Fantasia 2010 Presents SUBVERSIVE SERBIA!

Montreal, June 29, 2010.

Serbia's terrifying recent history has birthed a confrontational new generation of filmmakers who are using the medium to express their wounded psyches in ways the Western World can barely get its head around. Our spotlight, which we are calling SUBVERSIVE SERBIA showcases the key entries in this intelligently transgressive and politically-charged filmmaking scene. We're also going to showcase a string of retro Serbian genre films never before screened here, programmed in association with Dejan Ognjanovic and the Belgrade Cinematheque.

Beyond the screenings, Mr. Ognjanovic will be presenting a multimedia presentation and panel discussion - AN INTRODUCTION TO SERBIAN HORROR CINEMA - where he will be joined by the makers of many of the films showcased in our spotlight.

Your eyes are about to be opened. Wide.

"The voices emerging from the new wave of independent Serbian cinema are some of the rawest and most daring of any we've ever encountered," said Fantasia co-director Mitch Davis. "This is smart, confrontational filmmaking with astounding elements of shock, armed with the intelligence and the urgency to back it up. In particular, A SERBIAN FILM and THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG are, to my mind, the CLOCKWORK ORANGEs of our generation. They push boundaries in ways that cinema rarely has the courage to do."

A SERBIAN FILM producer Nikola Pantelic issued the following statement: "To us, Canada is a very special place because it is the homeland of one of our favourite filmmakers, whose work greatly inspired us - David Cronenberg. We're honoured to participate in the Fantasia Film Festival - a place where a majority of our favourite recent films were screened. Montreal's Fantasia is one of the few places left on this earth where artistic freedom and unorthodox cinema thinking still mean something. Fantasia has made a Mecca for gutsy and vital cinema today. For A Serbian Film, things have come full circle."

The new blood:

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG

Dir: Mladen Djordjevic - Montreal premiere

Hosted by director Mladen Djordjevic

This razor-sharp and often perversely comic metaphor about the social pathologies of Serbian life in the 1990s was a major hit at the Rotterdam Film Festival. A travelling "porno cabaret" journeys from village to village across rural Serbia, performing live sex acts in radical framings as a means of sexual confrontation, often provoking violent responses from the locals. Situations take a turn for the darker when the troupe are approached by a shady foreign war correspondent who makes them an offer they struggle against refusing--a ton of money in exchange for shooting actual murders, theatrically "performed" on willing, consensual victims who no longer care about living.

TEARS FOR SALE

Director's Cut

Dir: Uros Stojanovic - International premiere

Hosted by screenwriter Aleksandar Radivojevic

A Serbian village has been so devastated by war that virtually all the males have been killed, with only women remaining. Two girls earn their living as mourners-for-hire --they cry at other people's funerals for money. When they inadvertently cause the death of the last remaining man in the village, the other women force them to go to Belgrade and find some fresh male flesh. They embark on the journey, followed by the ghost of their grandmother. An ambitious piece of eye-candy with a budget and visuals unprecedented in Serbian films, TEARS brings to mind a somewhat darker and more erotic Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Luscious period detail and costumes are blended with elaborate visual effects to conjure a unique fantasy environment for the fairy-tale plot, which uses the country's tragic past as a background for an ambiguously dark romance. TEARS FOR SALE is characteristically Serbian in its mixture of tragedy and comedy, road movie and fantasy, death and romance, and myth and reality, and it represents a fresh vision which effectively merges the local with the universal. Also typically Serbian is the central conflict -- obligation to society versus personal happiness, and the resulting clash between the individual and the communal, between selfishness and sacrifice. The film won raves everywhere from Tiff to Rotterdam in a highly reedited version in 2008, the original director's cut having never been screened to audiences outside of Serbia...until now. Fantasia will be home to the international premiere of the film's very different director's cut.

A SERBIAN FILM

Dir: Srdjan Spasojevic - Canadian premiere

Hosted by Director Srdjan Spasojevic, screenwriter Aleksandar Radivojevic. & producer Nikola Pantelic

Milos, a retired adult film performer agrees to do one last film in order to sustain his impoverished family. But the first day of shooting is a bit strange. Then it gets weirder. When Milos decides to pull out, things go from bad to worse. And worse. Until they reach the unspeakable. A film firmly rooted in the frustration and despair of living in Serbia today, A SERBIAN FILM reinvents the horror genre to suit its own purpose, turning it into a powerful cinematic scream of anger and frustration. It offers a stylized version of what it feels like to grow up in a country humiliated, denigrated, impoverished, bombed-out, stripped of its territory, labeled genocidal and haunted by the spirits of war crimes. It is a scream against corrupt politics, both domestic and foreign; against limitations both internal and external; against being both metaphorically and literally f***ed. It is the ne plus ultra of shock, but this already-notorious content comprises only a small portion of the film. Its true power lies in its furious point-of-view, its shattered performances and its De-Palma-esque mise-en-scene. Scripted with eloquence by Aleksandar Radivojevic...who also wrote TEARS FOR SALE!

