Film Review: Martyrs by Pascual Laugier
The Prof. had me watch this film last night and I'm still reeling. He should have warned me about the content, but that would have only piqued my curiosity. Mind you, I love the Horror Film Genre, but this film pushes into new uncharted territory.
I am angry at the director for having made this film....he's what I'd call a "Directorial Terrorist". I most certainly will never forget this film in the same way I will never forget seeing my first dead body, or when I that knife fell off the kitchen counter onto my foot when I was three, or when I went in for my circumcision at the age of four (as Filipino's do for some ghastly sadistic reason), or when I was attacked and bitten by a dog at eight. And in this most perverted way, I give Laugier grudging Kudos as a film maker.
You see, when it comes to most Film, I am more than willing to hand the Director the keys to my unconscious mind. I allow myself to go where they intend me to go, to see what they ask me to see, to feel what they allow me to feel. And in this respect, constant exposure (by virtue of my career) combined with my own strangely demented psychology has inured me to even the most horrific or tragic or desperately sad content. Rarely does a director grab these keys, enter into my intrapsyche, and trash my mind to a degree that I can't clean up afterwards. And in those very rare cases where the director empathically assaults my sensibilities, he/she has been at least kind enough to clean up a bit afterwards.
In Martyrs, this is not the case. This Bastard of a Director grab my keys, then kicks the door down, detonates a bomb, and then walks right out the door leaving me with what amounts to as a dust-broom to clean up afterwards....that was the nature of the End of this movie for me. ZERO resolution.
The Prof. helped me try to find closure but he himself was struggling to glean redemption from the most subtle and meager tid-bits.
I appreciate the Prof. making me watch this film and I would recommend this film to my Goober friends. But anyone, particularly women, with any trauma or abuse history (specifically childhood abuse history) would be wise to stay away.
The unflinching camera and approach to the inhumanity and cruelty lacking any editorial or moral judgement borders on the unethical and steps clearly into indecency with it's porno-gore depictions. No soundtrack, no turning away, no escape, no more boundaries.
There was a point in the film where for the first time in my life I actually didn't want to continue watching. With 30 minutes left before it's end, I told the Prof. that I was angry with the Director and felt he had made his point and that the remaining 30 minutes of assured graphic torture was completely and utterly unnecessary to further the plot. He reassured me of some sort of redemption but it never came....at least for me.
I'd like you guys to see this movie so that we can commiserate as if after some shared trauma. Watch it as it was intended; in French with subtitles, with ZERO distractions.
If by chance you find yourself cheering or laughing with giddiness at certain points of this film, I sincerely question your sanity. This movie was meant to offend and if you're not, there is something wrong with your soul.
I am angry at the director for having made this film....he's what I'd call a "Directorial Terrorist". I most certainly will never forget this film in the same way I will never forget seeing my first dead body, or when I that knife fell off the kitchen counter onto my foot when I was three, or when I went in for my circumcision at the age of four (as Filipino's do for some ghastly sadistic reason), or when I was attacked and bitten by a dog at eight. And in this most perverted way, I give Laugier grudging Kudos as a film maker.
You see, when it comes to most Film, I am more than willing to hand the Director the keys to my unconscious mind. I allow myself to go where they intend me to go, to see what they ask me to see, to feel what they allow me to feel. And in this respect, constant exposure (by virtue of my career) combined with my own strangely demented psychology has inured me to even the most horrific or tragic or desperately sad content. Rarely does a director grab these keys, enter into my intrapsyche, and trash my mind to a degree that I can't clean up afterwards. And in those very rare cases where the director empathically assaults my sensibilities, he/she has been at least kind enough to clean up a bit afterwards.
In Martyrs, this is not the case. This Bastard of a Director grab my keys, then kicks the door down, detonates a bomb, and then walks right out the door leaving me with what amounts to as a dust-broom to clean up afterwards....that was the nature of the End of this movie for me. ZERO resolution.
The Prof. helped me try to find closure but he himself was struggling to glean redemption from the most subtle and meager tid-bits.
I appreciate the Prof. making me watch this film and I would recommend this film to my Goober friends. But anyone, particularly women, with any trauma or abuse history (specifically childhood abuse history) would be wise to stay away.
