Re:Let’s talk weird movies!
[i]The Wicker Man and The Kingdom Put the Occult in Cult Cinema[/i]
I couldn’t resist responding to this old topic. The Wicker Man is a favourite cult classic of mine.
When I was about 12 my friend had a book on cult films, and I tried my best to see all of them – The Wicker Man was one of the best. Subsequently, I’ve found my taste is almost invariably “cult,” and arthouse. It’s not that mainstream acceptance puts me off a film (and many foreign arthouse films are mainstream in their country of origin), it’s just that my tastes are uncommon.
As a consummate “outsider,” and I would like to think a free-thinker, I have always been sympathetic to stories of alienation and displacement (mind you, I was no fan of “Alien Nation” ;); alienation is an incredibly common theme of course). So, not surprisingly the fish out of water story of a devout Christian (not a liberal thinker) stranded in an island of heathens would appeal to me – although unlike him, I would have definitely had far more fun on the Island. Yes indeed, I would have taken advantage of the situation. When in Rome… 😉 But their erotic village is not all fun and games; very sinister — human sacrifice of virgins, and whatnot. I won’t give away too much, but I’ll tell you that Woodward’s puritanical character is a virgin. Burn, baby burn!
Christopher Lee is excellent, as is Edward Woodward (was anyone else here a regular watcher of the Equalizer?) If you consider yourself to be a cult buff, then this is a must see.
Here’s a review of [url=http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/wicker-man.html]The Wicker Man[/url]
BTW, there has been much talk of a Hollywood remake of The Wicker Man starring Nicholas Cage and directed by famed “indie” director Neil LaBute (I really enjoyed his In the Company of Men) If the remake gets made it will be very different. Expectedly, rather than taking place on a pagan island off the coast of the UK, it will be set in the US – frankly, I don’t necessarily see this a bad thing, Hollywood has quite the reputation for being a city of pagans and strange cults. Far be it for a Hollywood film to be quite so critical of Hollywood (there are exceptions), and such a choice of location would tend towards farce anyway. Nope, in the proposed remake Cage will find himself in a community of women descended from the pilgrims. More sex and violence is promised in the remake, so they’re obviously naughty descendants of pilgrims. BTW, anyone see Ken Russel’s The Devils?
On to The Kingdom and [url=http://www.geocities.com/lars_von_trier2000/]Lars von Trier[/url]: I agree that it was rather forced, but von Trier is one of my absolute favourite directors around (right up there with Kieslowski, Zhang Yimou and Shohei Immamura). I actively seek out his films. Not only were Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark absolutely superb, but I loved Zentropa and Element of Crime – essential cinema.
Also von Trier is famed for being on of the founders of Dogma 95. Many directors signed on to it including Harmony Korine (although he has not made a true Dogma film). Many people took it very seriously, and there are some interesting and good ideas in the manifesto, but I find it all rather amusing. I’m sure they must have been rather tongue-in-cheek when coming up with it: Check out the official [url=http://www.dogme95.dk/]Dogme 95 website[/url] — I love that pic of the pig! 😀
If you haven’t yet seen any von Trier films, here’s the trailer for [url=http://moviefilmfest.com/800/dancerinthedark.htm]Dancer in the Dark[/url]
Now it’s time for my choice of weird film, just about anything [url=http://www.petergreenaway.com/]Peter Greenaway.[/url] I can’t say I like all his stuff – they often have a voyeuristic quality and an abundance of nudity (mostly male nudity) that makes me uncomfortable. And The Cook , the Thief, His Wife, and her Lover, which I thought very good, is very disturbing at times. A lot of disturbing scenes in his movies; in A Zed and Two Naughts the pictures of decay… (okay, I won’t get into the more disturbing details from the film, enjoyed it ‘though). His composition is unique, and he has a rather bizarre sense of humour, I really don’t think I’ve seen any other films like his; he’s an original. This is not his weirdest (I thought it his most accessible – most require real patience, not for the ADD generation) but it’s still plenty unusual, and it’s the one that made me a true fan of his: Drowning By Numbers.
Also, to get more sci-fi, I might add almost anything Cronenberg. Dead Ringers was my favourite of his, Videodrome was amongst his weirdest (his films are often plenty disturbing).