TECHNOTISE: EDIT & I

Dir: Aleksa Gajic

Serbia's first animated feature film. Edit is a smart, poised and exceptionally good-looking young psychology student in Belgrade in the year 2074. In addition to her studies, she works for a major scientific research firm. After failing her grueling psych exam for the sixth time, however, she decides to lower her ethical standards and have a black-market memory-booster chip implanted in her to guarantee a passing grade next time around. The chip is successful, but seems to have some strange side effects, and Edit is soon gobbling iron-supplement pills like an addict. Something is going on inside her, and whatever this mysterious condition may be, it is of great interest to the company she works for... TECHNOTISE is a feast for fans of Euro-sci-fi comics ? la Métal Hurlant. No surprise, as in addition to being a well-established illustrator at home, the film's writer/director is known across the continent for his comic books with prominent French publisher Soleil. His debut film is packed with delightfully distinctive and carefully drafted little visual details and devices.

The older blood:

VARIOLA VERA (1982)

Dir: Goran Markovic

VARIOLA VERA's title refers to the Latin name for smallpox, and it is loosely based on a real event. In 1972, in what was then Yugoslavia, an Albanian Muslim from Kosovo was infected with smallpox on his pilgrimage in the Middle East and upon his return to Serbia, caused an epidemic in the Belgrade City Hospital. In the claustrophobic environment of a quarantined hospital, a group of characters, led by Rade Serbedzija (EYES WIDE SHUT), try to survive the best way they can, and to retain their humanity in the process if at all possible. No one is safe in this bleak but also blackly humorous account of body horror infecting the body politic.

A HOLY PLACE (1990)

Dir: Djordje Kadijevic

Hosted by producer Zoran Otasevic

A HOLY PLACE remains a hidden gem of psycho-supernatural horror which audiences outside of Serbia have yet to discover. Since the film is not available on DVD, this is the only chance you'll ever get to see it with subtitles and on the big screen that its imagery deserves. This is the version of Nikolai Gogol's short story "Viy" that foreign audiences have barely ever seen--most have probably never heard of it. Unlike the rather benign Russian fantasy VIY (1967), the Serbian version is definitively for adults. The story is still about a reluctant theology student forced to spend three nights in a row locked in a spooky church, reading the Psalms over the (un)dead girl. All the while, supernatural forces are trying to grab him from the holy circle drawn on the floor. Gogol's half-humorous story is enriched into a more complex one, whose intensity is unique among other, tamer Slavic attempts at producing fear

T.T. SYNDROME (2002)

Dir: Dejan Zecevic

A group of young people in Belgrade are out to score some weed. They go to the Turkish baths within an ancient fortress to meet their dealer, but end up trapped there and mercilessly killed one by one by a mysterious murderer clad in black leather. It all seems to have some connection with the strange and very rare illness "T. T. Syndrome". With elements of Dario Argento and John Carpenter, T.T. was the first Serbian horror film that didn't feel obliged to justify itself with elements of more respectable genres. It does not imply a political allegory--although placing (and killing off) its youthful cast entirely in a public toilet might have been a statement about the dashed hopes of post-Milosevic Serbia, after all! But above everything else, the movie uses motifs and style of the slasher film, plain and simple, to scare its audience. It has attained cult status in Serbia.

AN INTRODUCTION TO SERBIAN HORROR CINEMA

(a special multimedia presentation and panel discussion)

July 14, 6 PM, EV Building, 1515 St. Catherine W.

Serbian contribution to the horror film universe is relatively small. And yet, what Serbian horror cinema lacks in terms of quantity, it more than makes up for in quality. It can be argued that more than a dozen of existing Serbian horror titles belong among the most original works made in this nation's cinema in the past decades, and they deserve to be wider known.

The panel devoted to Serbian horror films will be opened by Dejan Ognjanovic, film critic and author of the book In the Hills, the Horrors: Serbian Horror Cinema. He will provide the historical context and cultural background for the emergence of fantastic and horrific elements in Serbian films, with exclusive clips from rare titles barely (or never) shown outside of Serbia, like: THE SHE-BUTTERFLY, THE DAMNED THING, STRANGLER VS STRANGLER, DÉJ? VU aka REFLECTIONS, etc.

He will be joined by the directors Mladen Djordjevic (THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG) and Srdjan Spasojevic (A SERBIAN FILM), screenwriter Aleksandar Radivojevic (A SERBIAN FILM, TEARS FOR SALE) and producers Nikola Pantelic (A SERBIAN FILM) and Zoran Otasevic (A HOLY PLACE) to discuss the currents trends, potentials and plans for the new face(s) of Serbian horror cinema.