The unflinching camera and approach to the inhumanity and cruelty lacking any editorial or moral judgement borders on the unethical and steps clearly into indecency with it's porno-gore depictions. No soundtrack, no turning away, no escape, no more boundaries.
There was a point in the film where for the first time in my life I actually didn't want to continue watching. With 30 minutes left before it's end, I told the Prof. that I was angry with the Director and felt he had made his point and that the remaining 30 minutes of assured graphic torture was completely and utterly unnecessary to further the plot. He reassured me of some sort of redemption but it never came....at least for me.
I'd like you guys to see this movie so that we can commiserate as if after some shared trauma. Watch it as it was intended; in French with subtitles, with ZERO distractions.
If by chance you find yourself cheering or laughing with giddiness at certain points of this film, I sincerely question your sanity. This movie was meant to offend and if you're not, there is something wrong with your soul.
posted by supergoober at
11:36 AM
3 Comments:
Tossing it to the top of my Netflix queue.
Well, I have just a few comments to add...
The reason that this horror film is so effective for it's genre is the exact reason why most are not. The violence is not over the top, nor is it driven by some force that cannot be understood. The villains in this film have justified the extremes of their behavior in a very real and very human way. The end goal that they have is worth any sacrifice to them, and in this way it mirrors some of the real horror that exists in the world.
The sadism lasts for about 18- 20 minutes (less if you actually clock just the scenes of abuse) but it is some of the most difficult material to sit through because it seems real. We are not generally given graphic images or closeups, except of the aftereffects of the abuse, in fact, most of the actual abuse is hidden by the body of the abuser.
The reason it is as effective in turning one's stomach is precisely because it is the way abuse really happens - no psycho with a drill or a machete, just a big dude beating the crap out of a small woman. What makes it more disturbing is that the abuser clearly views it as his job - he takes no joy in it, nor is he sickened by it. It is just the job he has to do to achieve the end result he wants.
As far as the torture-porn moniker, I disagree. The director wants us to be disturbed by the film, and he does not want people to enjoy the scenes of torture. He could have been much more graphic, depicted much more horrific things being done, but he deliberately shied away from that. If you were to rewatch those scenes analytically, supergoober, you might find that the depiction is significantly less than we expect in horror films - no Saw-esque imagery, no Eli Roth torture, just the brutal blanks that our own minds fill in.
In fact, this film might be a saving grace for the jaded horror genre... if you come out of it feeling sick, if you squirm as you watch what is being done to the poor girl, if you cannot sanction what is happening to this poor character, you have salvaged some of your own humanity. In many ways, this exposes the true nut-jobs - if you say that the director is great for pushing the limits and making a torture film like no other, you are clearly demented... however, if you say he is great for exposing us to the reality of horror, and the lack of closure of real horror in the real world, and the sense of unease and sickness we feel from scenes that are not actually that graphic, and making us realize that we are human, we do care, and we do still have empathy, even for a misguided girl in a bad situation that is in part her own creation, then you may have something.
I think this is where he is a genius. He created real horror in the viewer, not with excessivelyt graphic torture, but with empathy for an all too real character in a very realistic situation, and the shock where we do not receive the closure we might want from a movie makes the unease all the more brilliant. In essence, Pascual Laugier reminds us of what it is to be human. There is nothing in this movie that invites us to laugh at another's pain, to hope for a protagonist to die, to glory in the villains sadistic torture like we might in a Friday the 13th type of movie. In a way, it is an assault on the horror genre that makes us question who we are and why we like horror. If you can withstand these questions, it may give you back some humanity that you have sacrificed to the modern age, and if you enjoy that last 20 minutes, seek counseling before you germinate into a full on sociopath.
No the movie will not make you a sociopath, nor will it make you misogynistic, nor will it make you a sadist... however, it will serve to indicate to you if you have these tendencies. Watch it at your own risk, and be prepared to find something out about yourself. You may find out you are as human as you claim, but you may find some small dark thing inside you that really shouldn't be there... if you find that, seek help.
Coincidentally, everything the villains do is rational and well thought out and justified. Guess that makes the whole "rational morality" thing a bit silly, huh? You can justify any amount of suffering of one person if it will benefit more people - utilitarianism in the extreme, but you cvannot if you believe in the transcendant nature of humanity - nothing can justify the sacrifice of a person for others (unless that person chooses it - authentic martyrdom, if you will).
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