V/H/S/94: March's Films
Short reviews of every movie I watched in March.
This is the third installment of my year-long series in which I review all movies I watched. See the January edition for details.
I'll admit, I slacked off a bit this month. After having watched 19 films in January and 22 in February, if I look at my watched history for last month, I can only count 12 entries – with a lot of them being short films.
The main reason for this is that there was just a lot of IRL stuff to do this month, so much so that, at the end of many days, I didn't have the energy (or even time) to put something on and concentrate on it for two hours.
That being said, I do hope that I can get back to the pace of the previous months in April. Fingers crossed!
Irreversible: Ever since seeing Climax some time ago, I've been meaning to watch more of Gaspar Noé's films. I don't remember what made me check out this particular film on this particular day, but I can now safely say that Irreversible has secured a top spot on my non-existent list of films that I will never watch again under any circumstances. Make no mistake: It's not a bad film by any means, but the reputation it has – especially regarding "that scene" – is very much justified. It's a good, but by no means a pleasant watch. I thought the claustrophobic atmosphere during the first half of the film was really well done.
I Stand Alone: Apparently I hadn't had enough already after Irreversible, so the next day, I decided to cross off one more film of his that's been sitting in my watchlist for what feels like forever. I Stand Alone is fine – it feels like Gaspar Noé was still searching for the style of film he wanted to make, if that makes sense. It's not as uncomfortable as a watch as Irreversible, and it contains these monologues, which are framed as coming from the main character, but hearing them, you can't help but feel like they're coming directly from Noé himself.
Angel's Egg: After my last two, er, experiences, I was desperate for something different. Angel's Egg, a 71 minute anime from 1985, proved to be just what I needed. The world-building was great. The visuals were fascinating. The story was intriguing. It's very ambiguous regarding what it all means, but alludes to a lot of Christian themes – which, combined with a dark and almost horror-like atmosphere like what can be found here, is almost always a recipe for success in my eyes. I get a very unique sense of dread from stories like this, and I love it every time.
The Idiots: This one's another film that is often regarded as difficult to watch, but honestly? I thought it was fine – certainly nothing compared to the first two entries this month, and besides, it was also just a good movie overall. The found footage style they used here is the most realistic one I've seen in a long time, and I went through a whole rollercoaster of emotions while watching. The Idiots is funny, depressing, bittersweet and everything in between. I've seen quite a few people criticize the behavior of its characters (and, by extension, their director and writer, Lars von Trier) – and I get it. But I can't help but sympathize with these characters on some level, because I get their point of view too. If anything, this film taught me that the world needs to be weirder. Wear weird shit. Dance in the street. Anything you feel makes the world suck a little bit less for you.
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell: This meditative three hour anti-drama is, by far, the best movie I watched this month. The directorial debut by Pham Thien An, it reminded me of the dreamlike films of Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It's a feast for the eyes (and ears), and while it has a very slow pace, it almost feels like an epic at times. Towards the end, I almost dozed off multiple times, but even then, I can't help but feel like it enhanced my experience. Weerasethakul, for example, allows and actively encourages audiences to sleep during his movies, saying "sleep is very close to cinema, the collective dreaming" – and I can't help but feel like that's what happened here, the already dreamlike experience enhanced by literal dreaminess.
V/H/S/94: Already having disregarded my movie challenge on so many days this month, I decided a collection of short films was a perfect pick, as it allowed me to cross a film off my watchlist without needing to get too invested. Don't ask me why I added it in the first place; it was fine. Let's quickly go through each of the included shorts.
Holy Hell: The short that (loosely) strings all the others together, as the other shorts are being watched by the characters of this one. And it does feel like that's all it was meant to do. There's a plot twist that comes out of nowhere, but it looks cool. As I said, it's fine.
Storm Drain: A short about a man-rat creature that looks like a knock-off xenomorph. The characters made some stupid decisions, but it had some decent scares. This one is fine too. There's also a fake commercial in there, which reminded me of the Cooking with Bill series by Oats Studios.
Empty Wake: I liked this one. It was very slow in the beginning, and had some creative effects in the end. Here, a simple setting makes for a very unsettling atmosphere.
The Subject: By far my favorite short. It's hilarious, ridiculous and action-packed. It goes on for too long and I love it. If you were looking for some dumb, ever so slightly terrifying fun, you've just found it.
Terror: I don't have a reason why, but I don't really have anything to say about this one. It was fine too. Maybe I was still too flashed from The Subject.
Night and Fog: Documentaries are another format that I can digest relatively easily, so here we are. Night and Fog, a film documenting "the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps", is terrifying and repulsive, but it needs to be. If it weren't for some of the imagery towards the end (which I imagine could be genuinely traumatizing for some), this would be a film where I would say, yes, this should be shown in schools, because it also taught me a lot of things I hadn't learned back then (or maybe I blocked them out). Great work on the restoration, too.
20 Days in Mariupol: Another great documentary on, well, not so great subjects, to say the least, this film documents the first 20 days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the point of view of a group of reporters for AP. A common criticism I've read is that a lot of the narration comes off as... egocentric? Huh? I mean sure, there's a lot of the reporters trying to get an internet connection to send out their material, for example, but isn't that important? Isn't it their job? And most of all, isn't it what they happened to capture during their 20 days in Mariupol, i. e. exactly what this film was made to portray? Anyway, an absolutely deserved Academy Awards win, in my opinion.
Rejected: Lastly, I went on kind of a Don Hertzfeldt binge (who is undoubtedly my favorite western animator, seemingly possessing endless creativity). I'd already seen most of his more popular works, but Rejected was still a blind spot. Now, having watched it at last, I can finally say... what did I just watch? But, like, in a good way. It's crazy that this essentially predates surrealist internet humor as a whole. Also, my spoon is too big. Also also, my anus is bleeding.
World of Tomorrow: I'll lump all three parts together, similar to what I did with Dune and Dune: Part Two. The entire series is... well, it's everything. It's hilarious, thought-provoking, melancholic and inspiring, looks like nothing I've ever seen and moves at an almost ridiculous pace. Apart from that, it's difficult to describe, so I recommend you just watch it. There's practically zero chance you'll regret it. The last five seconds of the last episode give me goosebumps every time. I really need to give It's Such a Beautiful Day another rewatch.
World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People's Thoughts: See above.
World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime: See above.
While, yes, I have been way less active this month than in the ones before, this challenge I set for myself is already bearing fruit: After three months, I'm now almost at the number of films I watched in the entirety of 2022 (52 vs. 59), which already feels like an achievement.
Also – I meant to include this last month, but forgot about it, and it also doesn't fit anywhere, but I wanted to put it out there anyway, for the record – after a lot of thinking I have concluded that Tsai Ming-liang is my favorite filmmaker, period. No further conditions. Goodbye, Dragon Inn? Perfect. Days? Amazing. The entirety of his Walker series? Mesmerizing. I have nothing more to add.