***

http://twitchfilm.net/news/2010/06/fantasia-2010-presents-subversive-serbia.php

DORM (2006)

Country: Thailand

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 107'

Producer:

Yodphet Sudsawad

Director:

Songyos Sugmakanan

Cast:

Chalee Trairat, Jintara Sugapat, Siranath Jianthavorn, Suttipong Tudpitakkul

GHOUL RATING: ***(*) 3+

Story: Twelve years old Chatree has been reluctantly transferred to an all boys school where life for him becomes days of misery and loneliness. His new "friends" try to scare him with tales of drowned boys and hanged girls. His teacher does little to make him feel welcome, and he has no friends to confide in. Despite being an outcast, he befriends another student, Vichien. They become friends and for a while things seem bright until one evening he finds that his new friend has a deep dark secret.

Review: At last! DORM - a Thai horror that's not unbearably juvenile (like ART OF THE DEVIL), formulaic (like GHOST OF MAE NAK), exploitative (like THE VICTIM), misguided (like ZEE-OUI: THE MAN-EATER) and/or passé (like NANG-NAK)! So far, Thailand has accomplished only a middling success in horror genre, mostly because of their over-reliance on established (and tired) formulas. Some of their horrors may seem original in local terms, but for an international viewer yet another long-haired ghost will NOT be scary just because it's from Thailand. We've seen too many of those already! SHUTTER came closest to actually delivering the goods (i.e. to being scary), but even that one played more like a decent catalogue of horror clichés than like a legitimate story worth telling. The most successful Thai horrors so far, at least for this reviewer, have been those which strayed away from the formula: either towards unmitigated silliness (like SARS WARS!) or towards a clever satire (13 BELOVED). It would seem that Thai horrors are better when served with a dose of humor, because they're hard to take seriously.

But now, there's DORM.

A title which does not forge a series of puerile gimmicks into a "movie": it does not rely on cheap jump scares nor does it feel the need to have a gruesome demise of some cardboard "character" every 15 minutes for fear the audience might be bored.

DORM takes its time, it does not rush. It is assured, because it knows it has a story to tell, and characters to rely on instead of gimmicks. Of course, if you come expecting a typical Thai horror, you may be surprised and even bored. There are no obnoxious teenagers nor urban women exploring ghost curses, no splatter scenes nor sex to speak of (other than 2 seconds' worth of boobs).

DORM is about a boy on the verge of adulthood who has to come to terms with himself and his environment - to see what he's really made of. More specifically, he has three main tasks to accomplish: 1) test his own ability to live independently, away from his family; 2) test his ability to socialize, through a selfless care for others; and 3) test his ability to come to terms with his father. For the first task he needs courage and integrity; for the second – willingness for self-sacrifice; for the third – forgiveness. In the course of his rites of passage he attains and exemplifies all of these qualities, and comes off as a more adult person in the end.

It's not easy growing up, and the director Songyos Sugmakanan wisely avoids sugarcoating his story. He presents Chartee as a moody, introverted boy who doesn't say a word in the first 20 minutes of the film. And yet, even in the silent moments young Chalee Trairat (also in Sugmakanan's hit MY GIRL) manages to convey a developed character. His silence, especially towards his father, whose calls he refuses to take, is mysterious in the beginning but is gradually revealed to be more serious than a childish grudge over a parental punishment. The key which connects all three tasks is Vichien, a boy who becomes his only real friend in the dorm. Vichien has a secret that's rather easy to guess, and it is revealed half-way through the movie in a fine, tricky scene at the open-air theater, during the showing of a hopping-vampire flick HUNGRY GHOST. After the revelation, Chartee does not abandon Vichien, but gives his best to help him, putting his own life at risk. You'll have to see how.

Rightly compared by many to Del Toro's DEVIL'S BACKBONE, this is a heartfelt, poignant childhood drama that happens to involve a ghost rather than a ghost-story spook-fest of cheap thrills. The spooky scenes arise naturally from the story and do not feel forced. In terms of horror, DORM is pretty light: its ghost is not malevolent and there's neither grudge nor revenge involved. Surprising as it may sound, there's not even the obligatory "let's find the remains and bury them properly to put the ghost to rest" trope. The method involved here is a bit more unorthodox. Some of the rules of the supernatural were quite new to me ("You have to be a ghost to be able to help a ghost!"), but at least the film uses them consistently and meaningfully.

Not all of the film is gloomy, however. The childish pranks and routines are conveyed very convincingly (the director allegedly based a lot of the film on his own childhood memories). DORM is equally alive and interesting in its cheerful, non-supernatural scenes (like the goose-egg stealing), a quality which very few horror films can boast with. Some cynic might suggest that a more appropriate title for this film might be LAVATORY instead of DORM, as it features more scenes of boys pissing than all the other films you'll see this year put together: you have the regular pissoir job, the natural greenery pissing, bed wetting and even a (fright induced) piss down the leg. The only thing missing is the group pissing competition to round up the varieties of childhood pissing experience, but worry not: there's no child nudity involved (do I hear a groan of disappointment from certain quarters?) and the Making of extra feature finally reveals how these scenes are actually filmed (water pumped through tiny plastic tubes). Anyway, since DORM is far from being a piss-poor movie, I'll stop joking here and keep my piss jokes for the next Thai horror that comes my way.

