Film Reviews: Let's Keep Murder in the Family [Stoker, 2013]

Stoker (2013)

[Reader disclaimer: there will be some spoilers discussed. This piece also contains material of a mature/graphic nature].

After a 3-year hiatus, actor Wentworth Miller came back into the spotlight in 2013, not only to publicly criticize the homophobia prevalent in Russia at the time, but to say 'hey world. I've written something, and it's pretty damn great'.

Stoker is, undoubtedly, a slow-burner of a film. Directed by Chan-wook Park, the man who brought you the infamous cult classic Oldboy (2003) and the lesser known but equally fantastical I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (2006), this film explores the interconnectivity of family in the darkest ways imaginable and presents a very unconventional coming-of-age story.

The protagonist is India Stoker (played by Mia Wasikowska), a girl who loses her father to a car accident on her 18th birthday. India's character is truly fascinating: hyper-feminised, cold and logical, she presents a kind of stillness and creepy demeanour. One might even argue that her character is undoubtedly psychopathic but, as an audience member, I still felt like I could empathise with her grieving for her father's loss and making casual (yet horribly morbid) remarks about it.

We are also introduced to Charlie (Matthew Goode), the brother of India's late father and her sauve yet enigmatic uncle. Not much is said about him to begin with and it does take some time for the film to take us there: we are told that he's a traveller and we are shown that he has an unusual interest in India but that's about it.

In retrospect, there are prerequisites to the plot twist with Charlie everywhere: a spider crawling up India's leg, Charlie's interest in the land's soil, a water-gun in his briefcase, the mention of a restaurant called "L'Institution". Out of context, these sound like strange and unfamiliar pieces of the film, but together they make for an interesting narrative progression, one which I can't really explain without spoiling the entire film for you.

The one aspect of this film that took me by surprise when I first watched it was the relationship between Charlie and India. It becomes a quasi-sexual, somewhat incestous affair without explicitly showing it. There are two sequences in particular that you will see this in but most notably the piano scene.

That sequence is arguably one of the most important scenes in the film, depicting Charlie as a dominant role: the two play the piano together, Charlie assertively joining in and changing the tempo. When India matches his speed, he reaches around her to play a higher scale, making India tighten her legs and lose herself in a different reality. This scene is masterful, showing India's ability to be vulnerable and submissive, abruptly ending the song as if to represent a climax. 

This would be far less creepy were they not related, though. 

Another vital part of Stoker is materialism. India's shoes, her father's belt, the hunting rifles...all items used in their respective scenes to teach us about the characters. Park's ability to show us their significance rather than explain it is admirable and, I'd argue, a hard feat for any director to accomplish without remaining too confusing and vague.

With any film, there are blind spots, parts of the plot which didn't settle very much in terms of progressing it forward. India's mother (played by Nicole Kidman) made for an interesting and complex character, however I would argue that she isn't featured enough: there's an entire section where we are shown the relationship between Charlie and India becoming more intense and it wasn't until it cut to Kidman walking into a scene that I found myself thinking 'oh yeah, I forgot she has a mother'. 

Because the narrative is bolstered by Charlie in the second-half of the film, the estranged relationship between mother and child is given a backseat, and I would argue that India's remaining parent is an important part of her growing up into the matured adult we see at the end of the film. 

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Stoker: rewatching it reminded me of how artistically unsettling Park's films can be and how poignant Miller's screenplay was for what was essentially his debut as a film writer. 

If you liked this film, I'd also recommend the following:

• Lady Vengeance (2005)
• Funny Games (2007)
• Black Swan (2010)
• Gone Girl (2014)
• Crimson Peak (2015)

Overall rating: 8/10

- K

Film Reviews: A Lesson in New French Extremity [Haute Tension, 2003]

Haute Tension (2003)

[Reader disclaimer: there will be some spoilers discussed. This piece also contains material of a graphic and disturbing nature: read at your own discretion.]

Don't you just hate it when you meet the inlaws? The whole ordeal usually goes up in flames and then there you are, a bloodbath on your hands. For 2003's Haute Tension, I mean this in the more literal sense of the word.

This memorable French horror was directed by Alexandre Aja, a man that some avid horror fans might remember from being the visionary behind The Hills Have Eyes remake. Whilst I can't say that the remake left any memorable impression on me, I will say that Aja pushes horror in a refreshingly new direction with this film.

When I first watched Haute Tension, I was in college. One scene in particular hooked me: a man in a dingy truck receiving oral from a woman. Totally normal. Sex, similar to violence, is something featured in most horror films: it is a trope, though arguably a stale one at this point. After the man is 'finished', so to speak, I remember watching my jaw drop as it cuts to a shot of him nonchalantly tossing the woman's head out of the driver side window. Yes, ladies and gents. He was using a dismembered head.

That scene set the tone for me: Aja wasn't going to guide me through recycled plot points from any old slasher film, he's going to beat me over the head with imagery that's going to make my stomach want to fold in on itself like a defective deck-chair. 

The opening sequence is also vital to the subversion of audience expectation: it shows us main protagonist Marie, running through the woods covered in blood, yelling for help. Immediately, we are presented with one of horrors most influential and popular tropes: the 'final girl'. 

