Vinyan - Verirrte Seelen

"Vinyan" is the type of movie that just doesn't sit well with everyone or has a certain appeal to just anyone in the audience. I had expectations to this movie, because from what I read on the DVD cover, then I was intrigued.

And then I watched the movie, and that expectation dissipated like mist before the rising morning sun. This movie wasn't anything at all what I had expected it to be.

What works well enough in "Vinyan" is the atmosphere and the building up of suspense. However, it is not really given enough room to bloom into something great, because it is weighed down by the horrible slow pace the movie trots forward in. Plus, the characters in the movie were not really characters with dimensions and personalities that you cared about; they came off a shallow and lifeless drones that were just milling about at the whim of the director.

Visually, then there is a lot of great scenes, especially in the jungle, that are impressive.

However, entertainment-wise, then "Vinyan" fails to fully deliver, at least for my account. I suppose I wasn't in that particular target audience that would find such a movie enjoyable.

In Phuket Island, Thailand, the architect Paul Bellmer (Rufus Sewell) and his wife Jeanne (Emmanuelle Béart) lost their son Joshua in a tsunami six months ago. Jeanne is disturbed and has not accepted the loss of her beloved son. While watching some footages from Myanmar (former Burma), Jeanne is convinced that a boy wearing a Manchester United shirt in a poor village is Joshua, and Paul accepts to seek out their son in the sea gypsies camp. They hire the trafficker Thaksin Gao (Petch Osathanugrah) and they travel in the boat of master Sonchai (Amporn Pankratok) to search Joshua. After a series of weird incidents, Sonchai leaves the trio in an abandoned village. They have to walk through the jungle where they face a journey to hell.

"Vinyan" is a disturbing journey to insanity visibly inspired in "Apocalypse Now" and with the same style of "Antichrist". The slow paced plot is supported by a good screenplay, stylish cinematography that keeps the environment of a nightmare and another outstanding performance of Emmanuelle Béart. I agree that this type of movie is not for everyone, but those that like original psychological horror stories without gore, explosions and special effects, will certainly enjoy "Vinyan". My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Espíritos Condenados" ("Doomed Spirits")

If you like Green Inferno, Death of Me any tropical messed up horror flicks this is good to watch well messed up. Point is if you lost your kid and it's been 6months don't go to the jungle thinking they are there.

The great mistake in Vinyan is to have tried to sell it as a classical horror movie from Hollywood, like The Ruines or The Grudge.

Don't expect any cheap thrills or funny Fx, it's a deep drama about an occidental woman in Asia, falling into madness after the loss of her child, with a post-tsunami background.

I can understand why some people are so disappointed, the subject is disturbing and unusual : how can you accept the loss of your child without a clear evidence of his death, and how can you express your own pain in a devastated country where most people are going through intense sufferings, violence and poverty ?

Even if Vinyan is not perfect, i really liked the very dark atmosphere that stay with you long after the end of the film. I'm not a huge fan of Emmanuelle Béart but I think she is quite convincing in this role, far from her usual characters.

An American couple in Thailand discover possible evidence that their young son who died in a tsunami six months earlier is still alive and living in the jungles of Myanmar (Burma). They pay some dubious characters a lot of money to go up river into the forbidden country. Things go from bad to worse.

Many viewers denounce "Vinyan" (2008) because it's not a typical horror film, but that's precisely why it's worthwhile. It's original. It's equal parts haunting, beautiful, strange and creepy. The plot is thin, yet the story maintains your attention.

The acting is excellent all around and you buy these people as real. The five main characters being: Paul and Jeane Bellmer (Rufus Sewell and Emmanuelle Béart), a human trafficker named Thaksin Gao, the captain of the small boat named Sonchaï and the couple's liaison, Kim (Julie Dreyfus).

Memorable parts abound, such as Kim's subtle-but-clear seduction of Paul, the beautiful floating-lanterns at the beach ceremony and the awesome tree fortress.

The meaning of the film is ambiguous, but it provokes thought on several things: The nature of grief (letting go or not letting go), obsession, madness, tribal instincts, going feral and more.

As for the tribe of lost kids in the last act, are they 'vinyan' -- angry, confused spirits who suffered horrible deaths -- or are they simply a pack of kids gone wild in the jungle à la "Lord of the Flies"? I say the evidence points to the latter.

In any case, "Vinyan" has elements of films like "Apocalypse Now," "The Emerald Forest," "Fitzcaraldo" (or "Aguirre") and the aforementioned "Lord of the Flies."

The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Thailand.

GRADE: B+