DORM introduces a much needed level of seriousness into the Thai genre filmmaking, and the honesty of its approach pays off magnificently: this is a rare ghost story that managed to get some serious awards, like the Glass Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Excellent direction, subtle and self-assured, uses the full potentials of the cast and crew. Acting is great all around, with kids played as natural and convincing little people. Art direction and photography (slightly desaturated and with greenish hues) provide memorable contribution to the film's moody atmosphere, while the CGI effects are put to a fine, unobtrusive use. Regardless of whether you care for horror films or not, DORM is simply a very fine film that transcends the generic limitations and deserves to be seen by all.

DVD [ NTSC, Region 1 ] : The film is in anamorphic widescreen and the visuals do justice to the elaborate color schemes, shades and nuances of excellent photography. Audio is available in Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 and Thai DTS 5.1, English subtitles are excellent (I guess Spanish are too, but I wouldn't know!). Special features are a real treasure, far richer than the usual Asian horror DVD offering. You get the following: audio commentary track with writer/director Songyos Sugmakanan joined by Thai film critics; The Making of Dorm (11 min.), a featurette with footage from the shooting of the film; Behind the Scenes (6 min.) also features interviews with the cast and crew; Below the Pool (5 min.) is a look at the special effects used for the film, with storyboards, rough footage and computer effects; Character Introductions (4 min.) mixes footage from the film with the director's comments; finally, a 20 minutes' worth of deleted scenes (with an optional commentary from the director; interesting as an extra, the scenes are rightly cut from the already lengthy film) and the film's original theatrical trailer. Now, this is what I call an excellent DVD presentation of an excellent film!

DEATH TRANCE (2006)

Country: Japan

Genre: Action/Fantasy

Running Time: 89'

Director:

Yuji Shimomura

Cast:

Tak Sakaguchi, Takamasa Suga, Yoko Fujita, Kentaro Seagal

GHOUL RATING:

*** (3)

Story: In an unknown place and unknown time (where ninjas, zombies, motorcycles and rocket launchers co-exist), there is a lone samurai whom the credits label as 'Grave'. His aim is destruction. He's looking for the final battle. For such purposes, he has stolen a mysterious coffin from a temple. It is a powerful object, though few agree on the exact power that resides in it, and some even claim it would unleash destruction upon the Earth if opened. Many people want it. Many people fight to get it. Grave is more than happy to oblige.

Review: ''An unknown time. An unknown place. Without reasons. With no future. His only desire is... Destruction!'' If this braindead tagline speaks to you, you're gonna love the flick. They didn't lie. The time is unknown: just when you think this must be a period piece with ninjas, samurais, ancient temples etc. you get to see heat-seeking missiles and motorcycles. The place is most likely Japan, though it's a Japan you've rarely seen, verging between feudal forests and post-apocalyptic landscapes. The 'without reasons' part of that tag-line is an honest warning not to look for any reason here. Character motivation tends toward zero since more care has been given to their look, the costumes they wear and weaponry they carry than to the 'people' inside the elaborate fancy-wear. 'There is no future' means – there is no end to DEATH TRANCE: what you get is a 'to be continued' coda promising the possibility of the next chapter (which may or may not come). And finally, our protagonist's only desire is – you guessed it! – destruction! Hell, yeah! That's something we can all sympathize with! That's why this flick will be adored by teen boys of all ages.

Our main guy remains nameless throughout the flick, but end credits helpfully announce that he calls himself 'Grave' (since no one else does). He's embodied by Tak Sakaguchi (and I stress 'embodied', for to say 'played by' would imply that there is some acting involved, which would be too far-fetched). Sakaguchi is the action star of VERSUS and BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL, two films which in a manner similar to DEATH TRANCE bent over backwards in order to please the fanboys, dispensing with plot logic and other inconveniencies that stand in the way of outrageous set-pieces. He is a charismatic guy: big, long-haired, with a large sword… he's like a manga character come to life. He's got the looks and he's got the moves. He's most comfortable doing action scenes, and since his no-name 'character' is defined through yearning for destruction (of what? why? aw, forget it!), it comes as a handy excuse for the meat of this film: the fight scenes.

