THE CAT VANISHES

Before my recent viewing of “The Cat Vanishes”, I was unaware of its Argentinean director, Carlos Sorin.  Apparently this film is a departure from the usual types of realistic and simple dramas that Sorin is known for and in a recent interview with him, he has stated that this one off experiment would be just that.  The reason for this is because he found the stylized world of his Hitchcock homage to be an incredibly hard film to make.  Watching the film you would not know it because Sorin has created such a great little film, he always seems in total control of it, and it is a shame that he will not make another suspense thriller like this again.  When it comes to the homage of the work of master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, many have tried, but amazingly a lot fail, however Sorin has done a brilliant job of creating the wonderful suspense of a Hitchcock film without totally aping his style.

The film is about a middle aged couple, Luis and Beatriz, who are both trying to readapt to one another after Luis’ forced stay at a mental institution after a serious and violent breakdown.  Luis, before the breakdown, was a mild mannered and kind man who appeared not to have a violent bone in his body.  He was happily married to Beatriz for many, many years and worked as a teacher at the local university.  However that all changed one day when he suspected that his friend and assistant at the university, Fourcade, was trying to steal his lifelong work; his magnum opus he was wanting to be published.  The paranoia in his mind caused him to snap and he violently lashed out at both Fourcade and his own wife with whom he accused of being a traitor and helping Fourcade in the deception.  After his stay in the institution and being put under specific medication, Luis’ doctors concluded that he was cured and that the likelihood of him recommitting his crimes was nil, thus he is released into the care of his wife.  While Luis is now well and medicated and Beatriz has forgiven him understanding he was not himself during his attack, the memory of what happened isn’t easily forgotten by both, making it hard to adjust to each other once more.  Beatriz is still terrified that it may all happen again, while Luis is just trying to get on with his life, all knowing what he did to the person he loves most.  It isn’t until the family cat goes missing though that Beatriz starts to seriously think that Luis may not be cured after all.  Just prior to the cat disappearing, Luis had an altercation with it, and Beatriz starts thinking the worst.  Not only that but Luis’ weird behavior like hearing noises that no one else can hear, or manically reorganizing his bookcases at three in the morning, give Beatriz more cause to concern.  Is Luis really cured or is his weird behavior just his way of readapting to life outside of the institution?  Does Beatriz have a right to worry or is her imagination getting the better of her?

This is such a great film.  Admittedly it is very low key but it is so well made.  The opening half an hour of the film travels at a deliberate pace as we meet our main characters and see them dealing with their situation.  We witness Luis as he looks at the world with new eyes, almost as though this is the first time he has truly seen everything around him.  Meanwhile, Beatriz does her best to act like everything is normal but it is obvious she is concerned.  Everybody who comes in contact with her husband she confronts and asks them of their opinion of him, and they are unanimous in thinking he is just like he was before the breakdown.  Even with all of this reassurance, Beatriz is still worried, and it really is Beatriz’s film as we predominantly follow her.  It is through her eyes that we witness the story of “The Cat Vanishes” as her nerves and imagination make everything Luis does seem sinister and dark.  As she gets more and more sure that Luis is still in fact insane, the suspense of the film continues to build and visually it becomes more stylized and dark.

When trying to create an homage to Alfred Hitchcock, one must be aware of his great visual storytelling abilities.  Sorin definitely understands this and fills the film with beautifully composed and impeccably staged shots.  His camerawork is smooth and expressive but never too flashy that it draws attention to itself.  As I mentioned when Beatriz’s paranoia gets the better of her, the film becomes more stylized and Julian Apezteguia gorgeous lighting comes to the forefront.  Suddenly shadows play a huge part in the look of the film, as well as the staple of the suspense film: the horizontal blind.  Both are used brilliantly causing maximum suspense as the colour of the opening half of the film slowly gives way to darkness towards the end.  Some of my favourite shots in “The Cat Vanishes” are when Sorin separates husband and wife in the same shot to create either suspense, drama or suspicion.  My favourite example is when Luis is seen on the left hand side of the shot lying on his bed laughing at the television, while on the right hand side we see Beatriz clothed sitting on the toilet crying because she is terrified of her husband.  It is a great visual moment and is dramatically palpable.  Deliberately Luis’ side of the shot is brightly lit and full of colour, while in the bathroom it is dark and the red walls of the room stand out dramatically.  Another shot I loved and that was very Hitchcockian is a close up of Luis holding a knife in the foreground, as Beatriz enters through a door in the background, instantly shocked by the knife.  It is so well done, because the way the shot has been framed, we feel exactly what Beatriz feels even though Luis may be doing something innocent with the knife; it is a very dramatic shot.  Something that Hitchcock relied on heavily in his films was the subjective shot.  What this means is that we first see a shot of a character looking at something, which is then followed up with a shot of what that character is actually seeing.  Sorin employs this technique brilliantly as the majority of the second half of “The Cat Vanishes” is told via this subjective method.

