Home Artists Posts Import Register

Content

44/100

"Some people were born just so they could be buried." Okay then! In theory, I'm down with treating religion as largely toxic, but this southern-fried cavalcade of God-fearing misery just goes way, way over the top; makes perfect sense to me that a friend who loved it also considers Requiem for a Dream one of the greatest films ever made, since both made me long for the sledgehammer's cessation. Campos' formal approach is much less flashy than Aronofsky's, which is both appropriate (since these characters' minds get altered gradually) and enervating (in that there's nothing to distract you from the incessant horror). It's just one matter-of-fact nightmare after another, usually supplemented by a visible cross or prefaced by an ironic or useless profession of faith. Pollock's novel seems to be highly regarded—certainly more so than the film, critical response to which has been decidedly mixed—but nothing about his pervasive onscreen voiceover narration much appeals to me, either, I gotta say. Performances are generally strong, excepting Robert Pattinson and his Amazing Mystery Accent, but the actors I most wanted to spend time with (Bill Skarsgård, Haley Bennett, Mia Wasikowska) exit fairly early. There's one tonally jarring moment that I don't understand, in which Campos quickly flashes back to an episode of sickening violence (having previously cut away before the carnage began; I accurately sensed that we weren't getting off that easy) and then returns to present-tense Jason Clarke, with Pollock's VO pronouncing judgment: "The sick fuck." Feels utterly out of place in the movie we're watching, but it's possible that I'd have welcomed many more self-conscious interjections along that line. Anything to break up the grim monotony. 

Files

Comments

Anonymous

lol Zach

gemko

Zach and I had a whole text convo about the film yesterday, so it’s not like this is a stealth attack.

Anonymous

Grim Monotony is actually the international title Netflix is using!