That's where Yuji Shimomura comes into play. He was an action director in Ryuhei Kitamura's VERSUS and ARAGAMI, and in his first film as a director he proves he has a good eye for organizing and framing a fight scene. While VERSUS was a bit repetitive (and, at two hours, a tad overlong), DEATH TRANCE showcases a better sense of timing and variation. Sakaguchi has to fight very different and strikingly colorful opponents, and he's doing it using various weaponry, in different settings, so that you never feel déjà vu. The fights are choreographed well, but are devoid of suspense, since 'Grave' takes very few punches and there is never a real sense of danger or possibility that he could have his ass kicked. He's too cool for that. So, this is basically a ballet film for guys who wouldn't be caught dead watching a real ballet. There's something very gay about all these cute guys, always made up with eyeliners and stuff, carefully dressed and with elaborate hairstyles (just look at that piece on Steven Segal's son: it must've taken a few hours to create that thing on his head, and no matter how much he's punched or thrown around, his hair always stays firm and ready for a photo-shoot). This is a guys' universe with females being either undefined side characters (like a one-dimensional, nameless female fighter, or the two female ninjas) or - Goddesses of Destruction.

Does this mean that DEATH TRANCE is a bad film? Hell, no! If you accept it on its own terms – which boils down to the phrase 'mindless entertainment' – it will deliver exactly that. It is vivid, fine looking, dynamic, original, full of WTF moments, creepy, funny, silly, and essentially puerile in the best sense of the word. Unlike VERSUS, it has very little gore: the fights are almost devoid of red stuff splatter while the 'zombies' that some reviews mention are just some guys in black opera costumes with eye make-up. The flick is a Japanese equivalent of PG-13 rating so it can be freely consumed by under-age viewers. They are, after all, its main audience. Like I said, if you can deal with the silliness promised by its tagline, there's enough to be enjoyed here.

DVD [ NTSC, Region 1 ] : As this is entirely a 'style over substance' kind of flick, it gets an adequate treatment: the image (1.78:1 anamorphic), the colors, the contrasts are as clean and sharp as the wildest fetishists could possibly want them to be, and the same goes for the sound, too. Other than Japanese audio (in 2.0 and 5.1), there is an English dub available (in both 2.0 and 5.1.) for those fanboys unable to read the subtitles. There are not too many extras, the main one being a brief, but entertaining interview with Sakaguchi (in 'Grave' costume: you just won't get to see him in everyday clothes!). Bits of this interview are repeated in the 'making of' segment which is way too short for a film like this. Anyway, since DEATH TRANCE is not something to be thought about or discussed and analyzed, but to be watched and experienced, this DVD dispenses with too much talk or behind the screens and provides the meat (the action in the film itself) in a superb manner.

ELECTRIC DRAGON 80,000 V (2001)

***

3+

ELECTRIC DRAGON 80,000 V is a great cyberpunk-SF-rock-electro-madness & weirdness from the unsung great Sogo Ishii – more typically Japanese prime qualities packed in its medium running time than most features can boast! Forget duelling banjos: how about duelling electric guitars? Yep, it's 21st century, after all, and who could be better to announce it but Sogo Ishii?

This is the DVD review of his cult film.

You’d never think that a 55-minute film could be graced with so many extras, but the good people from Discotek are there to prove you wrong – and to put to shame most DVD presentations of feature films. First of all, the film itself is in glorious black and white (anamorphic widescreen), with Japanese audio in 2.0. Stereo, 5.1. and DTS 5.1. and with very good white (but legible) subtitles. Then we come to extras: the usual ones, like chapter selection and trailers (among them is one for Ishii's amazing BURST CITY, already available and already reviewed here), and the REAL extras.

The latter include 'Making of', divided into four chapters: 'Title design' and 'Filming snapshots' contain numerous sketches and photos in an excellent frame stylized like the film itself; 'About the Tattoo Illustrations' merges drawings and text written by Hiroki Mafuyu about his concepts; and finally, there is something called 'Synthesized Images' where storyboards, photos and actual scenes (before and after special effects) are commented (for more than 20 minutes) by Ishii and the visual effects guy. Then you have the 'Interviews' section: it is unnecessarily divided, but contains mostly shots from the film's premiere, press conference and an event two months later, when the film has already become a cult phenomenon (just wait to see the kind of applause Tadanobu Asano gets!). These interviews are also in black and white, in line with DRAGON'S style.

There is also a section 'Final Showdown' – which is nothing more or less than the actual ending of the movie, extracted as the 'real meat'. To top all of this, there's a second disc too: a CD with the 'eardrum-shattering industrial/punk noise soundtrack' by Mach 1.67. The discs are in the usual plastic slipcase protected by the carton one (with different covers! yippie!). All in all: this is the definitive version of ELECTRIC DRAGON to own and cherish!

BURST CITY (1982)

Country: Japan

Genre: Action / Musical / Cyberpunk

Running Time: 116 min

Director: Sogo Ishii

Cast: Takanori Jinnai, Michirou Endo, Machizo Machida, Shigeru Izumiya…

GHOUL RATING:

***(*)

4-

Story: Set in a barren, futuristic Tokyo of highways and wastelands, a rowdy group of punk bands and their fans gather to protest the construction of a nuclear power plant. Riot police and the factory owner's yakuza friends soon move in to break it up. However, the arrival of mysterious, metal-clad bikers and a revolt among the disgruntled construction crew makes for a situation that spirals dangerously out of control… This description, taken from the DVD sleeve provides far more linearity, logic and plot than can be found in the actual film. BURST CITY is preoccupied more with conveying the energy than with telling a story, so… be warned: this city is bursting with power, but is certainly not plot-driven!

