Fair!!!!

Fair cinema?

Obviously this isn't a movie review but instead just a grievance I have with cinema and the approach it has towards films. When I got to a cinema I expect to see all kinds of films, independent films, low budget films and high end budget films. But recently I have come to the conclusion that cinemas can pick and choose what films they want to show and some like my own cinema only show the major money making films. Now I don't know the whole business side of cinemas and who gets what films and whether or not some production companies show some films at certain cinemas but to me it's getting annoying.

Pretty much four times this year I have wanted to see a film at the cinema and I can't because it is only showing at a certain cinema which I have to pay out in travel to go see it. The first film I wanted to see was 'The Place Beyond The Pines' and was soon with the predicament of it only being shown in Manchester which was my closest cinema for the film. The second film was the highly rated 'Mud' in which again was not being shown in Preston and the nearest showing was Manchester. The third film was 'The East' a kind of anti establishment style film which I had read really good articles about in Total Film and Empire magazine. Again the nearest cinema was in Manchester for me to go and see it in which I couldn't really do. The fourth and final film was the recently released 'The Bling Ring' an anti celebrity film about the real life robbery's of celebrity's homes in the US. Yet again the only place it was being shown near me was Manchester, this is becoming a recurring thing.

Now two films I have seen this year was 'Stoker' at my local cinema which only had a one week run at the cinema which I think is ridiculous as it was and still is in the list of my top 3 films of this year. Another film in which I travelled to Blackpool for was 'Byzantium' a vampire return to form film for Neil Jordan featuring the very beautiful duo of Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton.

You can obviously see my grievance here, films that have some great real-life stories behind them that really make people think about either their social situation or the environmental issues of company's today and they only get shown at bigger cinemas. For too long cinema is only showing mainstream films and shuns the smaller budget films that myself and no doubt other film lovers yearn to see and would love to see as well. Now people can say that I should just travel to Manchester to see it which is true but then a return on the train is £7 and a cinema ticket is £8 that is early £15 to see just one film is a little bit too much for me to be honest as I'm not made of money. 

I really hope smaller films get shown alot more and get give the chance to be shown on a big screen. As for me I'm contemplating going to Manchester to see The Bling Ring and making a day out of it as well. Anyway rant over as this was something I've wanted to air my thoughts on for quite some time.

Stoker!!!!

Stoker.

From the director of the Korean hit film 'Oldboy' comes Park Chan-Wook's first English spoken film and his début into the american movie world. And it has to be said that it is an absolute triumph and a film that is not only visually stunning but it is intense and just plain strange (in a good way).

The story of Stoker is that of the stoker family, mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), father Richard (Dermot Mulroney) and daughter India (Mia Wasikowska). As the family seem happy enough and everything is going right, tragedy strikes and Richard is killed in a car accident. 

Soon enough the funeral comes around and on the horizon is a dark figure in the sunlight watching the funeral proceedings. The mysterious figure emerges to be Richard's younger brother Charlie (Matthew Goode). With Evelyn striking up a rather intimate relationship with Charlie it's India who is almost infatuated by her uncle and starts to become a little bit obsessed with him. As the two finally start to talk to each other you get a feeling that something lies deep between them both and something strange is going on. 

As people go around to the house to see the mourning and ever more depressed widow Evelyn, they start to disappear and India is the first one to notice this. As the relationship grows and grows the mother catches them and wishes nothing but bad things for her daughter. With India knowing Charlie's full story of where he has been and what he has been doing for so many years she decides to take matters into her own hands. 

In the matter of a story the film does have a nice easy, simple storyline which anyone can easily pick up on and it's a nice free flowing feeling. Nicole Kidman plays the depressive mother well and portrays a woman on the edge and willing to do anything to get back her own happiness. The stars of the film have to be Mia and Mathhew, the daughter and uncle. As perverse as their relationship is in the film it leaves you interested, intrigued yet confused as to what will happen next between them.

With some films you watch it for the storyline and the explosions or the fight scenes but with Stoker you look for something more with it. You can tell that nearly every single shot in the film has been thought about and has a meaning and purpose to it. Scenes like the origin of the blood red coloured flowers in a field is a clever idea, the combing of hair that as you go down the hair blends and melts into a field of reids blowing in the wind. The use a single spider slowly crawling up India's leg to eventually go up her skirt between her legs all have a underlining meaning.

Some scenes are of course weird and can be seen as perverse. A scene where India is in the shower and re-calls a murder she witnessed she masturbates at this memory and climaxes at the image of the person being killed. The playing of a piano, India plays the piano and is soon joined by her uncle Charlie. As they both play the piano and the music becomes faster and more intense India gets more and more aroused and soon enough the final note is played and India lets out a massive sigh of almost inner sexual relief. But for the uncle Charlie to have disappeared it's as if was he really there at all?.

The film in my eyes is something of incredible cinema, every single shot and scene in the film has a purpose and brings tension and suspense. The storyline of the family is great and allows all three main actors to utilise their talents and bring to life these three characters who each have their own problems in life. For anyone who likes the works of the legend Alfred Hitchcock then this film is a DEFINITE to watch as you will be hooked and enticed by it. Terribly disturbing, terribly weird but oh so terribly beautiful.

An amazing edition to Park Chan-Wook's filmography and a great first english spoken film for the Korean director. If this is his first hollywood film then just imagine what his next creation will be like and just how interesting and quirky it will be. 

I don't usually add videos to my reviews but the video below shows some scenes I have mentioned in my review.

10/10.