From an acting point of view, Beatriz Spelzini (who plays Beatriz) is just magnificent.  She is the heart of the film and she carries it brilliantly.  Her portrayal of difficult emotions of happiness while still feeling fear, and guilt for not trusting the man she loves all come across powerfully.  You really feel for this poor woman.  If you think about it, it really is a tough position she is in.  She was a victim of her husband’s violent outrage, but it all happened when he was under the influence of a breakdown, and although he is now cured that memory is still with her, so it is only human nature that it would be hard to trust the man she loves so readily again.  Through Spelzini’s performance you understand all of this and just how hard it is for her.  Luis Luque’s performance (as Luis) is quite a playful one because he has the job of not letting the audience know if he is in fact cured or not, therefore he always has a shifty look in his eye.  The scene when he is organizing his bookcase is a good example because that is all he is doing (or is he?) but he looks so guilty when Beatriz catches him.  It certainly looks as though Luque had fun with the role.

One thing that I appreciated with “The Cat Vanishes” is the plotting of the film and the fact that when I thought I was ahead of the film, it proved me wrong every time.  Carlos Sorin penned the script himself and I loved the fact that it existed within itself from beginning to end.  What I mean by this is that its tone was consistent all the way up to the finale.  To be honest, “The Cat Vanishes” is a very slight tale, there is no violence, little blood, no obscenities and yet it is packed full of suspense.  When it comes to the end of the film, it stays true to what has come before it; it is a simple ending but a brilliant one.  It doesn’t suddenly become an action or a chase film, it stays true to itself.  Although the world presented in “The Cat Vanishes” is a stylized one, Sorin also grounds the film in a reality with the characters that fill the world doing things that are quite normal in the situation faced.  Like I said above, Sorin fills the story with moments that appear to be twists but turn out to be something all together different, but like everything else in this film, they fit perfectly with the story being told and never feel out of place.

Another thing that I must make mention of is Nicolas Sorin’s (yes, he is the director’s son; talk about nepotism) fantastic score.  It actually has an old fashioned quality to it and early on it is quite playful, however by the end of the film it turns into a full on suspense score while at the same time never being derivative of anything from the past.

Overall, I thought Carlos Sorin’s Hitchcock homage was a delightful film.  He added the Hitchcock elements perfectly to the film from the title (which is obviously a take-off of “Vertigo”, I joke, it is “The Lady Vanishes”), to scenes of characters eating, the psychological mumbo jumbo of doctors and best of all, the visual side of Hitchcock’s genius.  While “The Cat Vanishes” is a slight film, it is a perfectly executed tale that keeps you guessing until the end.  It is endlessly suspenseful and has a great kick in its tail.  It also has a fantastic dream sequence that is beautifully disguised as reality.  I recommend it whole heartedly and think it is a film that will be re-watched significantly in my own home.

4 Stars.

KOTOKO

I have mentioned a number of times on this blog how I am drawn to movies about mental illness.  There is something so interesting about the brain not functioning as it should and it usually gives a director a chance to explore the issue with quite inventive visuals.  Emotionally, if done well, these films turn out to be harrowing and can be quite frightening too.  Shinya Tsukamoto’s latest film “Kotoko” is one of these films.  It is a very personal and raw account about a single mother, who suffers from depression and a number of mental issues, trying to bring up her son in today’s violent world.

Living in the bustling city of Tokyo, single mother Kotoko is struggling to keep it together.  She suffers from a unknown disease which makes her see double, although this is not the normal version of that affliction.  Instead when she sees people, she sees a good and bad version of each person and she is never sure which version is the real one.  This terrifies her immensely and as a result she hides herself and her baby in their tiny apartment.  The only time she does not see double is when she is singing, which is something she obviously loves as it brings everything together and gives her the ability to focus properly.  However looking after a baby gives her little time to sing and cooping herself up in the apartment only intensifies her issues until she ends up having a serious breakdown.  Declaring Kotoko to be an unfit mother, her son is taken from her and put into the care of Kotoko’s sister, and will only be returned to her once she has gotten well again.  This proves a much harder task than anticipated as Kotoko’s downward spiral continues while she misses her child.  Her visions increase and her self mutilations become more regular as it appears that Kotoko will not be long for this world.  One day, though, when travelling on a bus absent mindedly singing to herself, she awakens another passenger who is mesmerized by her singing.  The passenger, Tanaka, turns out to be a famous novelist who ends up being obsessed by the disturbed girl, and begins following her in an attempt to get her to fall in love with him.  While she initially is uninterested, it is when Tanaka notices Kotoko’s problems that he really commits to her to try and get her healthy once more.  Has Kotoko finally found her way back towards happiness and a chance to have her son again?

