Monday, November 20, 2023
Saturday, November 11, 2023
A FEW WORDS ON THE KILLER *UPDATED*
The main critique/commentary/talking point concerning Fincher’s latest hitman thriller has to do with it being a cynical/somewhat on-the-nose response to the negative criticisms of Mank. Almost like he’s trying to make up for something at the same time. I get why folks feel that way. In my personal opinion, Mank has zero original style. It’s also boring. The bad kind of of boring. This is going to sound harsh but it felt like...nothing. This time around Fincher made a film that was all about style. That ice-cold euro style reminiscent of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The Killer certainly has a handful of exciting moments but for the most part it’s also pretty boring. But the good/interesting kind of boring. Imagine The Killer in a triple feature with Anton Corbjin’s The American and Jarmusch’s The Limits Of Control. “The cool silent Hitman trilogy”...
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The American / The Killer |
I don’t think The Killer is a cynical response or Fincher apologizing for anything (if anything, The Killer makes up for Michael Fassbender in The Snowman). I think it’s more of a “slick” response in that he’s saying; “you think I don’t have any style after Mank? Well watch this…”. He took the negative criticisms of his previous feature as a challenge and made a mostly fun feature length stylish music video (that isn’t an insult as Fincher’s roots are in music videos which are all over his latest feature).
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Express Yourself / The Killer |
And to be clear - there is a plot concerning revenge after a botched assassination but, The Killer is all about style at the end of the day (and maybe a deeper meaning about covering your tracks after a fuck up at work). That might not be for everyone but it certainly worked for me.
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Le Samourai / Ghost Dog / The Killer |
Naturally like The Killer pulls from every single classic hitman movie in existence. This is also a voyeuristic film so there are plenty of homages to Fincher's hero; Alfred Hitchcock…
I've probably seen REAR WINDOW sixty times. I know his movies inside and out - David Fincher, http://www.musicolog.com/fincher_interview.asp
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The American / The Killer |
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Rear Window / The Killer
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Vertigo / The Killer |
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Rear Window / The Killer |
Movies like this is where Fincher is at his best for me. Style over substance is the pocket I prefer Fincher to be in. Lens flares, electronic music, etc. But that’s just me. I doubt I’ll be thinking about The Killer in a few months but I certainly enjoyed it in the moment.
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
ENYS MEN
Somewhere between Robert Altman’s Images and Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse lies Mark Jenkin’s Enys Men – an intentionally ambiguous psychological horror about mental illness, past traumas and the handling of grief. I also believe this movie touches on the psychological effects of long-term loneliness and isolation. The story takes place in the early 1970's but the residue of Covid is all over this. If “post-Covid cinema” is a thing then this definitely falls under that label (it was shot during the back end of the first wave of the Covid-19 lockdown).
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Persona / Enys Men |
On one hand, this is the kind of horror/psychological drama one would expect from Neon studios. The type of horror story made for folks that like to romanticize trauma and connect everything back to grief. If I wasn’t aware that this was a Neon film beforehand I would have assumed it was put out by A24.
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Meshes Of The Afternoon / Enys Men |
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Meshes Of The Afternoon / Enys Men |
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
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The Mirror / Enys Men |
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The Mirror / Enys Men |
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Stalker / Enys Men |
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The Sacrifice / Enys Men |
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Stalker / Enys Men |
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Ivan's Childhood / Enys Men |
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Solaris / Enys Men |
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The Mirror / Enys Men |
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L'Atalante / Enys Men |
I like the idea of a horror film being influenced by non-horror reference points like Ozu and Bresson…
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L'Argent / Enys Men |
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Diary Of A Country Priest / Enys Men |
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Mouchette / Enys Men |
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L'Argent / Enys Men |
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The Shining / Enys Men
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ENYS MEN - SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL…
I was first inspired to watch L’humanité after seeing a clip of it in Mark Cousins’s The Story of Film. Once I saw the movie, I was absolutely haunted by it. Like Persona, it’s untrustworthy - Mark Jenkin, Criterion
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L'Humanite / Enys Men |
I guess the cinematic references & homages in Enys Men left a serious impressions on me considering I still have a bunch that didn’t make my original review (click here to read).
Below are a few additional/alternate comparisons that made the cutting-room floor that I still feel like sharing…
The opening shot of Enys Men is an homage to a composition of an ATM that appears in L’argent. It’s the kind of thing that no one would ever pick up on but that I know - Mark Jenkin, Criterion
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L'Argent / Enys Men |
I can’t articulate what effect Bresson’s films have on me, that’s the beauty of it – Mark Jenkin, Ukfilmreview.co.uk
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Four Nights OF A Dreamer/ Enys Men |
For me, Tarkovsky’s films exist outside of time and space. I can’t imagine how a film like Mirror sat within the cinema of its time - Mark Jenkin, Criterion
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The Mirror / Enys Men |
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Nostalghia / Enys Men |
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Stalker / Enys Men |
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The Mirror / Enys Men |
Don’t Look Now is the obvious choice. Roeg’s influence runs through everything that I’ve done as a filmmaker - Mark Jenkin, Criterion
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
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Don't Look Now / Enys Men |
And as I mentioned in my original review, Jenkin doesn’t namedrop Maya Deren or Stanley Kubrick as direct references but there are so many moments from both; Meshes Of The Afternoon and The Shining running all throughout Enys Men…
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The Shining / Enys Men
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The Shining / Enys Men |
The Shining / Enys Men |
The Shining / Enys Men
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Meshes Of The Afternoon / Enys Men |
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Meshes Of The Afternoon / Enys Men |