Três... Extremos

3 extremes were 3 short stories about extreme situations. Each story has very different qualities and gave the viewer something to enjoy. Not American style, scream queen, psychobabble laden horror films. More intellectual and artistic as the characters are made to look good rather than deviant. Shorts were you can turn off the subtitles and still understand the plot are hard to come by, but these fit the bill. I wish I could speak the languages of the films because the English translation detracted from the emotional content and context. If you like slasher movies and jump out of your seat scary, pass on these. If you like more artistic, intelligent, and subtle horror films, then these shorts are for you. Some blood and minor amounts of gore. A job well done.

Wow, just went to go see these three shorts last night, which are about 45 mins a piece. I agree that "Cut" was one of the most enjoyable horror experiences I have had since High Tension. Takeshi Miike is probably the biggest name in the Asian horror biz, but I have to say that I miss the style of his earlier work, like Audition and Happiness of the Katakuri's. "Box" was very strange but it leaves little explanation for what has actually occurred, and I wish it delved a little deeper. And oh my! Mr. Fruit Chan, I have never heard of you before last night. "Dumplings" was by far one of the most deranged things I have ever watched. And the sound that was used in this short was was of the most intense, stomach curdling noises that are still sticking with me today. This was a very fun watch, and I am glad I got to see it before it left the theater. My recommendation....don't eat a big meal before you start!!!

The idea of having Chan-wook Park, Takashi Miike and Fruit Chan as part of the same DVD set is enough to warrant a purchase. This was the sole reason I watched these three shorts.

While Miike's offering was very enjoyable, and had some interesting scenery and Chan's Dumplngs was also very entertaining, Chan-wook Park stole the show in my opinion.

I now wonder if CUT isn't what SAW should have been.......?

Unfortunately I can't speak on the film too much as I could ruin the story, but if you are a fan of either OLDBOY or Sympathy for Mr Vengeance this short IS A MUST. Chan-wook Park continues to impress me with his creativity, and the camera work in this film was GREAT. There are two directors that I currently find to be very interesting, and I will watch anything they produce. Micheal Haneke is one, Chan-wook Park is another.

I have heard rumours of Sympathy for Ms Vengeance, and I can only hope they are confirmed.

This was an easy purchase.

Three...Extremes is an anthology of three horror films by three respected Asian directors. 

"Dumplings" - Directed by Fruit Chan

In Dumplings, an actress who has entered middle age and begun to lose the attention of her husband to an affair with a younger woman visits Aunt Mei, an old woman who still has the looks of her youth. Aunt Mei has a secret recipe that makes anyone look years younger, but such an unnatural benefit comes from a truly abominable source. I found Dumplings to be absolutely stomach-churning. A horror movie that doesn't even attempt to scare you, but actually tries (and succeeds, in my case) to horrifying you. Not for the squeamish. Even the sound effects eventually became almost more than I could bear. Disturbing and entertaining. - 8/10

"Cut" - Directed by Chan-wook Park

A talented director and his wife are taken captive by a murderous, utterly insane movie extra. Cut is darkly comedic, utterly absurd, and far more meta than the other movies in this collection. It took me a while to figure out whether I liked it or not, but by the end of the segment, I was won over. Like Dumplings, Cut isn't frightening in the conventional sense. Instead, it's flat-out zany (in a good way). - 7/10

"Box" - Directed by Takashi Miike

The most haunting of the three segments. Box is about a jealousy-fueled tragic accident involving two young sisters. The surviving sibling suffers from suffocating (literally) dreams and disturbing visions of her deceased sibling, even years later as an adult. Box is probably the creepiest of the three, and it has a psycho-sexual aspect to it that makes the whole thing even more unsettling. Definitely more of an atmospheric, "mood" movie than the other two. - 8/10

I liked all three segments, as well as the movie as a whole. I found Dumplings to be the most effective/entertaining, but I recommend the entire anthology. The three short films are not only memorable and very different from one another, but they're also fairly unique among the other horror movies that I've seen. 

Overall - 8/10

"Saam gaang yi", a.k.a. "3 Extremes", is composed of three segments

(1) "Dumplings", by Fruit Chan, is the best segment. I saw the complete film ("Jiao Zi") on 25 August 2007 on DVD released in Brazil with the title "Escravas da Vaidade" ("Slaves of the Vanity"). The gruesome tale tells the story of an aging actress that seeks out a mysterious woman that cooks dumplings with a special ingredient that rejuvenates those who eat them. My review is available in http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472458/reviews-21

(2) "Cut", by Chan-wook Park, is a tale of cruelty and insanity. An insane stranger breaks in the house of a film director and ties him up with his wife and a boy in the room. The strange tries to force the director to kill the boy, otherwise he will cut the fingers of his wife that is a pianist.

This segment is very cruel and insane, and has a surprising conclusion.

(3) "Box", by Takashi Miike, is a confused tale. The twenty-five-year- old writer Kyoko has nightmares with a box and also with her sister Shoko. One day, she receives an invitation to visit the place where she saw her sister for the last time.

This segment is messy and predictable, with a disappointing conclusion. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): Not Available