(spoilers ahead) Because Ganja and Hess had shots that are out of focus, male nudity and just about no narrative sense, many are quick to call it a masterpiece. I'm afraid I don't fall into that camp.
Sure, Ganja and Hess is "different," but that doesn't make it good. The best kinds of "different" films are the ones that challenge the norms and conventions of moviemaking while engaging the viewer emotionally in some way. It could be funny, sad,exciting, scary, enlightening, or just plain entertaining. The point is, it should affect the viewer somehow.
Watching Ganja and Hess is sitting for almost two hours waiting for it to end. There's barely a story to follow and the characters are just there. Even Duane Jones, so magnetic in Night of the Living Dead, can't do anything for his role. It doesn't help that the movie is so poorly filmed you can barely ever get a good look at anyone.
The movie makes a crucial blunder from the first sequence. Silly little subtitles tell us that Dr.Hess Greene was stabbed and now has a craving for blood. Did it ever occur to anyone that we might like to see this scene? The scenes of violence that are present in the film have almost zero effect because there's not really a context for any of it. As the movie goes on, the vampirism is downplayed in favor of...something, I'm not sure what exactly. All I know is that the movie frequently and jarringly shifts perspective and different narrators come in and start talking without actually saying anything. Ganja and Hess is a shoddy, ill-conceived and painfully tedious experience.
2/10
So why a 2 instead of a 1? Well, there were brief moments where I liked the soundtrack.
Sure, Ganja and Hess is "different," but that doesn't make it good. The best kinds of "different" films are the ones that challenge the norms and conventions of moviemaking while engaging the viewer emotionally in some way. It could be funny, sad,exciting, scary, enlightening, or just plain entertaining. The point is, it should affect the viewer somehow.
Watching Ganja and Hess is sitting for almost two hours waiting for it to end. There's barely a story to follow and the characters are just there. Even Duane Jones, so magnetic in Night of the Living Dead, can't do anything for his role. It doesn't help that the movie is so poorly filmed you can barely ever get a good look at anyone.
The movie makes a crucial blunder from the first sequence. Silly little subtitles tell us that Dr.Hess Greene was stabbed and now has a craving for blood. Did it ever occur to anyone that we might like to see this scene? The scenes of violence that are present in the film have almost zero effect because there's not really a context for any of it. As the movie goes on, the vampirism is downplayed in favor of...something, I'm not sure what exactly. All I know is that the movie frequently and jarringly shifts perspective and different narrators come in and start talking without actually saying anything. Ganja and Hess is a shoddy, ill-conceived and painfully tedious experience.
2/10
So why a 2 instead of a 1? Well, there were brief moments where I liked the soundtrack.