For those of you that are unaware of this theme, I'll give you a quick rundown: the concept of the 'final girl', coined by Carol J. Clover in 1992, is one that focuses on a female character who inevitably becomes the last one standing. The 'final girl' usually adheres to a sense of privilege or moral integrity which secures her a happy ending or, at least, an ending in which she hasn't been made into human chowder. 

Think of any horror film and you'll almost certainly find a 'final girl' in it: classics such as Alien (1979), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Hellraiser (1987) are just to name a few.

"A movie that makes you want to squirm in your seat and judged by that standard, it works brilliantly." - Jeremy Knox

This trope, like many others, can have variations. That (in my opinion) is what keeps a genre from dying: the ability to rework an ideology in favour of cultural relevancy and interest. This film most certainly gives us that, luring the audience in with a helpless yet admirably resilient woman at the start. This facade, I'm pleased to say, does not last very long.

I also found that a surprising and equally endearing aspect to Haute Tension was Aja's homage to the classic 80s era of slasher films, including Maniac (1980) and The Shining (1980). A good director knows what tropes to use, a great one pays tribute in an original way. 

Haute Tension is much more than 'fake-out' jump scares and gratuitous blood splatter, though: it's a socio-political commentary on mental illness and sexuality. It belongs in a sub-genre of horror which many critics refer to as the New French Extremity: a "crossover between sexual decadence, bestial violence and troubling psychosis". 

I find this to be a very distinctive yet under-appreciated category of film; you may have also heard of others such as Martyrs (2008) or most recently Raw (2016). These films, albeit less popular within our westernised society, view the world in a visceral and substantially violent way and yet evoke a sense of empathy. Films such as Haute Tension demand your attention and your willingness to engage with the gore as, in most cases, it's integral to the storyline. 

The most interesting part of this film to me was Marie's psyche and how it's divided in such a substantial way. The 'normal' Marie feigns introversion, a disdain for being "sex-crazed", a logical yet gentle being: the 'other', the unknown, is lustful and violent, possessive and utterly terrifying. One might argue that this is an example of self-demonisation: Marie and Alex's relationship, although initially clarified as purely a platonic friendship, holds such strong undertones of homo-eroticism that one could be mistaken for thinking they are lovers in the first act. 

However, it becomes clearer throughout the narrative that this tenderness is one-sided. Alex, it seems, is focused on boys and boys alone. So, despite her flaws (and you will see them), Marie may well just be a byproduct of repressing her own desires, whether that is a coping mechanism ingrained in her or whether it's something she chooses to do to preserve her friendship. 

Murder in this film varies from overly explicit to subtle in a way I thought unachievable. Let's take Alex's father for example: spoiler, he does not live it out to see the plot twist at the end. Alex's father is killed almost silently, with an exception of some good old-fashioned whimpering: the scene is unnerving to the viewer, not because the poor sod has his head struck off with a side-table, but because the diegetic sound is almost non-existent. There are no guttural screams to flinch at, no music to remain cautious of. You are left to sit and watch a man die, and that's it. 

This film is unforgivably violent in places, genuinely heartbreaking in others. The NFE movement is underrated in its ability to present an equal ratio of horror and political commentary and I hope this in part will make you reconsider and watch some other films within this genre.

If you like this film, I'd also recommend the following:

• Calvaire (2004)
• Frontiers (2007)
• Martyrs (2008)
• Mutants (2009)
• Raw (2016)

Overall rating: 8/10

- K

A New Era

A New Era (or simply A Reintroduction, if you will)

Hello, everyone.

You might know me or perhaps you might not: my name is Kirsten and this used to be my blog. I say "used to be" because I very abruptly abandoned it in the face of starting at university four years ago. Moving to a new town and being surrounded by absolute strangers was daunting enough without the thought of keeping up a blog!

It is now 2018: I graduate in a few months and then I will be moving on to a Masters degree in Creative Writing. Exciting, right? (No, my family didn't think so either). 

As I will be attempting to strive for a career in this area, I rationalised that a blog would be necessary. Do I know how to run one? No. Do I have content worthy of one? Also no. But the unknown is the fun of it: I am, at my core, an unpredictable person. 

So what will this blog be about? Fashion? The latest gossip? Perhaps a hot take on the latest line of Kylie Jenner lipsticks?

This may come as a disappointment but no, that is not what this blog is about.

My aim is to publish content on a weekly basis covering the following: film reviews, introspective concepts/discussions and poetry. Whilst I understand that this seems very random, remember: spontaneity is my thing. The one thing (as a writer) that I still have yet to discover is simply this: I don't know what my forte is.

Every writer has one. My friend Olivia is extremely proficient in fantasy short-stories. Another friend is damn nifty with a sonnet or two. I, however, am yet to find what it is that I really thrive in: my main port of call is poetry, as I've been doing that longer than I can remember. But is it not a writer's job to explore other options, to delve into new avenues? 

So, stick around. This blog is an exploration, an experience, if you will. Who knows? Maybe I'll end up writing something decent enough for people to enjoy.

- K