Everyone who told me this is Kurosawa's most straightforward movie was lying to me. Nearly every scene is punctuated with some sort of emotional violence but most of the violence is expressed in extremely literal ways, I could not get onboard with it. Countless images of literal trash, literal abuse, literal professional cruelty. All the social commentary felt abject in its emptiness and attachment to broad archetypes. The instances where the film transcends its script felt rare, and it isn't…
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Pulse 2001
Huh. If there was ever a film that employed negative space to a more eerie effect, I have not seen it. Much like my experience with Cure (1997), the second viewing completely changed my attitude towards the film. Immediately the use of horror tropes struck me as unusual: horror films commonly punish characters for their curiosity, for trespassing boundaries, but Michi’s constant desire to check on her friends and coworkers, to see if they’re okay, is presented as unambiguously brave,…
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All I Desire 1953
Couldn't let go and had to rewatch after only a few hours. The shock hasn't worn off even after a second viewing. A profoundly lucid examination of a household's psychosexual tensions. Imogen Sara Smith (in a precise and cogent audio commentary on the Kino blu-ray) mentions that she finds Dutch Heinemann to be a somewhat weak character, but I'm not convinced he's much of a character at all. He reads more to me as just an extension of Naomi's explosive…
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