Month: June 2018

Dead Calm

Dead Calm

 

 

The entire film involves three characters in a violent game of psychological strategy. Rae (Nicole Kidman) is involved in a car crash which results in the death of her son. Her husband John (Sam Neil) suggests her to go on vacation so that it will help them to overcome the grief.  One day, they encounter a drifting boat that seems to be taking on water. A man, Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane), rows over to their boat for help. He claims that all of his friends died as his boat was sinking. John doesn’t believe his story completely. He secretly visits the other boat and finds that all of his friends are killed by Hughie.  When Kidman’s son was killed in an accident, Sam was not with her. They were detached then. Later, Sam went to the other boat and his wife is left with the madman. They have detached again. The key image of “Dead Calm” is of two ships drawing near each other in the middle of a vast, empty expanse of ocean. This scene indicates that help is not going to come from anywhere and that the characters will have to settle their own destinies. Hughie is a naive psychopath. He trusts Rae as long as Rae acts well with him. Even when the trust breaks, he doesn’t try to kill her. He is violent but lacks intelligence. That is why Rae outsmarts him at-times. But it isn’t easy as the actions take place entirely within a boat and there is no help available from outside. Dead calm generates genuine tension with minimum sound-effects. It doesn’t have many dialogues either.  Billy Zane does well as the villain. It isn’t easy playing the role as it has every chance of looking similar to a cartoon kind of character.  Kidman is excellent as the emotionally distraught wife who is doing everything she can to keep it together while desperately trying to outsmart the stranger. Kidman does most of her job through her eyes. Sam Neil was ok. The atmosphere in Dead Calm is very haunting and incredibly restrained. The twist at the ending was not required.

 

Revenge

Revenge

The film opens with Jen (Matilda Lutz) lazily sucking on a lollipop, having been taken away by helicopter to a remote desert location by her millionaire boyfriend Richard. Richard is a married man but he cheats his wife and he commits an affair with the mistress.  Jen is hot and she is satisfied with her body. In the next day, Richard is joined by two of his friends . They are his hunting buddies. When all of them are having a party in that night, Jen starts dancing with Stan. But Stan feels that it’s an indication of sex.
In the next morning, when Richard is away, Stan tries to woo Jen but Jen clearly rejects him. Insecure  Stan feels powerless and he ends up raping her. His friend covers for him. Richard comes back and  hearing this, he hits Stan hard. Jen wants to go back to her house but Richard tells her to stay there. In a heated argument, Richard slaps Jen. Scared Jen escapes from the house but all three of them chase her. Richard pretends to call his pilot to take Jen home, then pushes her off a cliff. She falls unconscious and is left for dead by the three men. But Jen wakes up. The horror doesn’t come from the rapist but it comes from her most trustworthy partner.
That is the masterstroke of this film.  Fargeat makes an interesting debut with her film. From the title,one can guess what this film is about. The treatment is different. Female sexuality is focal point of this film. Here, bodies become the main subject. The men are divided into parts and she reclaims her sexuality through her revenge.  She only grows more powerful as she is attacked more. The lead actress Matilda Lutz looks perfect for the role. Actresses don’t need to build muscles to perform actions. It is all about the body language. She looks shaky yet determined. I don’t know if its feminist film or not. Feminists can tell it better. That is not much of my concern either.
I loved the fact that a woman director made a genre film by keeping female sexuality at the centre. To be a female director, one doesn’t always need to make a film outside mainstream territory.