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krazed131
Reviews
Bondage (2006)
Tonally inconsistent
Bondage is not about the strange sex acts that happen in New York City's underground brothels; it is a light, indie study of being held down by those around you which prevent you from developing your own sense of character and humanity. As interesting as that could've been, Bondage is an absolute disappointment.
Read: will be picked up by a small distribution company and make a killing in hip indie markets.
The film is about young Charlie who lives in a dysfunctional household with terrible parents and a 15 year old kid brother who loves to push him into doing things he doesn't want to. In order to get out of the house, the two lie to their parents about going to church and end up at a park smoking pot and drinking beer. After sneaking out one night with his brother to vandalize the school, Charlie is caught by the police and sent to Juvenile hall. His brother manages to get off, and Charlie doesn't rat him out. The rest of the film focuses on Charlie's "horrific" experiences in prison and his eventual coming of age.
In retrospect, Bondage has a lot of great things going for it. Director Eric Allen Bell somehow picked the perfect cast of no-name actors to comprise his film, and they are all excellent. Particularly fantastic is young Michael Angarano as Charlie, I'm sure if this gets ample distribution that we'll be seeing a lot more from young Michael. But Bell's poor script chokes the potential out of the film's throat. All of the actors and themes are downright wasted here, as Bell would love for us to take his themes more seriously, but can't seem to shake the silly adolescent humor. Bondage is another modern American independent film that has no idea what subtlety means. I don't need a two minute monologue by the protagonist's love interest telling us that he is a good person who just hasn't been given a chance. Stop beating the audience over the head already; we aren't stupid.
Bell's film is the most recent case of the indie film cliché. The most recent serving of Garden State/Thumbsucker etc. wave of films, Bondage features everything from poorly placed flashbacks to flashy split screen editing and a terribly obvious soundtrack. One scene which made me and the woman to my right crack up, finds Charlie placed in solitary confinement with a Death Cab song playing over it. If the film isn't screaming, "COME ON, PLEASE LIKE ME!" it's crying, "COME ON, FEEL SORRY FOR MY CHARACTERS!" Bell's film is at times very funny and can be surprisingly entertaining. But for what director Eric Allen Bell was hoping to achieve in his conveyance of themes, he fails miserably. The tonally inconsistent first feature effort from the director should be a stepping stone on which to learn by, and improve next time. This film is noticeably better than other first timer's films, it's just so scattershot and obvious that I can't recommend it.
Koroshiya 1 (2001)
Good, but deeply flawed Yakuza Story
Let's get the obvious out of the way; Ichi is filled with violence, rape, sadism, torture, etc. etc. And it's great. NOTHING, not even the rapes, are in the least bit realistic. I will admit I had some qualms about the rapes beforehand, but after actually watching them, they weren't as bad as everyone says they were. Any realism they had going for them are thrown out the window with the outlandish comic book like sound effects. That said, the violence and gore etc. does hold up rather well (all except the horrendous CGI) and anyone who is a fan of gore flicks will like it.
Now for the critique; my biggest problem with Ichi was that it fully convinced itself that it had a solid story to build a character on when it doesn't. The first act fires on all cylinders, what you would expect from a film like this, but when the second act rolls along I was bored out of my mind. Ichi is a one dimensional character who is parading around like he is a three dimensional character. Granted, Nao Omori does a fine job portraying him, but his character is so poorly written it's painful to watch. Ichi cries....cries.....cries....and spouts on nonsensical dialogue all throughout the film.
Kakihara on the other hand is an awesome character. Miike never tries to add unnecessary depth like he does with Ichi yet Kakihara comes off fully realized. This is mostly because of the great acting of Tadanobu Asano. Asano was born to play Kakihara and he shows it throughout the film. The other characters are just along for the ride. Even Jiji comes across as just another character in the film's wide array.
The story, while fine, is too convoluted for its own good. What Ichi has is a simple by the books story of a kidnapped mob boss and the gangster who goes after him. Fine. Leave it at that. But Miike and company force too many things into the film; Ichi's back story, Jiji's passion, a bullied kid and his problems, the bullied kid's dad and his problems...the story gets way too convoluted and deep into the second act, Miike begins to rely on randomized images and cut to's that take you out of the scene and say WTF was that?
The ending is not quite as ambiguous as Kurosawa's "Cure", but it leaves quite a bit of interpretation to the viewer. And while I would have preferred a balls out fight on the rooftop, the ending did grab me and make me think about what just happened; I like movies that make me think. And yes, Ichi is a tad deeper than I am leading you to believe (many of the themes this film portrays are sadism, masochism, misogyny, etc. etc.) but even those can't save the convoluted plotline.
Overall, a film that tries too hard to have a story, has a deeply flawed "good guy" in Ichi, and an awful second act, Ichi only rates as a 6/10. But still, it is recommended if you have the stomach for it.