Всем привет! (Hey, everyone!)
I’m Marianna, this is Impression Blend and welcome to the spookiest month of the year.
"It's showtime!"
In today’s Weekly Blend I have an interesting selection of new chills and thrills for you - I
think there is something for everyone here, so let’s just get right into it.
Finally, I got to see one of my most anticipated films of the year,
which is also one of the most bizarre films of the year, Julia Ducournau’s “Titane”.
This one is only currently playing in theatres and whether you'll end up hating it or loving
it - it is absolutely worth the trip because it’s an experience you are not likely to forget.
This year’s Palme d'Or winner at Cannes is a French body horror film about a female dancer and
serial killer with a titanium plate in her skull, who gets pregnant after having sex with a car.
Yup, you heard that right. That’s pretty much the setup.
Well, OK, that’s just the first half of the movie because really the story is about
unconditional love, humanity, and found family. But I’m not going to talk about
how the movie gets there because you can discover that when you actually watch it.
What I will say though is that this movie is a shock to the system nothing can prepare you for.
Now, I thought I was prepared for this to be pretty out there because I saw Ducournau’s
previous film, “Raw”, and as some of you might remember I love that film.
Check out my video about why you should watch it, if you haven’t seen it yet.
But “Titane” is quite a different beast altogether,
and its meaning is defined a lot less clearly than it is in “Raw”. Ducournau
plays with metaphors and contrasts while also blurring genre lines and gender lines,
with the first half of the film sitting somewhere between slasher and body horror, along with some
really dark humour, and the second half really leaning into a twisted, allegorical drama.
If it sounds like two different movies in one - that’s kind of what it feels like watching it,
and from my perspective the second half of the film works better than the first.
While I understand the point of this stark contrast and the director’s
desire to start with a very cold and unlikeable character,
so she can then show her discovering her humanity, there is still a disconnect here.
That first half left me with quite a few questions,
most of which are along the lines of "I get what this means, but... why?"
It almost felt like there is a scene or two missing somewhere to tie it all together,
and while I can fill in the blacks with my own imagination, some of it gives too much room to
project whatever you want onto it. On the other hand, this goes along with Julia Ducournau’s
artistic vision: when talking about the film, she mentions she doesn’t have a lot of interest
in giving answers, as she believes the point of art is to raise questions and start a debate.
From that perspective she absolutely succeeds. “Titane” is the type of film that can fuel endless
discussions - from it’s striking aesthetics to its themes of love, humanity, and transformation.
Even the genre itself transforms throughout the film. It’s tempting to say that it feels
like something that could have been written by J.G. Ballard and shot by David Cronenberg,
but Ducournau’s vision is too strong and distinct to attribute it to anyone other than her.
"Titane" is definitely one of those films that was difficult for me to rate. I did not love it
instantly like a lot of people did, but once the initial shock wore off and I was able to sit with
it and think about what the director was trying to achieve here, I began liking it more and more.
It’s obviously stunning visually, even during the moments that will make you squirm,
it’s certainly impossible to look away from (aside from the squirming), it surprised me with how
darkly funny it was at times, and it’s undeniably thought-provoking. It’s also imperfect and
occasionally jarring, and as I already mentioned the second half of it works better than the first.
So in the end, for my rating I am going with an 8 out of 10. I do think it's an incredibly
interesting and unforgettable film that I keep wanting to come back to and analyze,
and discuss, and find out more about. In a way, its imperfections and missing details
go along with the idea of the lead character and her search for connection and humanity.
Check this one out in theatres, if you dare!
Moving on to Netflix, the first thing I want to talk about is “The Guilty” - the American
remake of a Danish thriller under the same title. This was actually one of the films I
saw at TIFF this year, and as someone who really enjoyed the original film,
I have some strong opinions about this one.
“The Guilty” is a one location thriller that centers around Joe - an LAPD officer
who has been demoted to 911 call operator duty. As he’s nearing the end of his shift,
he gets a call from a woman who has been kidnapped, and now Joe wants to
do everything he can to get her back to safety. As you have probably gathered from the trailer,
this is 100% a Jake Gyllenhaal show - the movie never leaves the call center,
and you’re essentially watching him take stressful phone calls for 90 minutes.
Listen, good remakes of foreign language films are rare, but they do exist. Films that are able
to retain the essence of the original, but put the story into a new setting,
adding changes that make it feel fresh, while also making sense.
This remake of “The Guilty” is absolutely unnecessary.
I know there are going to be people telling me “Can’t you just judge this movie on its
own merit?” And to that I say… No! I can’t pretend this is an original movie when it’s not,
particularly when it’s almost the same as the original.
When I say “almost the same”, I’m not exaggerating - it’s almost word-for-word
the same movie. Does it add anything to the original?
There are some minor changes that actually make things a bit weaker.
For example, you eventually find out why Joe has been demoted, and while in the Danish film
you get a very clear picture of what happened, and it’s juxtaposed to something else in the movie,
in the remake the character kind of mumbles though this. They make it personal because of course they
do, and it just turns into a melodramatic moment. This along with a couple of other minor things
make the movie less dark and less impactful, while also muddying motivations for multiple characters.
Obviously, since this is a one location film, nothing is really done differently from the
visual perspective, and it’s not like they tried to go for anything creative with that one location
either - it’s pretty much on the shoulders of Jake Gyllenhaal to carry this film, which he does.
