it
was a choice between a light movie (oz the great and the powerful) and
something dark and unsettling (stoker) on my way back to manila this early
june. thinking that i probably can copy the james franco – michelle williams
starrer from emma or pops, i chose the much darker stoker.
india’s
(mia wasikowska) father (dermot mulroney) mysteriously dies in a car accident
on india’s 18th birthday. soon after, charlie (matthew goode), india’s
uncle, comes to live her and her unstable mom, evelyn (nicole kidman). as imdb
puts it, “india comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior
motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.” this movie is disturbing
and meant for those who do not easily get bored with long drawn scenes. the first
half of the film depicted everyday domestic activities such as having dinner,
gardening, playing piano, which of course are all laden with quiet but vile
overtures. mysterious as he is, the audience immediately knows that charlie is
up to no good. first, the housekeeper suddenly disappears. the dinner with aunt
gwendolyn was just an introduction to her being strangled in the phone booth
and being buried in the estate with her cellphone. india, when being attacked
by whip, witnesses the boy being murdered by her uncle charlie. this then led
to their “deeper” connection as well as india’s sexual awakening, getting off
to the thought of charlie breaking whip’s neck. india then learns that it is charlie
who is responsible for her father’s death, shoots charlie when the latter tries
to kill evelyn. she then speeds off to begin a new life only to be stopped by
the sheriff. india then stabs the sheriff with pair of shears and shots of
rifle being heard at the end of the film.
stoker
is captivatingly different from the usual thriller fare. while it may be
lyrical or tranquil at the onset, the horror beneath the surface made it engaging.
as beautiful as the cinematic shots that were everywhere in the film, as they
say, park chan-wook’s style, the movie is disturbingly good. the sequences in
the basement when india was putting the ice cream in the freezer and getting
some for herself while the light fixtures were swinging were particularly well
put, ominous and creepy. the thought of india realizing her darker side as her
true self is altogether disconcerting and not your everyday flick afterthought,
which might stay with you in a long while. first-rate cast was also one of the
key strengths of the film. nicole kidman’s evelyn was superbly vulnerable and
matthew goode’s charlie was charmingly manipulative and sinister at its best. mia wasikowska was far
from her mirror mirror ladylike character. in stoker, she effortlessly conveyed
india’s naivete or susceptibility to being devoured by a vile character, inner strength and inherent wickedness.
evelyn
stoker: you know i've often wondered why it is we have children in the first
place and the conclusion i've come to is at some point in our lives we realize
things are, they're messed up beyond repair. so we decide to start again, wipe
the slate clean, start fresh and we have children, little carbon copies we can
turn to and say, you will do things i cannot. you will succeed where i have
failed because we want someone to get it right this time. but not me,
personally speaking i cannot wait to see life tear you apart.
india:
my ears hear what others cannot hear; small faraway things people cannot
normally see are visible to me. these senses are the fruits of a lifetime of
longing, longing to be rescued, to be completed. just as the skirt needs the
wind to billow, i'm not formed by things that are of myself alone. i wear my
father's belt tied around my mother's blouse, and shoes which are from my
uncle. this is me. just as a flower does not choose its color, we are not
responsible for what we have come to be. only once you realize this do you
become free, and to become adult is to become free.
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