“Kotoko” is an incredibly dark and emotionally powerful experience.  It is not an easy film to watch as it goes to a number of very uncomfortable places.  Kotoko is played by Japanese pop singer Cocco and she is devastatingly good in the role.  The reason why this is such a personal film is because a lot of the elements of the character of Kotoko come from Cocco herself.  She herself suffered from depression and repeatedly resorted to self harm and she is also a mother of a teenage boy.  “Kotoko” is Cocco’s acting debut and it is nothing like the vanity projects often seen by U.S singers doing their first movies.  In fact it is almost anti-vanity because she lets her fans see her in such a negative light, that it really is such a brave performance.  The fact that the character sings to find inner peace, you may think that this is when the pop star would come out and show her stuff but surprisingly all of the singing in the film is quiet and understated.  This is nothing like “Burlesque”, instead the musical pieces keep in tune with the intimate and emotional journey Kotoko finds herself on.  As I mentioned, Cocco’s performance is heartbreaking as she plays a very sick woman who finds herself doing terrible things.  She is in such an emotional state for the entirety of the film that I can only imagine how intense and tiring filming it would have been.  Throughout the film she is seen cutting her wrists, stabbing the hands of unwanted male suitors with forks, even attempting to kill her own child; she is almost constantly covered in blood but the emotional pain she is going through appears to be a whole lot worse than the physical.

Her saviour comes in the form of a guardian angel named Tanaka who is played by Shinya Tsukamoto himself.  Tsukamoto is no stranger to acting in his own films but initially had no intention of playing the role in “Kotoko” until Cocco encouraged him to take it.  As usual he is great in the role and actually brings a lot of dark humour with him into the picture.  One of the funniest moments in the film is when Tanaka breaks into Kotoko’s apartment and finds her bleeding profusely after cutting her wrists (sounds hilarious, right?).  First off he faints, but after he regains his composure, he begins to look for something to stop the bleeding in a panic.  He grabs the baby’s clothes which Kotoko refuses to use, and then he comes out with a diaper before finding a towel.  It may not sound funny, but it actually is and it gives the audience some relief from all of the darkness they have witnessed previous.  However due to the dark nature of the film, there is a lot of disturbing scenes with the Tanaka character too as he decides to become a human punching bag where Kotoko can unleash her anger out onto, instead of on herself.

Directorially Shinya Tsukamoto is at the top of his game again with “Kotoko”.  He never shies away from how disturbing the subject matter is and there is not a hint of sentimentality throughout.  He never judges Kotoko for her actions rather he just presents her story to us.  As usual Tsukamoto uses a lot of handheld camerawork and the “shaky cam” look is prevalent throughout.  It is funny how much I hate this type of look and style of filmmaking except it never seems to faze me when Tsukamoto uses it.  It always seems to have a point and here it represents just how disturbed Kotoko’s mind truly is.  Despite the use of handheld, “Kotoko” is a beautiful looking film filled with gorgeous colours.  Visually the film is most similar to Tsukamoto’s 2004 film “Vital” and like that film has a number of beautiful dance sequences, these scenes bookend both the start and end of “Kotoko”.  Tsukamoto made the brave decision to have the character of Kotoko be the film’s (unreliable?) narrator.  Narration can be so hit or miss in cinema and is often used lazily, but here I thought it added a lot to the film as it gave us more insight into what exactly was going through Kotoko’s head.  The other standout of the film is its amazing soundtrack.  A lot is done aurally in “Kotoko” particularly when she is having one of her attacks.  Interestingly Tsukamoto has stated that the film has the theme of an impending war strewn throughout but with the exception of a scene towards the end I never picked up on this at all.  His point is that he feels a lot of parents are terrified of the fact that a war may happen soon and the current generation of kids would have to fight in it.  Like I said, the notion of war went over my head, but I did pick up on the fact that he was saying that the world has gone crazy and is increasingly violent and for what purpose should we bring a child into this world now.

