sitenoise ! (sitenoise)

Don't fall for the stories of people walking out of this film because it's too scary. It doesn't even pretend to be scary until at least an hour into it. Somebody's leg is being pulled. And speaking of pulled legs ... that is the only scary scene in the movie.

There are allegedly three different endings to the film. I saw the original one ... and it's not scary or satisfying at all. There's a little bit of off-screen screaming that abruptly turns into silence. OK, that can be unnerving but it's just a technique. It doesn't move the story to anywhere that matters. The ending being shown in theaters now might be better--a whole bunch more technique with more frightening images that is over with quickly. The original peters out to nothingness for too long and has no meaning.

Even if we grant that either or both of the two endings I didn't see kick total ass, that doesn't make it a good film. It makes it three minutes of coolness that requires ninety minutes of suffering to get to. The guy in this film is a completely unlikeable moron. The girl is OK but I never really thought she was scared, more just annoyed by her idiotic day-trader boyfriend. I think everyone acknowledges that this film is mostly, for at least an hour, nothing but set up before anything happens, and that's too much time spent with bad actors working without a script. There's nothing subtle about it.

One thing is for sure, this film has some of the most gloriously thought out and constructed set designs ever. A lot of the film takes place in the young girl's "apartment" which is about the size of an average K-Mart. Each room is like a different department but it doesn't seem strange once you enter the world Hideaki Anno has created. Anno comes from years working in Anime so his visual imagination works on a different level than most. This is a beautiful film with stunning photography. When the couple are outside they're usually hanging out on or near railroad tracks, creating all kinds of wonderful lines and framing. On the downside, the story is standard "crazy free-spirited girl captivates man" stuff; the dialog and philosophy get a little precious from time to time; neither of the two can really act--they're just supposed to be attractive cool people (they are)--but Anno makes the best of their limitations. This is definitely an indie/arty bag of ennui, but it does do some interesting things and even goes all Dogme 95 for a scene at the end.

sitenoise at the movies: Ritual

I will call this my all-time favorite movie. I don't think I'll ever tire of watching it. Such a smartly written film.

Poetic. Dreamy. Surreal. There's just something about the way Sion Sono puts together a film that appeals to me. The assemblage maybe more than the film.