Demon Barber and the Bitter Moon above

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street premiered on Thursday here in Thessaloniki (probably in Greece also). An event of questionable, as it was proved, importance. Well we rushed on premiere night, following a dedicated to see-it-as-soon-as-possible friend, only to sit third row from the screen, entitled to the most awkward of film-viewing body positions. All this after having paid quite a lot for a ticket at a glamorous (?) multiplex. This was definitely not a good start but it would not be the first time to sit through a film under much different than ideal circumstances.

Then it started and yes it was a musical, dmtls not being a great fan of movie musicals. After a nicely done title sequence I got prepared for another treat by Tim Burton. That was not the fact though. Overcrammed scenes with generic Victorian era baroque. Not the high quality Burton has used us to. Baroque not as seen through his trademark ‘playful’ and inventive look, just stale and dead. Shooting was heartless, done in a mannierist way. Same old tricks. Acting was not bad, not a great thing either. Of course not a masterpiece. Another dark/goth/fantasy/whatever film tale from the lot in the current fashion. A film for ’emotional’ ‘goth’ teenagers full stop. No interest whatsoever if you have already seen any of the older Tim Burton’s creations, more rightfully claiming the title of masterpiece.

A sure best seller on the heavy vehicle of Burton-Depp collaboration, there is a great possibility you will end up seeing it despite anything like the above you might read. It probably didn’t just work for me. I don’t know. Sure thing is that dmtls is fed up by all this pseudo-demented Sunday-perverseness. No more proper and decent macabre for the masses.

“at last your wardrobe will be complete again with the Sweeney Todd® T-shirt”

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On to a real masterpiece now.

Polanski hardly ever misses the chance to prove his mastership. Bitter Moon is a fine example of great European cinema. Cynic and demoralized (?) builds up frenetically tangling the viewer in a morbid and decadent tale, each chapter of which, turns the screw even deeper. A tale half way through which the female basic character declares her loss of faith to the human race. The story of ‘now’ [a 4 person one] unfolds in the isolated bourgeois stage of a traveling cruise ship, while the story of ‘then’ [a 2 person one] evolves in the bohemian Left Bank of Paris. Love and eventually its closest neighbor, hate are in the core of this movie. More correctly it is passion and a desire for endless attention by the special One this film is about. The balance of power between characters is a fragile and fickle one.

What starts off as an exploration for the furthest extremes of adoration [what is love after all? an unexpected encounter on the No. 96 Montparnesse bus, a pig face, urolagnia, black vinyl and a whip?] ends as an exploration for the furthest extremes of degradation and torture, physical and psychological. Everyone pays for his/her sins in the end as nemesis is objectified and personified in a final twist of fate. Irony and bone-crushing cynicism are profound for all the almost 14o minutes of movie running time.

Superb acting, Emmanuelle Seigner was an apocalypse, a great Peter Coyote, a wonderful Kristin Scott Thomas and an unexpected role for a very good Hugh Grant in a movie like this, and solid, immaculate directing by a grand maitre working on a recurring theme in his work, the relationship between victim and predator, and the unstable and shifting dynamics of power relations between characters that often lead to sudden outbursts of absurd and grotesque violence. The end titles found me in a loss for words craving for more when I could barely get anywhere further. A final mention is essential, and it is to the fitting soundtrack [original score composed by Vangelis].

Simply Excellent!

Is Love the Devil after all? [to paraphrase the title of another great must-see movie, Love is the Devil]

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Now playing: Joy Division – Failures (of the modern man)
via FoxyTunes

Die Form

The Hidden Cage

Bite Of Dog

Anode Current

Martyrium

Dark and erotic, needless to say more.

After Dusk

Classic and solid goth rock from Athens, Greece.

After Dusk, making music in the vein of bands like Fields Of The Nephilim and Sisters Of Mercy, are working on their debut album. A part of that music material can be heard in “Primal Memorandum – demo CD”, released in December 2005.

Listen to Strange Aeons’ Signs in shared files (box.net widget) and don’t forget to pay them a visit here

Vincent by Tim Burton

A hint of goth for Merzbau, the dark romanticism of Tim Burton. Enjoy!