[atsonicpark]

I find him extremely dull. Never got the hype. His stuff just seems so obvious, nothing unique or artistic about it, I don't see anything particularly special about his work. Even though I'm a fan of cinema that's dark, I'm not even compelled by the constant nihilistic vibe in his work. No bright moments at all, and yet it just seems so dull to me. To me, he's kinda like a Von Trier or Haneke type, more "infamous".. fun to talk about.. than actually a creator of enjoyable films (unlike, say, Phillipe Grandrieu... whose films Somber and La Vie Nouvelle are modern masterpieces of dark, cynical, unforgiving cinema that are likewise beautiful and compelling; also, as for the aforementioned directors, I find Haneke's "71 Fragments..." and "code Unknown" quite enjoyable, even though I find his work a bit silly overall). I think I Stand Alone is pretty fun, though, kinda having a vibe like that of the Pusher trilogy (which are great films), and who can forget the hilarious WARNING!!!!! YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS TO LEAVE THE THEATER! part. I'll see his new movie whenever it leaks, but eh. Not looking forward to it, since it's damn near 3 hours long and the trailer looks horrible. My ratings of what I've seen...

carne - 5/10
i stand alone - 6/10
irreversilbe - 4/10
sodomites - 3/10
we fuck alone (segment from destricted) - 1/10

I've also seen some of his music videos, which are pretty fun. I saw a documentary he did once with this really obscure director who had AIDS, who had only made one 20 minute scifi film. I can't remember the title... but that one's really good, worth seeing if you can track it down.

As for Irreversible, I kinda respect it on one hand, kinda find it nearly unwatchable on the other hand. The first 20 minutes is nauseating -- yeah, yeah, "that's the point", but a camera spinning around with screaming and low fi sounds... seems to be trying too hard... I honestly think the only thing I like about that movie is Monica Belluci's ass and the strobelight at the end. That 9 minute rape scene was garbage. I'm not offended by it or anything, it just was boring and ridiculous. "Unnecessary" comes to mind; that describes most of his work. There are some neat little bits if you look hard enough, like how the rape scene has a random passerby for a second, who doesn't try to help. A few cool details. But it's 2 hours of nauseating shakey cameras and unlikeable characters.


Skuj, I'd suggest checking out some Aki Kaurismaki (hilariously dark crime films), Jon Jost (supertalented independant auteur), Ming-Liang Tsai (a modern-day Antonioni; absurd, surreal, dark, hilarious), Gok Kim (whose film "Exhausted" is probably the darkest and most, uh, exhausting, film I've ever seen), and of course, THE MASTER Takeshi Kitano (who is simply my favorite director of all time; his poetic films carefully balance darkness and humor, reserved at times but stunningly beautiful at most times -- A Scene at the Sea, Achilles and the Tortoise, Kids Return, Violent Cop, Boiling Point are all depressing as hell yet touching, beautiful, mindblowing works).