Mad Monkey

This movie holds your interest for quite a while, with its eccentric and enigmatic characters, atmospheric direction and first-rate acting by Jeff Goldblum and Miranda Richardson (Lisa Walker is kind of weak though, as the nymphet). But eventually it becomes clear that the story leads nowhere. Its "title history" is a giveaway: you can find it listed under either "The Mad Monkey" (unattractive and meaningless - it's only the title of a fictional movie we learn nothing about) or "Twisted Obsession" (more "suggestive" and commercial)....but actually it doesn't matter what it's called, because it ultimately isn't ABOUT anything in particular. (**)

"Twisted Obsession" is without doubt one of the worst movies that I've seen in a long, long, time. It's obviously an attempt to emulate the kind of movies that Alfred Hitchcock made (the musical score, for one thing, sounds very Bernard Herrmannesque), but it fails in every way you can think of. Jeff Goldblum, for one thing, is extremely miscast, sticking out like a sore thumb and not blending in with the scenery or other actors. Possibly his bad performance is due to the fact that the screenplay is a sorry mess - for much of the movie, NOTHING of serious consequence happens! Things start to happen towards the end, but they are muddled and confusing, so much so that I didn't know what to think when the end credits suddenly started to roll. If you are looking for a pointless way to waste 103 minutes, here's your movie.

I saw this film as part of a set of cheap-o movies. So far, the films in the collection had been total crap.

Then I dropped this one into the player and did a double-take when I first noticed that the dialog and acting were both good.

The next question that popped into my head was, "Am I imagining things, or is this movie also well shot and well lit?" Followed shortly by, "You know, I think this is actually a good film." By the time it reached the scene where Goldblum started screaming, I was totally sold. What a wicked little movie.

1989 was a bad year for film, so I certainly wish I had known about this one back then.

An excellent movie, but not for everyone. Trueba's tinges of black humour cover a plot of sex, heroin and the not making of a movie. Liza Walker has an astounding performance as a young femme fatale. It's a pity her filmography is so short.

This is a very dark film, with a strange suspense. You really never know where the film is heading. But this is one of its merits.

And yes, in some countries (such as Mexico) unclaimed corpses are given away to medical schools and kept in huge translucid pools of formaldehyde, before they're given to students. Where do you think doctors-to-be get the bodies they train from, 1-800-deathpeople?

It deals with Daniel Gillis (Jeff Goldblum) , an American screenwriter living in Paris , recently left by his spouse (Anemone) , and getting used to his new life as a bachelor while attempting to take care of his son , Danny who is also attended by an old maid (Asunción Balaguer) . Daniel suffers marital difficulties being exacerbated when he gets involved in an European movie project financed by a Paris-based rich producer (Daniel Ceccaldi) . The offer comes from a wealthy financier named Legrand , but on this occasion he is being asked to write an unconventional flick with Malcolm (Dexter Fletcher) , a young and unknown film director who has only a brief quotation from one of Dan's favourite novels , Peter Pan . Dan is undecided about the offer , seeing it as far from the kind of work he has used to make , but Legrand's insistence and the intrigue personality of the young filmmaker finally convince him to accept the filmmaking despite the reticence of his business agent , Marilyn (Miranda Richardson) , who was initially reluctant , but subsequently changes her opinion and she does him a good deal . Surrounding the project is an eerie cobweb of upsetting happenings , it forces him to search for tracks about the whole business of the making of this film , as he begins writing an avant-garde and almost abstract plot . Later on , his complete existence will be modified as he immerses himself in a twisted relationship with an adolescent Femme Fatale called Jenny (Liza Walker) , Malcolm's 16-year-old sister . In his spellbinding quest , he discovers that he has been conned and betrayed until a thrilling as well as frightening climax .

This strange , dark psychological chiller contains thrills , hallucinatory dream sequences , serpentine plot twists , sexual fantasy , shock effects and builds inexorably to a disturbing , tight finale . This rare film being compellingly shot by Award Winning filmmaker Fernando Trueba , the director of ¨Belle Epoque¨ and including an international all-star-cast . In the film there is a dense tapestry of sexual obsession , relying more on weird atmosphere than in action and clear scenes . It has a complex intrigue in which a screen-writer is caught within a web of greed and ambition from which he will be unable to getaway when takes place infatuation with a young girl ; in fact , this character at the center of which catalyses all the participants' selfish desires . As there happens a closed universe of incestuous relations surrounding Malcolm and his beautiful young sister Jenny , with whom Dan soon becomes obsessed . An agreeable story plenty of intense drama , thrilling moments , and tragic climax . It is a thought-provoking , wistful thriller , hard to watch , and difficult to understand . It is as beautiful filmed as it is written and acted . Director Fernando Trueba , also writes the interesting script along with Manolo Matji based on the novel by Christopher Frank . The cast is frankly well , as Jeff Goldblum as a writer who is commissioned to write a script when he discovers that there is more at stake than just a movie ; Miranda Richardson as his beautiful but disabled agent bounded to wheel-chair ; Daniel Ceccaldi as Legrand , a successful producer with whom he has worked in the past ; Dexter Fletcher as a precocious young English filmmaker who wants to direct a bizarre story in which he has only the flimsiest of outlines ; the androgynous teen played by Liza Walker and Arielle Dombasle as a famous actress . Furthermore , a sinister but colorful cinematography by Jose Luis Alcaine , Trueba's ordinary cameraman . Amazing and electrifying original musical score by Antoine Duhamel .

This intelligent though slow motion picture was well and deliberately directed by Fernando Trueba . His first success was Ópera Prima (1980) following the style of the "Madrid comedy". He had major success with ¨Sé Infiel y No mires Quién¨ (1985) also known as : ¨Be Wanton and Tread No Shame¨ , starting a longer collaboration with the producer Andrés Vicente Gómez . He went on directing numerous successes such as ¨Coarse salt¨ , ¨Too Much¨ , ¨Milagro De Candeal¨ , ¨Year of Enlightment¨ , ¨The Girl of Your Dreams¨ , ¨Calle 54¨ , ¨Embrujo De Shanghái¨ , ¨Chico and Rita¨ . Trueba was President of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and he received the 1994 Oscar for Best Foreign Film to ¨Belle Epoque¨ (1992) . His last film was ¨The Artist and the model¨ handled with smooth assurance by Trueba , as usual .