Ian Gamazon's Cavite was one of the nicest surprises of 2005: a taut, low-budget thriller about a young Filipino-American trying to track down his kidnapped relatives in the shantytowns of Manila. After a lengthy hiatus, Gamazon is back with Living in Seduced Circumstances , a deeply disturbing tale of revenge that will leave audiences divided and uncomfortable.
Cavite co-star Quynn Ton plays Minh, a pregnant woman turning the tables on Tranh (Long Nguyen), a man against whom she holds an intense grudge. Minh has drugged Tranh, bound him in a wheelchair, and taken him deep into the woods, where she plays a series of games with him, the ultimate goal of which is to visit upon him some of the terror she presumably suffered at his hands.
Though the film reflects the influence of Chan-wook Park, it's even less easy to take than much of the South Korean bad boy's oeuvre. Gamazon dispenses with narrative arc altogether: it's left entirely to the audience to determine what has precipitated Minh's thirst for revenge, and by the end of the film you'll be wondering who (if anyone) is the good guy and who the not-so-good. Rotoscoping, jump cuts, tinted filters, and hand-held camera-work render Living in Seduced Circumstances even heavier going. You'll either love it or hate it.
Cavite co-star Quynn Ton plays Minh, a pregnant woman turning the tables on Tranh (Long Nguyen), a man against whom she holds an intense grudge. Minh has drugged Tranh, bound him in a wheelchair, and taken him deep into the woods, where she plays a series of games with him, the ultimate goal of which is to visit upon him some of the terror she presumably suffered at his hands.
Though the film reflects the influence of Chan-wook Park, it's even less easy to take than much of the South Korean bad boy's oeuvre. Gamazon dispenses with narrative arc altogether: it's left entirely to the audience to determine what has precipitated Minh's thirst for revenge, and by the end of the film you'll be wondering who (if anyone) is the good guy and who the not-so-good. Rotoscoping, jump cuts, tinted filters, and hand-held camera-work render Living in Seduced Circumstances even heavier going. You'll either love it or hate it.
