Europa (1991)

"Two. Your hands and your fingers are getting warmer and heavier."

I finally get around to seeing the third and final installment in Lars von Trier's Europa Trilogy and I can't help but wish I had left it a duology. Sorry Lars. Brilliant through two. It's not that Europa is a terrible film or badly made, on the contrary, it's as well conceived as the first two and purposefully shot, if not a touch funny in places, and the opening (and sporadic) narration courtesy Max von Sydow's dulcet tone is pure von Trier, yet the plot is uninspired compared to Epidemic and Element of Crime, maybe that's the reason why it fell a little flat. That, and I've been extremely weary of WWII-related films for some time now. You hear that, Inglorious Basterds?

Simpan (Judgement, 1999)

After seeing Park Chan-wook’s third film Simpan, I asked myself “What am I to take from this?” I didn’t have an answer that satisfied me. Or more to the point: one that satisfied what I had just seen. So what can I point to or parse that will do the explaining for me? Well, the film is as dynamic a film as I’ve ever seen; what does a family do in the face of being let down by a communal promise, and to what lengths would or should they go to find security? What would one’s responsibility and/or duty be when confronted with an opportunity for security? When does one stand up regardless of consequence? Chan-wook asks all these questions and more during his 26-minute human drama in which a family is summoned to a morgue under the most horrible of circumstances. A couple is called upon to view and identify someone who has been determined to be a long since runaway child killed during a general state of societal unrest. As it happens, there isn’t foul play involved as far as one can tell, yet a media representative and his cameraman, who are presumably documenting the unrest, join the aforementioned couple and the mortician (played by veteran actor and R-Point player Gi Ju-bong) for the determination.

The general unrest outside the confines of the morgue soon finds its way inside as the nameless mortician becomes distressed that the dead woman may in fact be his own missing daughter; an official soon arrives to our new world in an attempt to clear the matter up, but sides are taken and tempers flare. I’ll refrain from detailing the remainder of the story, but suffice it to say, Chan-wook resolves the issue in stunning fashion; with a bizarre blow then a profound portrait of humanism.

Simpan's title screen and promotional poster.

In the end, Simpan (loosely, “Judgement” – quite possibly closer to “arbiter”) impressed upon me that this may have been born as a Chan-wook original play, made for stage, then adapted (obviously) because the movements are so precise, economy of motion so observed that most of the dialogue dissipated afterward. I recall thinking the same thing after seeing Park Chan-wook’s Three…Extremes segment “Cut”. An unusual thing to say, I know, then again I was one of the few who actually liked Cut.

Simpan / Judgement

Speaking of Park Chan-wook films, New York Magazine has made his 1999 short film Simpan (Judgement) available to watch for free. A giant Thank You to the fine folks at NYM —— and to 1–Minute Film Review [website] for directing me to it! Enjoy.

Letter from "Thirst" Director Park Chan-wook

Park Chan-wook's letter to Landmark Film Club members who will soon be seeing Thirst on the big screen in one of the following cities soon: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Washington DC. I suspect it's not so exclusive of a letter, a bit form letter-ish, but an interesting piece nonetheless. I also had the opportunity to win a Blu-ray player concurrent to the film's theatrical release! In any case, here's the letter:

I didn’t set out to make a vampire film. Having grown up in a Catholic family, I had a feeling that there would come a day when I would make a film with a priest as the main character. But what kind of priest would he be? What kind of things would happen to him?
One day, while watching old vampire films, a thought came to my mind. What would happen if vampire’s blood enters into the body of someone whose vocation has him living close to the cross? The thought developed like this: Why are priests only portrayed as the vampire hunters? What’s to say priests can’t be vampires?

Then I read the novel Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola. It is a story in which a man falls in love with a friend’s wife, and together, they murder the friend. How hard-boiled it was! So much so that it made me think, if I ever became a novelist it would be exactly the novel that I would want to write. But that novel had already been written by Zola, so what should I do? Turn it into a film…

That’s how the story of Thirst came into being. A priest most noble and pious, because of his very faith, volunteers for a human experiment to develop a new medicine. As might be expected, he contracts a dangerous disease. He needs a blood transfusion. But the blood that gets transfused must have been vampire’s blood. Because he so loved mankind, he unwittingly ended up turning into an entity that cannot but take and drink the blood of others. Then he gets invited to a friend’s house. Of course, it’s a dinner invitation, since the priest can no longer traipse around during the daytime. Of course, at that house awaits a beautiful woman. And again of course, she is the friend’s wife…

                   - Park Chan-wook

Kim Ki-duk's "Time" (2006)

As a quick note, "Time" is the directorial convergence of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Charisma meets Miike's Detective Story meets Ki-duk's own Bad Guy — a certain amount of grit used to paint a beautiful and harrowing picture. Story-wise, the film is a confluence of relationship dualities (some quite literally), as well as employing a continuity/paradoxical question a la Song Il-gon! Watching the film in progress, it's hard to believe this is the same director that gave us the visually sumptuous 3-Iron, but there is no doubt that this is pure Kim Ki-duk. His lead characters are once again emotionally nude and fragile but courageous in practice and honest enough to admit it. In Time's case, these characters often put themselves in peril before they come to said realization. And this, of course, is why it hurts so.

Yella (2007)

Yella (Nina Hoss) trailed by her lout of a husband Ben (Schönemann).

Simply put, and in lieu of a full review; "Yella" might not be the most uniquely proposed or sunniest of films out there, but there is no doubt that it's an engaging little existential drama. Simone Bär's screenplay incorporates a strong mixture of contemplation and intuition to support its plot and thoroughly convince audiences, even in reflection. That being said, this film has drawn comparisons to several earlier films — none more than a certain 1962 film. I believe it stands up well and can be considered a genuine effort.

First film for me from Germany-centric director Christian Petzold. Recommended.

The best films I saw in 2008, w/ one comment

01 In Bruges
02 Cloverfield
03 The Dark Knight

04 Noriko's Dinner Table (Noriko no Shokutaku, 2005)
Sion Sono's second facet to his yet to be realized Suicide Circle Trilogy is a masterwork in its own right and a film that speaks of life being as perfect as one makes it — as well as finding solace in those terrific choices, and discovering that escape is just as easily realized walking away single-handed than bounding forward holding hands.

05 Frozen River
06 Snow Angels (2007)
07 Ils (2006)
08 Let The Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in)
09 The Strangers (2008)
10 Be Kind, Rewind
11 Wall•E
12 Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne, 2006)

Merry Christmas everyone!

Here are my Top 5 Xmas songs/video links. Gotta like some of these classics.

#. Carol Of The Bells by Trans Siberian Orchestra (Choral version, MTC)


#. Sleigh Ride by The Ronettes


#. Winter Wonderland by Johnny Mathis


#. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey (whew)




#. Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley (sort of cheesy and dated, really)


Happy Holidays, all!