And let’s talk about that performance for a minute.
Is Jake Gyllenhaal good in this movie? Yes, of course he is. However,
there is one thing about the way he portrays this character that did not work for me.
I’m not sure if this is something that came from the director or from Gyllenhaal himself,
but with his performance he goes “big and angry” pretty much from the very beginning.
Is he good at portraying that emotional state? Sure, but the problem is that this leaves almost
no room for escalation - he just yells a lot for most of the film. There is a scene in the movie in
which the character loses it to anger, and because the actor in the original film starts off with a
very calm and collected, almost icy exterior, we watch his emotional state progress as he struggles
more and more to keep it professional. So, when he loses it - this has an impact. When later in
the film we see him get a bit more vulnerable and completely drop his façade - it has an impact.
These same scenes do not work the same way when Gyllenhaal has been yelling
and angry the entire movie. A lot of the tension is lost because of this.
He does have some good scenes though, and he does hold your attention the entire time.
Do not take this as me saying this is a bad performance - Gyllenhaal is
really good in this role, I just think giving his emotional state
some more range would have been a much more interesting choice.
But yea, this remake is exactly the kind of average,
unnecessary remake we get most of the time. It’s not incompetent, it’s not actively bad,
it’s just not great and it doesn’t do anything interesting with the original material.
I think people who haven’t seen the original film will enjoy this a lot more than people like me
who have seen it, and I'm pretty sure it's going to do well
on Netflix in general. But it really did not do much, and I’m giving it a 5 out of 10.
Please, just go stream the Danish original on Hulu - it’s a darker, more tense, better thriller.
Now, something I wholeheartedly recommend you watch on Netflix this weekend
is “The Chestnut Man”. You might remember me praising this Nordic Noir thriller in the past,
and yes, it is a mini series adaptation of this novel, and it is really good.
Now, this is a Danish mini-series, but (and this may sound crazy) the English dub
is actually really solid, so if you don’t feel like
reading subtitles for the entirety of this one - I can recommend the English dub.
Obviously, the original sound and dialogue will always be better, but in this case they did a
really good job with it, it’s not distracting, and I’m pretty sure the actual actors are the
ones doing the English voiceover? I couldn’t find any confirmation of this, so don’t quote me on it,
but if they are not - the voice actors they found sound exactly like the cast.
“The Chestnut Man” is a chilling crime thriller that starts off with a brutal murder
in a suburb of Copenhagen. Soon, the detectives investigating the case realize that they’re
dealing with a serial killer whose calling card is a chestnut man - a simple doll children make
out of branches and chestnuts. What follows is an investigation full of twists and turns,
as detectives Thulin and Hess try to find the killer before it costs them another life.
If you’re someone who appreciates dark and atmospheric Scandinavian thrillers - this
series is something you absolutely need in your life. It has everything you want from the genre:
a complex story, surprising revelations, flawed characters, complicated family dynamics,
crimes that get increasingly more gruesome, and of course, moody, autumnal, Scandinavian visuals,
as the story unfolds in October. It’s a very engrossing, stylish,
and gloomy crime thriller that I’ve seen almost no marketing for, which is a shame because this
is easily one of the best series within the genre that I’ve seen in a very long time.
What always appeals to me in Nordic Noir is its lack of interest in sugar coating
anything or in sensationalizing anything. At its best, it’s gritty without exaggerating it,
it’s violent without being gratuitous, and it’s lead characters are always tired and flawed.
“The Chestnut Man” captures this essence of the genre perfectly, and for those of you who read
the novel - it really nails the tone. The writing takes care to develop the characters - they feel
like real people, with real people problems. Alongside the crimes you’ll find a look at
relationships, balancing career and family, dealing with pain, the complexities of parenting,
the fear of regret - this series is just as much character driven as it is plot driven,
and as you can imagine this really appeals to my taste in storytelling.
There really isn’t much I can complain about here. Sure there are some scenes where the pacing
slows down a lot, some might say too much, but honesty that really fits the Nordic Noir genre.
All of the performances were really good, even the kids, and even though I already knew the story
it was fascinating to watch the detectives take the case from the stage
of “nothing makes sense” and slowly bring the threads together to form a complete picture.
I’m going very high with my rating here,
it’s a 9 out of 10 for me - “The Chestnut Man” is a gripping, twisted, slow-burn crime thriller
that is absolutely going to be a treat for the fans of the genre.
Also, obviously, I once again highly recommend the novel it’s based on.
Lastly, I wanted to very briefly mention that I did check out the first two films in this year’s
“Welcome to the Blumhouse” anthology, “Bingo Hell” and “Black as Night”, but that kind of
over the top, intentionally ridiculous B-horror movie style is just not for me.
I cannot recommend them, but I’m also not the target audience here,
so if you enjoy that type of horror you might want to check them out on Amazon Prime?
I don't know. Personally, I will not be watching or covering the rest of the anthology
because, as I mentioned, I am not the target audience here, so I don't think I have a lot
to contribute when it comes to people who are actually looking for those types of movies.
I'm not a fan, but maybe if you are - this might work for you.
And that's it for this Weekly Blend, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you're planning to
watch this weekend in the comments below and thank you so much for watching this video.
A special thank you to all my Patrons with an extra special thank you to the Patrons whose
names are on the screen right now - thank you so much for supporting me on Patreon.
And I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! I will see you very soon in my next video.
Всем пока! (Bye everyone!)