The Pitfall

The Pitfall (1962) was Hiroshi Teshigahara's debut as a fiction film director. I've got to say that this is an incredibly ambitious film for a debut because it barely keeps itself together during the 90-minute running time. Initially the film seems like a story of two miners trying to make a living, but eventually it ends up becoming a cryptic mystery combined with a ghost story and social critique. There's also a (possibly unintentional) level of dark comedy that becomes dominant on a few instances. The narrative rushes between these different aspects at such a fast pace that I'm not sure what to make of this film even though there are obvious hints of brilliance scattered all over the film.

Even if you think the screenplay fails there's a lot to be enjoyed about the film's form. Takemitsu's sparse and experimental musical score sets the atmosphere all the way from the very first scene with its menacing tone. Segawa's striking black and white cinematography is guaranteed to pull anyone into the film's fascinating world.

The Pitfall was the first of three collaborations between the director Teshigahara, avant-garde novelist Abe, experimental composer Takemitsu and brilliant cinematographer Segawa (the first three collaborators would also make another film together afterwards). One of the other collaborations would be Woman of the Dunes (1964), one of my favorite films of all time. The Pitfall pales in comparison to this masterpiece because it is incapable of handling its own ambition in writing.

Score: 8 out of 10

Memories of Murder

Before I watched Joon-ho Bong's Memories of Murder (2003), I had heard a lot of good things about the film. There was even a guy who included it in his five favorite films of all time. So naturally, my expectations were high for the film even though I doubted a little whether the film could be so good.

Memories of Murder tells about three detectives working on a serial murder case in a small Korean town. The film subverts the viewers' expectations all the time by breaking the conventions of the genre. While it uses a lot of the cliched tropes (such as false arrests, torturing innocent people), the path these tropes take the story is vastly different from a conventional detective story.

Instead of focusing on the mystery completely, the film is more about the main characters. Their gradual yet complex character development is the driving force of the whole film. I read somewhere that there is a strong political subtext behind two of the detectives, but I'm not sure if it was only someone reading too much into the film or not. However, the film does have social themes along with the more personal ones so the interpretation of the two characters is probably not completely pointless.

The most confusing thing about Memories of Murder is its balance between comedy and drama. Bong is better when he focuses more on being satirical, but in Memories of Murder he leans more towards being serious and dramatic. And that's why the bits of hilarious comedy don't really fit into the film. The dramatic moments are also handled in a weird way because the film is emotionally quite confusing - and I don't see why this film should be so.

Formally Bong delivers again. His cinematography is simply wonderful to look at: the lighting and colors represent the psychological state of the characters (becomes darker and darker as the film goes on); the compositions are beautiful; the camera drives are impressive yet again in the long takes. Bong can create intensity to any scene with simple yet excellent camera movement.

Memories of Murder is a film that had the potential to become a masterpiece, but some of its brilliance was lost already in the writing process. However, the final result is an entertaining and thought-provoking film that I would recommend for anyone.

Score: 8 out of 10

Eureka

Shinji Aoyama's Eureka (2000) reminds me why I love cinema as much as I do: sometimes I find something so unique and fascinating that tthis "something" lingers on my mind for a long time after seeing the film. I was expecting something a little offbeat from Eureka, but what it provided me with was a truly cathartic experience - and that's why it became one of my favorite films of all time.

Eureka opens with a violent scene: a man hijacks a bus, kills a few and then engages in a bloody shootout with the police. The rest of the film explores the aftermath of the incident through the eyes of the three survivors: the busdriver and two school children. Their lives begin to fall apart slowly and painfully as their alienation becomes stronger.

The tone of the film is dark and the pace is extremely slow - making the pain of the characters more tangible for the viewers. One would think this would be hard to digest because the film is so long (almost 4 hours), but it's almost the opposite. Even the beautiful visuals alone make the film worth watching. Sepia and widescreen are used effectively in the photography which offers a lot of fascinating compositions. The camera remains static for a great deal of time, but there is camera movement once in a while - and when there is movement, it's really complex and breathtaking.

The editing is intriguing as well. Mostly there are a lot of long takes, but ellipses and jump cuts are also used on a few occasions. Especially the beginning is very elliptica: the shooting itself receives only a short period of screentime and we only see the end of it. The immediate aftermath is also portrayed very quickly and instead of exploring that, the film focuses on what happens 2 years later.

The film is a mesmerizing take on recuperation, guilt and alienation. The characters often wander in the barren landscape, which describes their emotional state. There is a huge void they want to fill, but it is not easy. Shell-shocked trauma is not something you recover from easily. Especially if you don't talk - like the children in Eureka.

The movie is mostly quiet, but the silence is sometimes broken by a beautiful, haunting score which consists of simple piano tunes and sometimes strings join the piano. The visuals alone would be a stunning thing to witness, but the music just adds a new great layer to the experience. Jim O'Rourke's song Eureka is also used in a few scenes - and the song fits very well into the soundtrack.

The acting is reduced to such naturalism that it seems more geniune than most of the acting I've ever seen. This is especially the case with the two children (Aoi Miyazaki and Masura Miyazaki, they are siblings in real life as well). Koji Yakusho's tour de force performance is also magnificent.

Eureka is a stunning film that should be more known around the world. It might not be an easy film to digest, but it's very rewarding.

Score: 10 out of 10

American Psycho

Mary Harron's American Psycho (2000) is based on Bret Easton Ellis' extremely controversial novel which mocks the shallow lifestyle (most importantly, obsessions) of modern and "trendy" people. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a Vice President in a company called Pierce & Pierce. He is the epitome of "a rich modern man": he wears expensive clothes, exercises a lot and eats in fancy restaurants. Under this shallow image, there is a dreamlike darkness hiding - waiting to burst out violently.

The entire film is devoted to its message; the film's content is perfect as a dark satire. The film likes to make us suspect if the murders and misogyny really happen or not. They are executed in a ridiculously funny way to point out how outrageous the idea on its own is. It doesnt matter whether they really happen or not because those murders are there to point out how shallow and ridiculous it is to be a rich materialist like Bateman and his "friends". Before I forget it, I have to mention the mad monologues about music. They are genuinely funny and used in a yet another way to poke fun at the characters.

The film's form is quite basic, there is nothing special about it. I guess it is a way to exaggerate the absurdity of the content. It keeps our attention on the content so that we can think about it without a distraction. The hilarious opening credits sequence sets the mood for the rest of the film by its playful use of blood in the rhythm of the music.

In overall, American Psycho is a great satire at its core with a form that works satisfyingly enough.

Score: 8 out of 10