Review: Sogo Ishii is not a film director: he never went the beaten path in Japanese film industry (which is, usually, to start as an assistant and rise from there). Too passionate about his vocation, he was also too impatient to wait, and while still a student he grabbed a camera and went out there to shoot life as he saw it. He found himself in the middle of Japanese punk revolution in which he participated both as a musician (he was a singer and a guitarist) and director of promo and concert videos. His motto was: ''To experience the video not with just the eye and the ear, but to feel it through the whole body.''

Because of that, BURST CITY is not a film: it is a raw, vivid, breathing and bleeding document of an era. At the same time, it is a root of new Japanese cinema. It spearheaded the career of a major director, a pioneer of the 'new wave' of Japanese film, the man who brought the youthful punk attitude and fresh sensibility to the way movies were made. Before Tsukamoto and Miike, there was Ishii. Before TETSUO there was BURST CITY.

BURST CITY is the world's first cyberpunk movie, made in the same year as VIDEODROME and BLADE RUNNER, and predating William Gibson's 1984 novel 'Neuromancer'). Set in an indefinite near future, it presents a world of speed and noise, a world of asphalt and metal, of engines roaring along cold grey highways, of colorful gangs clad in leather and rags MAD MAX-style. It created a typically Japanese brand of cyberpunk in which alienation, discontent and anger are painted against the background of a desert slightly different than that in MAD MAX: it is 'the desert of the real', the spiritual void of contemporary affluent Japanese society. There are no literal, visible ruins: quite the contrary, the apocalypse of the soul has left the industry, office buildings and high-rises untouched. They still domineer the grey landscape, summoning their destruction, inviting dreams of a real apocalypse which pervade so much of Japanese cyberpunk, and genre film in general, from BURST CITY through AKIRA and TETSUO all the way to DEAD OR ALIVE, PULSE and beyond.

Ishii's own two previous films, PANIC HIGH SCHOOL and CRAZY THUNDER ROAD, are the only precedents to BURST CITY: brimming with youthful angst, they are the visual equivalent of punk music. Perhaps too raw for their own good, they are superseded by BURST CITY, because that was his first film with some real budget which provided a room for serious stylization and directorial flair. Ishii's themes, style and direction are showcased at their peak in BURST CITY, and his ideal of ''feeling the movie through the whole body'' is achieved 110%. This is obvious from the stunning opening minutes in which his camera takes a furious joyride down the (mostly deserted) highways, bridges and streets, with their lights turned into beautiful abstract paintings, a SF ambience which needs no robots, space ships or even huge fancy buildings like those in BLADE RUNNER. Rapid-fire editing, non-linear structure and disregard for plot are just some elements of Ishii's style.

Characters are reduced to their colorful image, sketched but never explored: after all, most of them are not even actors but members of the leading punk bands of the time. Instead of any specific person, in BURST CITY Ishii's camera becomes a real protagonist and runs, shakes, drives, and cuts insanely among the people, gangs, cars, motorbikes and cityscapes thus presenting one of the most fascinating examples of the doctrine 'show, don't tell!' His characters communicate their feelings and visions through numerous songs, through action, movement, fight, and Ishii masterfully penetrates their lifestyle and worldview completely abandoning words (dialogue, narration, etc.).

Revolutionary on so many levels, this is a unique and highly important piece of cinema: even if the music is somewhat dated, Ishii's filmmaking is not in the least! BURST CITY is a joy to watch and learn about the real power of cinema to transcend the burdens of literature (words) and theatre (stage) and find unique style of its own, expressing things that no other medium could. Not only the cornerstone of modern Japanese film, BURST CITY is more than a historical document: it is a must-have for any serious lover of film.

DVD [ NTSC, Region 1 ] : Luckily, Discotek's special edition does full justice to the importance of BURST CITY, and presents it in a manner that could hardly be surpassed. Occasional grain and murkiness come from the film's 16mm origins and are part of its appeal: or perhaps you would like your punk movie to be a slick, over-produced big-budget extravaganza? It is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 ratio. Pity that the sound, so important for a film like this, is only in Dolby Digital 2.0, and that some songs cannot be heard loudly and fully. Again, this has to do with the original source material, and it is what it is. This edition really shines when it comes to extras: Tom Mes provides three pages of excellent liner notes, while the disc itself showcases textual background of the film, its protagonists and the whole punk scene. There is also a theatrical trailer, rare b/w stills gallery and soundtrack lyrics (unfortunately, copyright issues prevented the option of having a bonus CD with the soundtrack the way it was done recently with Ishii's ELECTRIC DRAGON: 80,000 VOLTS). Excellent carton case envelops a regular, plastic one (with a different cover) and rounds up this wonderful edition.

