Let the Right One In

Continuing with thoughts from my last post, international films do not receive their due credit. I don't want to rant, like I did last post, but I wish that American audiences would give foreign films a chance.

With that said, I want to sing my praises for the Swedish masterpiece Let the Right One In.

THIS COULD BE ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMS I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE TO SEE!  I will likely not do this film justice by my post here but I urge you to see it!

Sorry...I had to get that out.  Anywho...

Based on the Swedish novel of the same name, Let the Right One In is a film about a 12 year old boy, Oskar, who is bullied at school and lives in a broken home.  Oskar befriends a mysterious "12 year old" girl, Eli, who just moved in to the apartment next door. The film focuses on the innocence of young love mixed up in a tragic situation with deadly consequences.  This is a vampire film.  Correction, this is what all vampire films should have been and should strive to be.  We are not thrust into a world of winy teenagers who sulk all day, fall in love with vampire who shine in the sun and werewolves who can't keep their shirts on, and try to kill themselves just because they can't stand being apart from them.  Let me restate that...this film does not have teenage angst oozing from every frame.  What this film is, however, is a brutally honest portrayal of life, love, and danger.  Vampires in this film are taken very seriously and there are clear and sever consequences to all actions.

The strength of this film lies in its character development.  We are introduced to Oskar who is a tormented boy.  His parents are separated, neither one really wants him, he is a lone a lot, and he is tormented at school by bullies.  In his alone times, he fantasizes about getting back at those who have hurt him in subtle yet disturbing dialogs.   We see Oskar at the beginning of the film staring out of his window with a kind of malaise on his face.  Oskar is a product of neglect and abuse who is searching for someone to understand him.  Enter Eli.  Eli moves in to his apartment complex one evening.  His first encounter with her is awkward at best.  She shows up while he is on the jungle gym outside of the apartments.  He notices odd things about her but he doesn't seem to let them bother him.  Who cares why she isn't wearing shoes?  Who cares why she smells funny?  Oskar has been dealt a hand in life where nothing surprises him anymore.  He takes all new things in with a calm demeanor.

Eli is a vampire stuck in the body of a 12 year old.  She is lonely and inadvertently seeks the companionship of Oskar.  Eli is protected by an older man who appears to be a father figure, but Eli is drawn to Oskar, even though she knows the relationship could be doomed.  She sees and understands Oskar's situation in life and encourages him to stand up for himself.

I really don't want to give more details to the story itself.  I feel this is a film that must be experienced to really let it take effect.  There are some grim aspects of this film, even more grim than what I have already described, that are beautiful, heartbreaking, and tragic.  This is not a gory film.  There are very few times when the violence is actually shown on screen.  When it is shown, however, it builds the tragic theme to an even more devastating level.  If you took away all the vampire elements, we would still be left with a film about two desperate kids searching for meaning and fulfillment in life.  However, the vampire elements create a remarkable story that adds so much to the vampire lore.  As I said before, this is a beautiful film and one of the greatest vampire stories ever told.  Please give this film a chance.  Watch it in its original language with the English subtitles.

Click the title of this entry to see the films official trailer.

Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy"

Films from Asian countries rarely get widespread acclaim in America.  Well, more correctly stated, films from ANY country other than America does not get the respect it should.  I'm not sure if it is because American's are too impatient to read a subtitled film or if they are too ignorant to understand anything other than Hollywood manufactured glitter.  Don't get me wrong, I love Hollywood.  Some of the greatest films in the world were produced right here on American soil.  My point is that we as educated, intelligent entertainment seekers should be willing to look outside of our comfort zones to discover something that may rock our world.  I have seen a lot of foreign films in my almost 28 years of existence.  Some I feel have been too subtle and slow.  Others I have felt were way over my head because I didn't understand the message or the cultural importance it had to its country.  These feelings are not my fault.  They are the product of my limited, American experience.  However, I recently found a Korean film that has entered my list of all-time favorite foreign films that is so compelling, so twisted, so heartbreaking that I had to sit in silence during the credits to really absorb what I just saw.

