01-20-2012, 09:23 PM
When DM said there were worse ways to kill an hour and a half than by watching Outrage, he was referring to this.
The storyline: Various flower girls in various high-class brothels cater to rich men. The younger girls are naive enough to think rich men will marry them. The younger rich men are naive enough to offer to do so, only to get cold feet later on. As flower girls age they take on supervisory roles. Tiny little conflicts unfold, all occurring within the confines of various rooms in various brothels, made all the more claustrophobic by the director's style, which is to position the camera and let it be, with only occasional slight "pans" as the conversation or characters shift. There are no cuts. Rather, each scene fades in and then fades out. There are no close-ups. Everything is wide-angle. If you have less than a big-screen TV, you'll be frustrated not to see faces better. Even with a big-screen TV you'll be frustrated. No sex. No sword fights. No fights at all. And no one loses a finger. Lots of opium pipe smoking. Lots of drinking games. Lots of pointless banter.
The first fifteen minutes consist of two scenes. They are absolutely amazing, especially the first, which has maybe fifteen people around a table, some playing drinking games, others watching, others servants who come and go. Lots of little things keep happening, and the conversation keeps shifting about. It's an exceedingly complex shot, full of subtleties, introducing characters, their natures, their conflicts. The second scene has only three or four people in it, but is still complex and brilliant for what it does.
Among the stars is Tony Leung Chiu Wai, which is why I grabbed this movie from the library. But he's just part of an ensemble cast. He is in those first two scenes, yet in those fifteen minutes he murmurs only one word: "Nonsense." The dialog that does occur throughout is simplistic, reinforcing a sense of smallness to all these people and their base needs. The static scenes are reminiscent of My Dinner with Andre, except here there are no good conversationalists.
The director is highly regarded, and this film is highly regarded. He won awards, the movie won awards.
But it's unwatchable -- which is a lie. Because I watched it.
I am an idiot.
The storyline: Various flower girls in various high-class brothels cater to rich men. The younger girls are naive enough to think rich men will marry them. The younger rich men are naive enough to offer to do so, only to get cold feet later on. As flower girls age they take on supervisory roles. Tiny little conflicts unfold, all occurring within the confines of various rooms in various brothels, made all the more claustrophobic by the director's style, which is to position the camera and let it be, with only occasional slight "pans" as the conversation or characters shift. There are no cuts. Rather, each scene fades in and then fades out. There are no close-ups. Everything is wide-angle. If you have less than a big-screen TV, you'll be frustrated not to see faces better. Even with a big-screen TV you'll be frustrated. No sex. No sword fights. No fights at all. And no one loses a finger. Lots of opium pipe smoking. Lots of drinking games. Lots of pointless banter.
The first fifteen minutes consist of two scenes. They are absolutely amazing, especially the first, which has maybe fifteen people around a table, some playing drinking games, others watching, others servants who come and go. Lots of little things keep happening, and the conversation keeps shifting about. It's an exceedingly complex shot, full of subtleties, introducing characters, their natures, their conflicts. The second scene has only three or four people in it, but is still complex and brilliant for what it does.
Among the stars is Tony Leung Chiu Wai, which is why I grabbed this movie from the library. But he's just part of an ensemble cast. He is in those first two scenes, yet in those fifteen minutes he murmurs only one word: "Nonsense." The dialog that does occur throughout is simplistic, reinforcing a sense of smallness to all these people and their base needs. The static scenes are reminiscent of My Dinner with Andre, except here there are no good conversationalists.
The director is highly regarded, and this film is highly regarded. He won awards, the movie won awards.
But it's unwatchable -- which is a lie. Because I watched it.
I am an idiot.