THIS IS SPINAL TAP (Book review)

Ethan de Seife

Wallflower Press

(London, UK – distributed in the US through Columbia University Press)

2007

132pp

Here's another volume in the Wallflower's Cultographies series of books devoted to cult movies. Of course, the book market is clogged by all kinds of picture books and 'guides' through the highs and lows of cinema, including the despised (but commercially viable) cult, genre, 'grindhouse', exploitation movies. But how many serious attempts are there which not only present an overview of recognized cult cinema, but also re-assess the canon of cult, and its audience? How many of them have to offer anything more than mediocre writing, funny anecdotes and colorful pictures? THIS IS SPINAL TAP certainly belongs to the former category of studies with a serious, scholarly agenda (which, somehow, does not stand in the way of the entertainment and readability).

Like other books in the series so far (THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, by Jeffrey Weinstock and DONNIE DARKO, by Geoff King), this one also uses a specific title to cover much larger ground relevant for its context, and deal with questions like: what is the specific appeal of a cult film? How are cult films conceived, constructed and configured? How are cult films received? What is the place of cult films in culture? Or, as de Siefe himself admits: "Cult films provide perfect opportunities for studying the intersection of enjoyment and analysis. A detailed study of the factors that make such films enjoyable can tell us a great deal about the films' cultural statuses; analysis can and should explain why these films have generated such devoted followings."

After the beginning in which he maps his own introduction to THIS IS SPINAL TAP in a gullible teen age, when the film's central joke of mock-documentary was lost on him (like on so many other innocents who took it for a real thing), de Seife goes on to recount the production, promotion and initial reception, guiding us through the relevant facts but never losing his way in the plethora of trivia. You can learn a lot about, for example, how much was scripted and how much improvised; the misguided marketing (including a poster way too reminiscent of AIRPLANE's, creating misleading expectations!); critical response which was almost universally favorable (a rarity when it comes to cult films!); the various video, laser disc and DVD editions of the film, and subsequent reviews of those; the fan base, including the web sites, blogs and even a band (VINYL TAP!) which pay homage to the movie.

Analyzing the particular type of humor that made the Cult of Tap, de Siefe sums it up: "Not only is SPINAL TAP extremely funny, but it is funny in ways that allow and even encourage its viewers to take part in it. By making a film about a subject (rock'n'roll) that has great meaning for many people, which does not talk down to its viewers and which provides ample opportunities to participate in its central joke, the creators of THIS IS SPINAL TAP have fashioned one of the definitive cult films of all time." The author places the film firmly in its stylistic and generic context of cinema verité style, mockumentary/rockumentary, comedy/parody, musical and rock history. He recognizes the stylistic devices attendant to the genres and styles that THIS IS SPINAL TAP adopts, but also the deviations from those, the reasons for them, and accomplishments thereof. He concludes that the film is predominantly a comedy, not mock documentary, and that each narrative and stylistic choice was made in order to make every scene funnier.

At the same time, the text follows the evolution of SPINAL TAP's music from country-tinged rhythm and blues all the way to heavy metal, pointing to the allusions and references to similar (actual) bands and extensively quoting from SPINAL TAP's outrageous lyrics, which are rightly recognized as one of the main sources of the film's timeless humor. Another time-defying aspect is that this film "parodies not only rock'n'roll, but also the semi-parasitic people and industries that have emerged to promote and valorize it. (...) SPINAL TAP has anticipated and pre-parodied the vapidity of rock star culture, which in recent years has metastasized on global level; such prescience is a major reason for the film's cult status. So cleverly accurate is its parody that, as long as there are rock bands, THIS IS SPINAL TAP will find an enthusiastic audience."

The obvious affection and deep understanding that Rob Reiner and his cast and crew had towards the music played in THIS IS SPINAL TAP is certainly at the root of their film's success. Instead of laughing AT the rockabilly, pop-rock, sympho-rock and heavy metal, they laugh WITH them, making numerous actual groups recognize their experiences even in the film's more outrageous incidents. The viewers were able to feel and respond to that. Hopefully the readers of this book will feel the same blend of reverence and critical attitude that Ethan de Seife shows toward the film he analyzes.

The author provides several thought-provoking figures, like the one showing the rise of numbers of home VCRs in American homes in the early '80ies (proving that the film grew in its cult status thanks predominantly to the video market, unlike, say, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, which created its main cult in the midnight cinema showings). Some figures seem a bit haphazard, like the comparison between the placement, duration and percent of total running time of musical numbers in THIS IS SPINAL TAP and SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS (the latter being an example of a typical musical). He also adds the appendix: 'THIS IS SPINAL TAP segmentation' which includes the time scale of all relevant events, characters and themes; approximate running time of each scene and song titles present in it. All of these show the seriousness of approach and amount of care which will enlighten even the most devoted followers of the cult of THIS IS SPINAL TAP. Eminently readable for both connoisseurs and the uninitiated, Ethan de Seife's analysis of THIS IS SPINAL TAP can serve both as a great introduction and an elaborate extrapolation.

THE VICTIM (2006)

Country: Thailand

Genre: Horror

Running Time: 108'

Director:

Monthon Arayangkoon

Cast: Pitchanart Sakakorn, Apasiri Nitibhon, Penpak Sirikul, Kiradej Ketakinta, Chokchai Charoensuk

GHOUL RATING:

**

2+

Story: Ting is a young actress asked by the police to help them by re-enacting the crimes (in the role of the victim). She takes part in re-enactments when the criminals are already caught, which are staged for the media (this seems to be an actual practice in Thailand, supposedly to show off the efficiency of the law and uselessness of the path of crime). Ting makes an extra effort not to offend spirits of the crime victims, and they start paying back by giving hints about their destinies. In one case it seems that the real culprit was not found, so it's up to Ting to do the right thing...

Review: THE VICTIM is a Thai horror film. How many thoughtful, intelligent ones have you seen coming from that country? There's (almost!) none that I recall. At their best they tend to attain the level of a solidly put mindless entertainment. At their best! Thai horrors are usually derivative, gimmicky, shallow, infantile, overly melodramatic and soap-operatic, and only occasionally do they manage to ape the motifs and imagery from their superior Asian cinematic brethren sufficiently to induce a chill or two. If you're not too picky, you'll get just that in THE VICTIM – and nothing more.

THE VICTIM is a typical representative of horrors from Thailand: instead of characters you get two-dimensional cardboard types; instead of plot you get a series of randomly arranged gimmicks; instead of drama you get melodrama; instead of suspense you get twists (the more 'unexpected' and illogical – the better!); instead of horror you get tiresome 'boo!' scares and cheap imitations of yet another Sadako clone. And, last but not least: instead of originality you get – contrivance. (With all due respect to rare exceptions to this rule, like THE DORM, soon to be reviewed here.)

The greatest contrivance in this film happens at its middle mark (a SPOILER follows: if you still have hopes for this film, skip this paragraph): just when you start caring for the silly plot, the makers wisely decide to surprise you with that age-old hateful gimmick: 'it was all only a movie!' Yes, folks, the first 48 minutes of the flick are actually a film within the film. If at that point you do not feel too betrayed to go on, you'll have to re-invest your thoughts and emotions into a wholly new plot. Yes, it is related to what preceded it, but further development only discredits the few qualities existent in the first half, without offering any new ones. Actually, in the second half THE VICTIM turns to the worse, and ends with another shoulder-shrugging 'So what?' twist.

There are so many possibilities inherent to this particular plot, and THE VICTIM doesn't care for any of them. If examination of the horror genre's tropes (a la NEW NIGHTMARE, or SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE) are way above the heads of THE VICTIM's makers, how about a look into the mind frame of a person who would act as the victim at a crime scene, with the culprit present? Oh, sorry, that's too serious, too. They don't want no drama, all they want is to spook out the audience and that's that. Well, that's a valid ambition in itself – as long as the makers are able to achieve it. THE VICTIM's main problem is not that it's not as clever or complex as it could've been. Its major malfunction is that it's just not scary nor entertaining enough.

How could it be, if its director lacks the ability to measure and edit a horror scene properly? The sense of timing is one of the most precious talents a horror director can have, and Monthon Arayangkoon sorely lacks it. All of his horror scenes last longer than they need, thus undermining their effect. Most obvious example of his lack of subtlety is a scene in the first half, in which Ting has an encounter of the spooky kind in a corridor. First of all, Mr. Arayangkoon feels that meeting just one single Sadako-inspired, face-covered-with-black-hair ghost is not enough, so he peoples the scene with a dozen more of blue-faced spooks reaching toward Ting. Then he stretches the scene with far too many shot/countershots of Ting vs. The Ghost, way too many camera set-ups than really needed – probably trying to milk the scene for all its worth, but instead turning it into a ridiculous self-parody that can scare only the most pronounced simpletons.

It certainly doesn't help that Mr. Arayangkoon can't think of anything better than to shamelessly copy the tired RINGU/GRUDGE clichés, some of which include: ghosts (otherwise unseen), captured on camera just as in the far superior SHUTTER; frozen-scream ashen faces of victims, as seen in RINGU and its numerous clones; ghostly hands crawling slowly across the floor towards the victim; invisible ghosts swaying around people and not doing much, as in THE EYE; and the inevitable despicable variation on the old 'it was all only a movie!' device, which says: 'it was all only a dream!' You know the drill: something scary happens. Boo! 'It was all only a dream!' You wake up, go to the bathroom. Something scary is in the mirror. Boo! You wake up again. 'It was all only a dream!' And so on. And on. And on.

Yawn!