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You Were Never Really Here

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zico
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You Were Never Really Here

#123942

Postby zico » March 11th, 2018, 1:18 pm

8/10. Unusual and dark thriller starring Joaquim Phoenix, directed by Lynne Ramsay (director of "We need to talk about Kevin").

Definitely a Marmite film. It's billed as an "instant cult classic" so you know you're in for lots of flashy directing. Not really my sort of film, but very good of its type.

The film follows Joaquim Phoneix's character as a "man-with-hammer" for hire, but one with plenty of demons of his own. There are lots of close-ups and fragmented scenes where it's not really clear what's going on, so you have to piece it together as best you can. The effects are designed to make you feel disorientated and uneasy, and also to get into the mind of the main character. Lots of slow plodding detail, including close-ups of Joaquim and his tangled beard, and switches from everyday scenes to dramatic scenes. There's not that much dialogue as the film is more aimed at getting you to pay attention and work out what's going on.

Lots of directorial tricks, some of which are effective, and others just too prolonged where you're thinking "yes, you've made your point, now just get on with the film". I liked a sequence where the film switched from a soft-focus dreamlike scene into a suddenly in-focus fast-moving scene. The score is also well matched to the film, with lots of thudding, jarring noises. There's a scene with extreme violence with sweet gentle music in the background which was a bit cliched for me.

Certainly a film I could watch again.

nimnarb
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Re: You Were Never Really Here

#124105

Postby nimnarb » March 12th, 2018, 1:40 am

Sounds horrendous Zico.

"thudding, jarring noises, cult classic, extreme violence with gentle music......"

The last time I watched a film like this(late 70's) with thudding, jarring noises and never ever forgotten was "Eraserhead". For those that have never seen it.....now this is a cult classic. Saw it again about 5 years ago and certainly looked dated...but the chicken scene, the hair, the blobs of sperm, radiators................no more like this for me.....

Anyone ever seen this?
https://www.rogerebert.com/demanders/de ... eraserhead

Anyway, thx for all your write ups.


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