. In
the end, after engaging in the umpteenth diagonal leading toward the film’s
conclusion, you won’t regret Martyrs’
shockingly mean streak; you will regret only its straightforwardness and the lack of
screenwriting gymnastics put in its elaboration.
Evidently, Pascal Laugier wanted to play on expectations here, and not
simply deliver a carbon copy of his previous film. And we should give him some
credit for that. In doing so, however, he fails to deliver what his fans
eagerly awaited, that is precisely what they expected. It might be a tired
expression by now, but why fix what’s not broken? Especially in light of the
fact that bloodier is usually better if you are to appeal to the horror crowd. And
don’t get me that “it’s not a horror film” bullshit. Obviously, The Tall Man is not a horror film.
What’s misleading however is that it is presented and marketed as a horror
film, with horror fans being accountable for the entire box-office of the project.
Just look at the official artwork, for fuck’s sake! Look at the overdetermined
imagery contained on the poster! You’ve got Jessica Biel’s face
superimposed over a faceless hooded figure, using a two-tone
composition. All this and not a single child thrown in a meat grinder? A travesty...
Look closely at the poster if you want to
solve the mystery. Then you won't have to suffer
until the umpteenth plot twist...
**1/2 - A well-made, if ridiculously written fake horror film that seems to
have had no specific audience in mind upon creation.
.........................
Dragon (Wu Xia)
There is no need to point out just how dangerous it is to choose a title
like Wu xia (martial arts film) to try and appeal to the action crowd.
Unfortunately, while it is a fully accomplished, gorgeously produced entry in
the genre, Dragon will probably fail to get a cult following amongst martial
arts aficionados. Featuring a fairly low number of amazingly choreographed
fight scenes, its subservience of pure action to the dramatic needs of a
heavy-handed family drama will unlikely make it shine amongst the starry
landscape of Hong Kong cinema, where physical performances are often exalted above any sort of genuine dramatic concern.
Personally, I was more annoyed at first by the film’s sudden mood swings than anything else. Humorous one instant and dead-serious the next, the narrative achieves little in shaping dramatic consistency. The film goes to wild extremes in both areas, alternating surprisingly nasty scenes of massacres with family-oriented comedy bits. It was only after I put some serious thoughts into analyzing the screenplay that I realized that this alternation of the humorous and the serious is absolutely essential in creating the balance which the film strives for. Alien to Western thought, the notion of balancing two extreme forms of expression is what first made me fail to appreciate the film and its underlying message, leaving me indifferent to what is actually a fairly fine piece of genre filmmaking. Erected from a clever screenplay emphasizing that notion of balance to great extents, it is also worthwhile in its consistently excellent direction, especially art direction, and the performances of Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro, who try and transcend two bipolar, but complementary archetypes.
Personally, I was more annoyed at first by the film’s sudden mood swings than anything else. Humorous one instant and dead-serious the next, the narrative achieves little in shaping dramatic consistency. The film goes to wild extremes in both areas, alternating surprisingly nasty scenes of massacres with family-oriented comedy bits. It was only after I put some serious thoughts into analyzing the screenplay that I realized that this alternation of the humorous and the serious is absolutely essential in creating the balance which the film strives for. Alien to Western thought, the notion of balancing two extreme forms of expression is what first made me fail to appreciate the film and its underlying message, leaving me indifferent to what is actually a fairly fine piece of genre filmmaking. Erected from a clever screenplay emphasizing that notion of balance to great extents, it is also worthwhile in its consistently excellent direction, especially art direction, and the performances of Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro, who try and transcend two bipolar, but complementary archetypes.
But was it ever their purpose to be out in the open?
Following some shockingly contemporary credits in which the camera hovers in and around a CGI brain, the spectator is dumped in early 20th century rural China (1917 if I'm not mistaken). Now, the brain has nothing to do with the amnesic stance of the protagonist. It rather prefigures the gimmicky use of zen philosophy within the film's fight scenes and the numerous internal close-ups that follow the touching of pressure points, throwbacks if you will, to the x-ray punch from The Streetfighter (1974) and other such novelties meant to dramatize martial arts sequences beyond the scope of performance. After our trip through the brain, we are first introduced to the mundane family life of Liu Jin-xi (Donnie Yen), a humble farmer who lives in a moldy shack at the edge of a mountainside village. The common beginning to all wu xia films is respected with the quietude of the country inspiring us the earthiest desires, making us nostalgic for an era in which people could live simply from the soil and woods, where panoramas were still untainted by the presence of technology... Liu Jin-xi belongs to a world far removed from our own, and he is thus able to live a happy life of anonymity in the bucolic splendors of his surroundings. That is until violence invades the village in the form of two wanted criminals. After he manages to beat them up during a general store stick-up, police starts showing interest in Liu Jin-xi's background. Assigned to the case, inspector Xu Bai-jiu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) quickly uncovers the obvious truth: the quiet farmer is actually the former second-in-command of a ruthless group of bandits called The 72 Demons. When word gets out about his betrayal, his former boss (and father) tracks him down in order to reclaim the grandson which he feels is rightfully his.