In relation to this, the “double” vision that Kotoko suffers from also comes from the amount of fear you have when you become a parent.  Suddenly things that once seemed so normal you look at with different eyes and can see how your child could hurt themselves on.  A common table is just that before children, but after you have kids it is dangerous due to the sharp corners on it.  This is a basic example, but I think that Kotoko fears for the safety of her child only amplify her mental condition.  It is definitely something I can relate to because I always see things from the negative point of view.  Actually negative is the wrong word, I always notice what could happen which takes the innocence away from certain things.

Tsukamoto’s films are known for their violence and “Kotoko” is a very violent film.  However unlike the majority of his other films the violence here is handled in a very realistic manner and as a result is likely to disturb a lot of viewers.  There is a scene towards the end that is particularly shocking especially if you are a parent and to be truthful I was stunned that Tsukamoto went as far as he did with it.  Apart from that scene there is a lot of self mutilation, so blood exists prominently in “Kotoko” so if you are squeamish you may want to beware.  A theme that was introduced in “Vital” reappears here in “Kotoko”, as Tsukamoto seems to indicate that the towering city of Tokyo contributes to the madness and insanity of people, which they seem to lose when moving to the country.  This is true in “Kotoko” as she appears her best in the film when visiting her son and sister at their country home.  In fact all of the characters who live in the country appear relaxed and normal as opposed to the intensity and speed of the city.

Overall I found “Kotoko” to be an incredibly disturbing and raw experience, as well as an emotional one.  However it was also a great one.  The lead performance from Japanese singer Cocco is outstanding (she also handled music and art direction duties on the film) and the film is anything like a vanity piece for her.  “Kotoko” goes to some dark places and corners of the mind but if this is the kind of cinema you respond to, you should rush out and watch Shinya Tsukamoto’s latest,; the man is once again at the top of his game.

4 Stars.

 

CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON

In remembrance of Halloween and in celebration of the recent blu-ray release of the classic and iconic “Universal Monsters” series, I have decided to review each title individually in chronological order, and the final review of the series is for “Creature From The Black Lagoon” that was directed by Jack Arnold and premiered on 5 March, 1954.

So we finally come to the end of my “Universal Monsters” reviews with 1954’s “Creature From The Black Lagoon”, which like “Phantom of the Opera” is also a unique title within the series as it is the only one that was shot in the 1:85 ratio as well as in 3-D.  It is interesting watching the entire series within a limited time frame because you notice little things that may not be obvious if watched months apart.  All of the films that were made in the 1930’s have a very similar atmosphere to them, while this entry from the 1950’s has a much different feel.  Gone is the darkness and grittiness of the earlier films and in its place is a kind of naivety, no doubt due to the Hays Code being in full effect.  However as different as the films feel, “Creature From The Black Lagoon” shares a common bond with the earlier films in the fact that this is such an entertaining film to watch and has a truly classic monster at its center.

After a unique fossil is found along the Amazonian riverbank, a scientific expedition is put together to try and find the rest of the remains of this creature.  When the group’s initial efforts to find anything prove fruitless, they decide to head further down the river to a black lagoon where they believe the rock that contained the fossil may have broken away from over millions of years.  While taking soil samples from the lagoon floor, two divers come face to face with the mysterious creature.  Confused by the sudden appearance of these strangers in his home, the creature begins attacking the trespassers, while at the same time finding himself attracted to the lone female of the expedition.  Science and infamy clash as the group fights amongst themselves over whether to bring back the creature dead or alive to show the world, or whether to just study it whilst it is living in its natural habitat.  Whatever the final decision may end up being, it doesn’t matter because the creature just wants these intruders gone.

While “Creature From The Black Lagoon” may not have the complexities or subtext of the films like “Frankenstein”, it is still a highly entertaining yarn.  It is such an easy film to watch and enjoy.  It is true that there is very little depth to it, but sometimes just being a good time in the cinema is enough and this film is definitely that.  From the look of the film, it is easy to see that this film didn’t have a huge budget, but whatever director Jack Arnold did have, it has ended up on screen because the film looks amazing.  The biggest highlight of the film is the creature himself and his make-up design.  The detail on the suit is just extraordinary but what I loved about it was that it when it moved, it felt real.  Although it is just a man in a rubber suit when the creature opens or closes his hands it feels organic, same when he breathes or when his gills move.  It actually feels like it could have been a monster that really existed in the past.  What I find most impressive about the design is that it hasn’t just been made to look cool but some thought has gone into the things an amphibious creature like this would need to survive.  The webbed feet and hands help him swim, the gills help him breathe and his sharp claws give him an ability to find food.  He looks and feels of his environment.  The creation of the suit and who the credit belongs to for making it is interesting as everyone now wants to take credit for it.  Universal’s head of make-up (after Jack Pierce departed) was Bud Westmore who unlike Pierce before him ran a whole make-up department.  Milicent Patrick was the actual designer of the look of the creature coming up with all of the initial drawings for it, so ultimately she should get most of the credit, however Westmore ended up publicly taking the credit for the creature’s creation.

