Some Weird Films

I have seen lots of films in the past two months. A few on the big screen but mostly downloaded from the bit-torrent sites. I thought I would write about some less well known films which I liked (kind of!). I just love those films which bring in bizarre elements into the stories of normal people and their everyday lives and in the process unravel psychological mysteries. These films are not some ground breaking masterpieces but nevertheless interesting because of their bizarre quotient!



Possession: Finally a divorce drama for people who hate divorce dramas. Mark (played by Sam Neill) returns from some unnamed spy mission to his wife (played with remarkable courage by the beautiful Isabelle Adjani) in Berlin. There is a reason the film is set in Berlin. There are many shots of the Berlin Wall in the film perhaps implying some metaphorical significance. Anyway after his arrival Mark finds that his wife doesn't need him anymore and has grown hysterical and distant in his absence. He first suspects that she has taken a German lover but things take a bizarre turn when he finds that she isn't even seeing her supposed lover. So who is she spending her time with? And where did the detectives disappear who were trailing her? To reveal much will be to spoil the effect of the film. Suffice to say, there is nothing like this, anywhere in the films, at least in the mainstream ones. There is a sex scene which almost made my eye-balls drop from their sockets! There are a few scenes which reminded me of Roman Polanski's Repulsion but what keeps the film from reaching the heights of Polanski's masterpiece is director's attitude. Calling his style over-the-top would be a major understatement. Same goes with with the performances. They are so hysterically over the top that it is difficult to find out what those characters are really going through. It is as if they are all possessed by something...but what? Might be love but that will again be a heavy handed interpretation. What I liked best was the shots of Berlin with empty streets and apartments and the overall production design which give a feeling that it is all a rotting waste land. Strictly for the curious types or people with a taste in bizarre!! More about the film from a favourable review here.

Tetsuo:The Iron Man: I have no idea what to say about this film. But suffice to say, I had to avert my eyes from the laptop screen on more than single occasion. It is horror at the most visceral level. There is a sex scene here too but I can't tell you what really happens because I wasn't looking at the screen :) A brief article on the film here.



The Bird People in China: The last two films are sure to leave a very bad taste in mouth. Fortunately this film is nothing like the other two. From the cult Japanese director Takashi Miike (the man behind Audition), this is a film about returning back to nature and our cultural roots. A young businessman is sent on an assignment to a remote Chinese village. On his way he finds that a threatening Yakuza is interested in his trip too. When they both reach the village however, the film enters the magic-realist territory. There is a school in the village which teaches children how to fly with artificial wings. But is this just a fantasy or can people really fly? Nice feel-good time-pass film with amazing on location cinematography.