Although the present vehicle is filled with disappointment, it seems to be willingly so. By coming short of action fans' expectations, it often manages to create higher dramatic issues. The first fight scene for example, takes place in a cluttered, badly-lit shop and it features only obscured or clunky comedic moves from Donnie Yen, a performer widely recognized for his spectacular abilities. What we don't know at first is that this entire scene will be shown again from the inspector's point of view. By deconstructing every elements thereof, literally shedding light on every darkened corner of the shop, it is Xu Bai-jiu who creates a subtly humorous, truly spectacular embodiment of this scene. In the process, he opposes his aerial, luminous yang to Liu Jin-xi's earthy, dark yin. And that is how the film primarily functions, as a showcase of complementarity between the two protagonists and their wildly bipolar features and not a simple opposition between them, a subtlety which eluded me at first. More concerned with the philosophy behind martial arts than the simple spectacle thereof, Dragon might just be worthy of that wu xia crown after all. And the very opposition of yin and yang also helps us uncover an abundant number of similar thematic oppositions, including nature vs nurture and the law vs morality, allowing us to glimpse in parts at the tremendous symbolic power of the narrative.
Near the end, the film provides yet another fine example of spectacle's subservience to drama, and I feel that I should warn star-struck martial arts fans about it. The scene happens a little before the final battle. Confronted with his former partners who wish to take him back on board, Liu Jin-xi offers them his right arm, which he severs with a sword as a former instrument of evil. While this (simple) gesture is extremely powerful in dramatic terms, it will immediately make the martial arts fan cringe. There’s a climactic battle coming, and the protagonist willingly removes one of his limbs! How inappropriate for a film called Wu xia! I don’t know what the general feeling in the theater was, but I immediately made a negative comment in my notepad. Obviously, my negative thoughts have eventually vanished, but they felt very real at the time. They came from the guts and shot up past my resolve, a monument, if ever there was one, to the intellectual stance necessary to truly appreciate the film.
All in all, Dragon is very good, and it perfectly does justice to the incredible resources involved. With Takeshi Kaneshiro often stealing scenes from Donnie Yen as colorful inspector Xu Bai-jiu, the narrative does not come down to a battle of egos (like The Expendables for example), but to an enlightening symbiosis, which extends to the entire production, including art direction, soundtrack, cinematography, and action choreography (orchestrated by Mr. Yen himself). And while it might not have offer something for everybody, it remains a vastly superior genre item.
Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro are complementary
opposites here, and not simple rivals.
Near the end, the film provides yet another fine example of spectacle's subservience to drama, and I feel that I should warn star-struck martial arts fans about it. The scene happens a little before the final battle. Confronted with his former partners who wish to take him back on board, Liu Jin-xi offers them his right arm, which he severs with a sword as a former instrument of evil. While this (simple) gesture is extremely powerful in dramatic terms, it will immediately make the martial arts fan cringe. There’s a climactic battle coming, and the protagonist willingly removes one of his limbs! How inappropriate for a film called Wu xia! I don’t know what the general feeling in the theater was, but I immediately made a negative comment in my notepad. Obviously, my negative thoughts have eventually vanished, but they felt very real at the time. They came from the guts and shot up past my resolve, a monument, if ever there was one, to the intellectual stance necessary to truly appreciate the film.
All in all, Dragon is very good, and it perfectly does justice to the incredible resources involved. With Takeshi Kaneshiro often stealing scenes from Donnie Yen as colorful inspector Xu Bai-jiu, the narrative does not come down to a battle of egos (like The Expendables for example), but to an enlightening symbiosis, which extends to the entire production, including art direction, soundtrack, cinematography, and action choreography (orchestrated by Mr. Yen himself). And while it might not have offer something for everybody, it remains a vastly superior genre item.
***1/2 Dragon is a great film by any standards. Just not what you'd expect from a project that is also known as Wu xia.
