I've heard (positive things) about Arturo Ripstein before, but this is his first film I've seen. If this is one of his masterpieces, then it will likely be my last. The film is nearly as despicable as the two characters featured in it.
I'll confess I'm no fan of true crime, but I'm the victim here, not the culprit. Additionally any film "based on a true story" is generally suspect. Horrendous acting, and peculiar pacing are only some of the glaring crimes. Vaguely you could make the case for this being about gluttony and vanity, or that Ripstein breaks with "Hollywood" conventions by having an actors and actresses with unconventional faces...but those conventions have been shattered properly many times with films far more engaging or entertaining than this.
Potential spoilers follow, but the film is already spoiled enough and anything but profound, although definitely steeped in crimson blood. Please see something from one of the other films I've reviewed positively here.
***light spoilers***
What is the point of having Coral toy with redemption in the last of the crimes in their murder spree? She has already been set up as extremely unsympathetic from the first few scenes, leading up to the one with her own daughter and son, thus the scene with a replacement "daughter" just doesn't wash at all. The blood has soaked through and through...
Again by having his lead characters so horrendous, Ripstein takes any force out of the foibles displayed by the other characters. We feel awkwardly sorry for some of the targets, but they too are generally given a grotesque caricature. Above I mentioned the obvious gluttony (Coral) and vanity (Nicolas), other characters do bring in lasciviousness, false piety and things that vaguely echoed the seven deadly sins, but this film just did not work on any level for me. Odd stabs at humor seemed woefully out of place, and added only a sense of insolence to injury.
Okay, maybe for the lighting I'll give this a
1/10
I'll confess I'm no fan of true crime, but I'm the victim here, not the culprit. Additionally any film "based on a true story" is generally suspect. Horrendous acting, and peculiar pacing are only some of the glaring crimes. Vaguely you could make the case for this being about gluttony and vanity, or that Ripstein breaks with "Hollywood" conventions by having an actors and actresses with unconventional faces...but those conventions have been shattered properly many times with films far more engaging or entertaining than this.
Potential spoilers follow, but the film is already spoiled enough and anything but profound, although definitely steeped in crimson blood. Please see something from one of the other films I've reviewed positively here.
***light spoilers***
What is the point of having Coral toy with redemption in the last of the crimes in their murder spree? She has already been set up as extremely unsympathetic from the first few scenes, leading up to the one with her own daughter and son, thus the scene with a replacement "daughter" just doesn't wash at all. The blood has soaked through and through...
Again by having his lead characters so horrendous, Ripstein takes any force out of the foibles displayed by the other characters. We feel awkwardly sorry for some of the targets, but they too are generally given a grotesque caricature. Above I mentioned the obvious gluttony (Coral) and vanity (Nicolas), other characters do bring in lasciviousness, false piety and things that vaguely echoed the seven deadly sins, but this film just did not work on any level for me. Odd stabs at humor seemed woefully out of place, and added only a sense of insolence to injury.
Okay, maybe for the lighting I'll give this a
1/10