Holy crap. So this was commissioned for Showtime’s Masters of Horror, about which I’ve had some complaints, and then it was too much for them–and it was never aired. Set sometime in late-19th-century Japan, on an island brothel, it structurally resembles a classic ghost story of the period: embedded narratives, as a man on a quest is told ever-worse versions of a story by a deformed prostitute. And many of the elements of the story seem classical, as well: long-lost loves, embattled young child, secret twins. But beyond this familiar structure and resonant plot details, the short film contains truly unsettling, discomforting, uncanny images–bodies, babies, brutality, a very grim fairy tale that seemed unlike most anything I’d ever seen before. The story would emerge in one way that bothered me, then it’d be retold and I’d be surprised and a bit horrified by its revision, and again, and again, until I was startled, often nauseated, utterly engrossed (in every sense of that word).
Great stuff. No one but me may actually enjoy this kind of stuff, but I do recommend it. Shot with Miike’s trademark combination of stomach-churning gore and sound to accompany, intermingled with some absolutely beautiful images (e.g., a poled boat laden with customers just off shore, the red lanterns on land dimly visible in a line just over the men’s heads). Miike is the Fellini of horror–this is a very bad dream, and very good horror.
I finally got to see this and dug it a good deal. Being Miike, I felt it might actually go too far as it went on. And frankly I did have to play the torture scene at double speed, but other than that, it was quite good.
Dayna may have thought otherwise, though she did watch the whole thing. It made me want to watch Miike’s Great Yokai War again – which is more of a child’s horror movie, than this one, very geared to grown-ups.
Really great use of color throughout the film as well. Miike’s composition and his chops as an artist can easily get overshadowed by the subject matter – and it’s definitely not always up to the same quality all the time. In fact, the first quarter of this film looked quite bad. Very B-Movie schlocky. It recovered nicely and had some beautiful scenes – even with all the dead babies.
I don’t miss the Daily Show b/c of the writer’s strike – I miss it because I don’t have cable. But this is quite a good placeholder. With nothing to do with Miike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w
Hot damn.
What does it mean that the New York Times does not even have a review of Babylon A.D. today? It is probably not a good sign.
No. Apparently even Kassovitz hates the film.
mike, if that miike film comes to the cities, and if you promise to hold my hand, i will see it with you.
i wonder that the slate review does not mention the kung-fu hustle in its discussion of asian refractions of the hollywood western (and other genres).
Holy crap! This just beat out the Miike film for most-anticipated. (And for the unfamiliar, go seek out the director’s previous, very fine A Bittersweet Life.)