Piercing

The novel by Ryu Murakami was billed as being a shocking work of horror, reminiscent of his horror masterpiece, Audition. I thought that by watching the film, I would get an idea of what the story in the book might entail. This movie, however, was not scary and it was not anywhere near the brilliance of Audition. It was a stylish modernized neo-noir thriller, disguised as a character study, disguised as a horror movie. This movie has no solid identity, and to call it a straight horror film would be incorrect, just like calling it a thriller would also be. What it is is a movie that tries to do many things, but the only thing it succeeds in being is being pretty. Personified, this movie is like a runway model who has no other talents. Very nice to look at...but that's it.

We have the lead, who is as unlikable a character as you can get. We barely have to time to get to know him, and I immediately disliked everything about him. He's mousy, frail and weak; everything a leading man shouldn't be. He has a dangerous fetish, and is trying to go through with it by using a call girl.

The call girl is as crazy as you expect, but she is also unlikable. She is also mousy and frail, looking as if she would tip over if you breathed on her. She has no redeemable qualities, and makes you not really care about her disposition.

Side characters are not given enough screen time to matter, and flashbacks don't have the impact they would have if you cared about anyone in the movie. I would liken watching this movie like sitting through a home movie of a group of people I disliked. I struggled to care, I was a bit shocked at what was going on, but in the end I was left with a resounding, "That's it? MEH!", which a movie should NEVER do.

The Japanese language has many nuances that don't really translate well to English. This is probably why there hasn't been a truly exceptional American film that was made from a work of Japanese literature. I am going to read the novel to see how it holds up to the film, and I really hope that it is nothing like this movie.

I was looking forward to the follow up of one of my favorite horror movies, "The Eyes of My Mother'. I could not be more disappointed.

What a shame.

Enjoyed it... just the right length ... this type of film always brings out negative commentors because it really isn't for everyone. If you like quirky, and you are not super conservative or squeaminsh then give it as shot.

6.4

"Piercing" is one of those movies as you watch you just follow along with the clever game of cat and mouse as it proves it's a crazy world with people as no one never really knows the clever cat and mouse games that some play. Reed(Chris Abbott) goes on a trip to a hotel room with a plan for murder, he's also hired an escort call girl named Jackie(Mia Wasikowska). However upon meeting one another things change and the balance and power of the game changes. Overall well done film of control and power, and arriving at your most brutal nightmare like thoughts. And it's just an okay film even though it's not everyone's cup of tea.

I watched this at home on DVD in spite of its low IMDb rating. After watching it I think it is rated a bit too high.

We get no real idea where all this takes place, but as Christopher Abbott as "Reed" begins preparing for a trip, ice pick in hand, we see the lips of his baby daughter move and some deep voice comes out. At other times different things happen that leads us to believe he is schizophrenic.

Be that as it may when he gets to a hotel he arranges for a prostitute. In some brief flashbacks we sense that his mother had been a prostitute and maybe that messed up his mind. Regardless he gets Mia Wasikowska (almost 30) as "Jackie".

It is clear that he intends to kill her with an ice pick, he even rehearses it in his room. It has a sense of absurdity about it more than terror. And as we might guess Jackie has some tricks up her sleeve also.

Fortunately the movie is short, just over an hour. To me it really is a mess, it just makes little sense and at the end I found myself wondering "Why was this movie even made?"

Set in what appears to be a New York City that looks like Singapore, a new father and husband on an out of town trip orders up a hooker to come to his hotel room in order to kill her with an ice pick. It doesn't work as planned. This movie has strange and unexplained elements like why is he planning to do this? Why is there a little tiny monster in the bathroom. Why does he react to sleeping pills strangely. Why does the hooker live in a veritable tiny palace. It's still a delightful horror.