For a film that is almost sixty years old, I am stunned at just how well the look of the creature has held up over time.  Personally I think it ranks in the top three best ever creature designs in cinema with Frankenstein’s monster and the xenomorph from “Alien” rounding out the list.  The creature looks his best when he is in his natural habitat underwater.  During these underwater scenes, a professional diver and swimmer played the role of the creature.  Ricou Browning was this man and his performance is just stellar.  He gives the creature character and we actually understand what is going on through his head just via his swimming styles.  The famous scene of the creature mimicking Kay (played by Julie Adams) and her swimming strokes whilst under her in the lagoon is deserved of its classic status.  Playful in nature, the swimming by the creature here is also very obviously alluding to sex.  It is in this moment that the creature falls in love with Kay, the first woman he has ever laid eyes on.  However in other scenes when he is attacking for instance, he swims in a very aggressive manner in a straight line towards his target, or if he is on the defence, he moves more strategically to outwit his opponent.  Browning seriously gives a performance whilst underwater and the suit looks just magnificent when wet too.

When the creature comes up on land (or the boat), the role is played by a stuntman by the name of Ben Chapman.  Through no fault of the actor in the suit, I just didn’t feel that the creature had the same impact as he does underwater.  This is the only time it feels like it could be a guy in a suit rather than an actual creature.  I will say that I loved the way the creature breathed when he was on land; it always looked like he was gasping for air, and that he would need to venture back into the water as soon as possible.  What is interesting about the creature is that although he kills a lot of people during the film, I would never call him a monster.  He is just an animal protecting his habitat and I am sure that if the expedition crew left him alone, he would never have attacked them in retaliation.  I’m sure if you wondered into a lion’s den unannounced and started fiddling with everything the exact same thing could happen.

The other thing that is so prominent when it comes to the creature is the score that accompanies his appearance every time he is on screen.  It is over-the-top and melodramatic as all hell, and quite intrusive (subtle wouldn’t be something I would call it either) but it actually becomes quite entertaining and adds to the enjoyment of the film.  Da-Daa-Daaaaa!!  Actually the whole of the score was done in quite a strange way, no doubt due to the budget, as music from previous Universal films are pilfered and added to scenes, with the rest of the score duties being split between three composers: Henry Mancini, Hans Salter and Herman Stein.  To be truthful, I wouldn’t call it very memorable with the exception of the creature’s theme which is bellowed every few seconds.  Da-Daa-Daaaaa!!!

As enjoyable as I found “Creature From The Black Lagoon”, it is very repetitive with the characters being on their boat, have to enter the water for a reason, fight the creature underwater, get back on boat, creature boards boat for a scare and then dives back into the lagoon, ready for the cycle to repeat again.  The repetition didn’t bother me too much but I found it amusing each time the characters re-entered the water.  That said the underwater sequences are brilliantly done with very nice cinematography and I always appreciate a film that can tell its story via visuals more than dialogue which is the case with “Creature From The Black Lagoon”.  In regards to story beats, I did like the fight between science and money which is shown throughout the film and in a nice change of pace for a “Universal Monsters” film, the scientist isn’t a madman.

When it comes to the acting in the film, everyone is serviceable but no-one is outstanding.  To be honest I had never heard of any of these actors before this film, but I must say that Julie Adams is incredibly fetching to look at (although I did get sick of her monotonous screaming).  The person that steals this movie though is Nestor Paiva who plays Lucas, the captain of the steamer that takes the scientists down the Amazon.  He is absolutely hilarious throughout the film and fills the screen with charisma.  It is a small role but he makes it memorable.

Overall I really loved the “Creature From The Black Lagoon” just for the fact that it was so entertaining.  I would love to comment on the 3-D technique that the film was originally shot in but alas I have not seen the film in that format.  From all reports though, it added to this already great film.  If there is one reason to see this film, it is because of its outstanding make-up design for the creature himself.  It is truly one of the greatest of all time and I cannot praise it enough.  The film itself is flawed and very repetitive but is such an easy watch, that it is very easy to recommend.  

3.5 Stars.