There is a famous anecdote about how the cast of 120 Days of Sodom had so much fun with their shoot, they were greatly shocked by how horrifying the movie actually was.
As for Martyrs... well, it wasn't a lark exactly.
The main takeaway from Organic Chronicles is the idea of Martyrs as a choreographic marvel. Its intensity owes a lot to the excellent stunt coordinator – she directs fight scenes like pro wrestling matches, teaching the art of conveying…
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Uncle Ramzi telling plane crash stories at the gay bar 😭
Karnal does not simply personify evil – it humanizes it. Marilou Diaz-Abaya and Ricky Lee transform allegorical figures of danger into these half-human, half-animal figures that'll pull your heart out after they hold you in their arms.
That's the most terrifying part of it – the volatility. Characters you expect to explode in anger are suddenly empathic, yet in the sweltering heat of nowhere, even the most well-composed man becomes an animalistic ravager. You have Gusting, the haciendero father, who…
Macabre ruminations on death, with structural film elements driving emotional onslaught. “That which kills me, will remain my secret” (F. Lacenaire), only before it transmutes into emotional gangrene – or eruptive violence.
And so it goes.
(The goth girl's nonchalance towards the letter was amusing)
