When you see 20+ movies in 10 days each year, based on a few words printed in the guide, you are bound to see some bad movies here and there. Each year I have had 1 or 2 duds, although last year was either of a higher quality or I chose better. This year, I've had 2 duds, so below I cover them so you don't have to go through the same pain.
Movie # 5 - The Act of Killing
The Act of Killing is a documentary which explores the mindset of a group of men who were known as "executioners" during the Indonesian purge of communists in 1965 and 1966 following a military overthrow of the government. The doco follows 3 of these people in particular, all of whom are extremely proud of their role in abducting and killing up to thousands of people who were, or more importantly were deemed to be, communists and a danger to the new ruling power. An absolutely shocking chapter of world history that is probably largely unknown and in my opinion, deserved much better treatment than this film gives it.
I hated this movie, while I was watching it and every time I have thought of it since. I cannot understand how this has won "audience favourite" prizes at other film festivals and has such a good rating on IMDB and so many good reviews. It is not only morally objectionable (the perpetrators were so proud of their killing techniques and quantities without being able to explain why so the filmmakers decide to allow them to re-enact the killings for the cameras in any way that they choose - which results in truly offensive scenes performed by people with no remorse for their victims) but it is extremely poorly constructed. The film takes up almost 3 hours when anyone with any film editing skills could have cut that down to around 2 hours or less - so many boring, unnecessary scenes are included that add nothing but exasperation for the viewer. There is no focus and we follow random people at random times with no direction at all.
I suspect that the reason for all the prizes is the fact that the process seems to have ended with one of the key perpetrators coming to regret his actions and really understand the depth of the horrors he perpetrated, particularly after acting as a victim in one of the many annoying "movies" the participants create. It also sheds a little light on the ridiculousness of these paramilitary groups that have so much power in Indonesia (which might have made a better subject matter). This is a great outcome but unfortunately it is not going to bring any justice to the victims, and in fact I believe that several of the other perpetrators simply had their egos stroked even more and really enjoyed reminiscing about the murder of thousands of innocent people that they justify as "doing what we were told and what was right". They seem to have no conscience at all. I just found it all morally sickening, especially given that the filmmakers can't have known that any of the subjects would actually "reform" their views. Don't be fooled by all the prizes.
Movie #10 - Sapi
Last night produced our second unexpected dud. Billed as a "supernatural thriller", the description of this Phillipines movie turned out to be only 50% right. The movie covered some supernatural events, but had 0% thrills. It sounded promising and started alright, as we watch two journalism crews from 2 rival news stations as they roam the city of Manila looking for exciting stories to cover to boost their ratings in the wake of major storms and floods. Apparently there have been reports of "mass possessions" with people experiencing demonic possession. Crew A gets to a house in time to record footage of a possessed middle aged school teacher, who is soon cured in the lamest exorcism ever put to film. Crew B arrive a bit later and get some interviews but no possession footage. It seems we are going to get some good commentary on whether the media is making the news or filming the news and how much manipulation goes on. But all that really falls by the wayside after a camera man working freelance for Crew A and B gives Crew B the footage from Crew A. Crew B's station unknowingly airs the footage uncut first, which upsets the formerly possessed lady and seems to result in some "demonic" activity following Crew B around.
The "demonic" activity in this movie is laughable and in my book barely registers as ghostly let alone a demon. We get a few doors slamming shut, some bad dreams (which none of them seem to actually take any notice of whatsoever or have any ramifications), a bit of scary whispering. Any time there seems to be some kind of tension building, it finishes with a ridiculous scene which evaporates the mood and leaves you wondering what is going on. There is just so little logic to the construction of the movie and the script that you can't take it seriously. There is no tension or frights. And there is no resolution. Possibly because it had no budget and no special effects at all.
This is just an out and out bad movie which has failed to make any point. Disappointing that this has come from director Brillante ma Mendoza who has had several popular movies at the film festival in past years. This is definitely not going to sit in the Top 10. And it doesn't even fall into the "so bad it's good" category as there is just nothing to enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment