"This is where we're going," the film says, over and over again. It whispers it. "We're going over here."
I laugh. The film is joking. It must be. Yes, yes, I understand. Very funny.
The film is not joking. It's taking us exactly where it promises to take us. And when we get there, it's not so much surprising that we've arrived there, as that I refused to believe the film. And yet, here we are, as promised.
*** And here's where I spoil the movie for people who haven't seen it. ***
Did anyone else get the impression that the women in this film aren't naive at all? They're not oblivious to the dangers of men. Quite the opposite -- they're drawn to it. The reason the murder at the end is so shocking is that it's not shocking in the slightest. From the very beginning, you know Jacqueline is going to die. You know Albert is going to kill her. The movie tells you this, over and over again. An assortment of scenes point at this fact.
The music tells you. Various scenes discussing danger then we cut to Mr Motorcycle and his maniacal face. The scene with the lion. Throughout the entire picture, we know.
And what's stranger still -- Jacqueline knows she's going to die. At least, that's the impression I am left with. Louise, the older woman with the bloody handkerchief, soaked with the blood of a man who killed many women. When she was a girl, she found that killer attractive. She rushed forward to the guillotine, soaked her hanky in the killer's gore, and keeps it as a "fetish", in her purse, forever.
Only Louise and Jacqueline are portrayed as romantics. They're serious. They're smarter than the other women. They know more about desire. But the film implies all women are like this -- just some of them recognize it.
The scene that is most disturbing is the woman dancing at the end, staring straight into the camera. Her expression says, "I know exactly what I'm doing. I know exactly what men are. I am no victim. I would gladly die for love."
At least that's what I saw in this film -- an uncomfortable, creepy, disturbing concept that true love only happens when one person totally consumes (or kills) another.
I laugh. The film is joking. It must be. Yes, yes, I understand. Very funny.
The film is not joking. It's taking us exactly where it promises to take us. And when we get there, it's not so much surprising that we've arrived there, as that I refused to believe the film. And yet, here we are, as promised.
*** And here's where I spoil the movie for people who haven't seen it. ***
Did anyone else get the impression that the women in this film aren't naive at all? They're not oblivious to the dangers of men. Quite the opposite -- they're drawn to it. The reason the murder at the end is so shocking is that it's not shocking in the slightest. From the very beginning, you know Jacqueline is going to die. You know Albert is going to kill her. The movie tells you this, over and over again. An assortment of scenes point at this fact.
The music tells you. Various scenes discussing danger then we cut to Mr Motorcycle and his maniacal face. The scene with the lion. Throughout the entire picture, we know.
And what's stranger still -- Jacqueline knows she's going to die. At least, that's the impression I am left with. Louise, the older woman with the bloody handkerchief, soaked with the blood of a man who killed many women. When she was a girl, she found that killer attractive. She rushed forward to the guillotine, soaked her hanky in the killer's gore, and keeps it as a "fetish", in her purse, forever.
Only Louise and Jacqueline are portrayed as romantics. They're serious. They're smarter than the other women. They know more about desire. But the film implies all women are like this -- just some of them recognize it.
The scene that is most disturbing is the woman dancing at the end, staring straight into the camera. Her expression says, "I know exactly what I'm doing. I know exactly what men are. I am no victim. I would gladly die for love."
At least that's what I saw in this film -- an uncomfortable, creepy, disturbing concept that true love only happens when one person totally consumes (or kills) another.