Oldboy is a story of a man who is imprisoned for 15 years in a hotel room without recollection of how he got there, why he was there, or who could have imprisoned him.  After those 15 years, he is mysteriously released and sets himself on a mission to find out who did this to him and to exact revenge.  As he searches for answers, he enlists help from an old friend and a beautiful stranger.  The answers he finds and his bloody path to redemption all revolve around the questions of if revenge really brings you peace and how will love carry you through life.

I cannot give many more details without completely ruining your experience.  All I can ask is for you to prepare yourself for an unpredictable journey with Oh Dae-su, the main character.  The viewer suffers as he suffers.  The viewer loves as he loves.  The viewer breaks as he breaks.  All of this is accomplished by the masterful hand of director Park Chan-wook.  Park is well known for his Vengeance Trilogy which includes Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.  Park's latest film, Thirst has also become a landmark film that has helped redefine the vampire genre back to its rightful place (unlike the tween crap that is the Twilight saga).  Park has a way of bringing the excitement and horror of revenge to life in a way that the audience can truly relate to.  He doesn't try to soften the blow or hide his intent.  Everything is lain in front of the viewer to that his message is clear.

I want to apologize for how short and vague this entry is.  As I stated before, I cannot, in good conscience, give anymore details about this film.  I can, and will, strongly encourage you to see this magnificent film.  When you do, keep an open mind and a sharp eye because what you will see is visceral and powerful.  I feel very few American films and directors have the guts and strength to show an audience the dark and horrible side of humanity without going for the cheap gore or scare (this coming from an avid horror fan).  Oldboy has a strong statement and a solid purpose that is a cinematic achievement.

To see a trailer for Oldboy, click the title of this entry.

Rammstein

Absolutely everyone has a musical guilty pleasure.  While the number of my guilty pleasure artists is slowly on the rise (including Lady Gaga and Weird Al), the first band I ever called my guilty pleasure was Rammstein.  The first thing that pops into peoples' minds when I say that I like Rammstein is their 1997 song Du Hast, which got a lot of play time on MTV with a wild and surreal video.  My first response back to them is "They have much better songs than that!"  It is a common answer to give when defending something no one else seems to understand.  It's not like anyone would ever give the rest of their library a chance, but it was always worth a try.  Another common response from people is, "It's all in German, how can you understand it?"  I will share my response that that comment later.

*WARNING: VERY BRIEF HISTORY LESSON*
For those that do not know who Rammstein is, I will a short overview of who they are.  Considered part of the Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hardness) scene, Rammstein was formed in 1994 by men who grew up in East Germany.  Those that know history know that East Germany was a very difficult place to live, let alone grow up in.  It was a country of hardships, hard labor, and violence.  These themes, and many others that push the boundaries of "normal" are what make up the sound, style, and lyrics of Rammstein.  Fast forward to 2010, Rammstein have released their 6th studio album and continue to be one of the most controversial music groups.  Their music is classified as "Tanz-Metal" or Dance Metal.
END OF HISTORY LESSON


I was first introduced to Rammstein as I was about to enter high school.  One of my best friends got a copy of their Sehnsucht album which had the infamous Du Hast track.  I was immediately drawn to the unique and what I thought was scary sound that lead singer Till Lindemann channeled through his vocal cords.  His resonate deep bass voice was something I had never heard this side of Barry White.  He also had a rasp and roll to his words that gave each word a sinister sound.  Adding to Lindemann's vocal prowess was the sharp contrast of the heavy metal guitars and the "techno" industrial sound of the drums and keyboards.  When I first heard this, I was still deep into my Ska phase (yes, I loved ska...who didn't in the 90's?) so this industrial sound was fresh and a welcome change to the happy-go-lucky sounds of a 3 person brass section.


Another thing I was drawn to was the lyrics.  Almost every song in the Rammstein library are sung in German, save for a small handfull that were recorded entirely in English, one is Spanish, and other that have parts of the song sung in English or Russian.  I feel that Rammstein's choice to record in German is a bold statement to the rest of the world who feels English should be spoken everywhere.  I don't know this for a fact, but I feel that the language barrier that they have established turns off most Americans or other English speaking individuals, but Rammstein doesn't care.  They want that to happen.  If people don't accept them for who they are and what they do, they don't want them as fans.


