Sunday, July 24, 2011
WILDLY OFF TRACK
Today's film is the highly amusing and shocking film by Yorgos Lanthimos
By this they mean the canine tooth. There isn't anything mysterious about it. It shows up as part of the massive disinformation delivered to three grown uppish kids who have been home schooled by their parents, do not have access to the world outside and live behind a very high fence.
It is Lanthimos' intention (he says in an interview) to show what can happen in a home schooling situation where contingencies occur which have to be corrected and these contingencies in turn create other effects which need to be addressed.
Before anyone knows it, the family has not only flown from reality but has developed some nifty psychodynamics.
An outsider comes in, a woman who is to instruct the son in sexual matters. She inadvertently leaves some video tapes in the house and all hell breaks loose as at least one of the kids sees such films as Jaws and interprets a different world from the one that she lives in.
The sex thing goes off the track too. Like everything else.
The film is absurdist. It is right on the money.
It is funny and, as some violent turns occur, shocking.
Quite a film.
Nothing quite like it but it is not out of the avant garde mainstream so to speak. Filled with paradoxes just like that.
I enjoyed it but had to turn from the screen two times. And maybe I should have a third. No one was hurt in making the film but it sure looks like it.
This is experimental theater on film and the director wants (and gets) visceral reactions from his audience.
I am not sure that I would want to see it again but maybe. I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
