damian-hallbauer

Its hard to explain but i won't forget it.

It not as quite entertaining as Au Hazard Balthazar. Completely differnt meaning, but unforgetable and similarly profound ending but more subtle.

I dont know how it releates to "The Old Man and the Sea" but that fact that another reviewer mention that is quite a attribute to the film. For me, the ending did it for me. It hard to watch some art films, some people just can't because there want instant gratification nowadays. But i alwasy get to the end if i see the hints that i should go into a trance, and absorb the film, and im alwasy grateful and remember it for life.

Music brings us all together.

This film was curated to me by an online streaming service and I chose it because of the style of the poster art, and that it stood the test of over 30 years time, but in color. I had no idea how profound an effect it would have, maybe because a couple years ago I had reentered America after a long time abroad, and having experienced a sort of "reverse culture shock".

Each perfectly exposed frame in challenging lighting by late cinematographer James Glennon was a work of art in itself. The story behind the making of the film done on a shoestring budget, describes an adventure in itself, but the result seems as though it was done as effortlessly as if by group of people "on a roll" or just carried by some divine grace. Its in a political context but not at all unbalanced or with a partisan viewport. Realism, beauty, struggle, loyalty, bravery, cowardice, betrayal, sorrows, tragedy and raw power.

We meet the lead working in a restaurant and identify with her struggle to break in making it in NY, for her it is as a model. We see a modest, down-to-earthy character, but it hard to imagine a young woman with more perfection in beauty. It is shown she is from the Midwest, and very capable with power tools. She does not scream eek at the sight a mouse but almost instinctively implements a clever mouse trap for the handyman in her apartment building. We know what will happen because of the structure of the film seriers, and so we and want to protect her, but already sense that she won't need anyone's help.

The brave and graphic rape scenes, reminiscent of french films in this sort of niche in a genre, like "Baise Moi", are very difficult to watch but we hang on knowing this is a revenge film, and revenge murder has to be morally justifiable so that we can route for the killer in a horror film. It really is quite a cinematic twist. One can say this series carves out its very own niche an is very cool.

The Eastern European setting uses antiquity as a tool for horror and terror. The first scene when she looks at the American Embassy and makes a decision not to go home was just very powerful for me, and drove me to write this review.

Watch this film if you can approach it with the mindset that this is an art film but one that can appeal to the deepest guts of people and not be generally ignored like art films, and if you can' stomach it then avoid it and don't complain about it. This is extreme, a sort of "Theater of Cruelty" that Antonin Artaud was doing in Paris in the 1930's, intending to wake our overprotected souls up. In spite of its exploitation it carries very strong feminist overtones.