The German language, as those who have heard it before can attest to, is not a beautiful language.  It is not a language I can imagine anyone being wooed with.  There are a lot of harsh sounds and words through which is why I feel Rammstein's choice to record all of their songs in their native language helped accomplish the feel and themes to their songs.  How much more sinister does the song Wollt Ihr Das Bett in Flammen Sehen (translation: Do You Want to See the Bed in Flames) sound when sung by a deep voiced German!  Of course, my natural curiosity made me want to find the translations to Rammstein's songs.  Luckily, there is a website, herzeleid.com, that had all of the translations I needed.  Once I saw these lyrics, I knew immediately why this bad had been censored, banned, and surrounded by controversy since they first emerged.   Songs such as Bestrafe Mich (Punish Me), Tier (Animal), Feuer Frei! (Open Fire!), Zwitter (Hermaphrodite), Rein Raus (In, Out), Mann Gegen Mann (Man Against Man), Te Quiero Puta! (I Love You, Whore), and Ich Tu Dir Weh (I Hurt You) are all filled with intense and explicit imagery that can at times border on what the mainstream would call perverse and depraved.  Songs such as these are why Rammstein has continuously been censored and banned from playing certain songs live.  People can interpret lyrics however they want, and they will, but Rammstein's entire goal in life is to push the boundaries of acceptable and proper.  Their songs, while on the surface seem violent, misogynistic, or disturbing should be taken as tongue-in-cheek words to get a rise out of people.  And get a rise out of people they do.


Not to be out done by just vocal imagery, their videos also tend to be on the controversial side.  For example, their video for Mein Teil (My Part) is a tongue in cheek, dark comedy portrayal of the Armin Meiwes case.  Meiwes gained international attention after her killed and ate a voluntary victim he found on the internet...not that is not a typo, a VOLUNTARY victim.  Anyways, the video portrays the band members dressed in bondage and led around on a leash by the drummer, Lindemann tearing the wings off and angel and eating them/her.  The song also has the lyrics, "Denn du bist was du isst und ihr wisst was es ist (Because you are what you eat and you know what it is) which is an allusion to the Meiwes case.  The words "Suche gut gebauten Achtzehn- bis Dreißigjährigen zum Schlachten – Der Metzgermeister (Looking for a well built 18 to 30 year old to be slaughtered - The Master Butcher)" is spoken at the very beginning of the video, which is the exact post that Meiwes posted on the internet looking for his victim.  Rammstein was later sued by Meiwes and lost $5.5 million in the case.


There are other videos with controversial images/themes in them.  The "Engel (Angel)" video is filmed in a strip club with children in cages, the "Ich Will (I Want)" video shows the band robbing a bank, getting caught for it, and is glorified by the public/media, the "Mann Gegan Mann (Man Against Man)" video has a bunch of naked men wrestling and the band playing their instruments naked.  One of their latest, and what will likely go down in music video infamy as the most censored/banned music video in history is for the song "Pussy" which had a LOT of male and female nudity and on screen sex with body doubles for the band members (ending with "money shots").  The band has been on record saying that they like being on the "fringes of bad taste" but that each thing they do "serves a purpose" of conveys an important message.


Controversy aside, my two favorite Rammstein videos are their least controversial.  The video for "Ohne Dich (Without You) and the video for "Keine Lust (Don't Feel Like It)" share a deeper message from the band with "Ohne Dich" being more serious (click here for "Ohne Dich" video) and "Keine Lust" being very goofy.(click here for "Keine Lust" video)


To sum up, I continue to be drawn to and am impressed by Rammstein.  They unapologetically put themselves out there and will continue to do so until they tire of it.  I respect people who are not afraid to push the limits and be their own person regardless of what others tell them they should be.  From now until I die, Rammstein will likely always be at the top of my playlists, even though they are a guilty pleasure.