Matthew Barney, I command thee: Relinquish the distribution rights to this film and deliver them unto The Criterion Collection & Janus Films! (YEAH!!, I know it's fine art, and that would devalue the price of the DVD's out there. STFU!)
Okay, Drawing Restraint 9 is what Cronenberg's Stereo/Crimes Of The Future should
have been. This is honestly one of the most ambitious and beautifully made films ever made. I cannot put into to words how gloriously minimalist this movie is, yet how grand its imagery is. It's a paradox of a visual experience.
That being said, this film is 95% imagery and atmosphere with maybe 7 minutes of dialogue. It's quite effective, and doesn't get annoying like Cronenberg's earliest efforts did. (Matthew Barney was actually open to having some spoken lines in the movie!) What's said is superficial, though. The importance is in what is communicated through the scenery and score. The movie is built around the ethical dilemma inherent in whaling, but most of this is established in the visual happenings throughout the early portions of the film. The half-half is focused on a Shinto tea ceremony attended by Matthew Barney and Björk's characters. It's plot is Kafka-esque... if the viewer is Kafka's archytypal main character. (Basically, that's my clumsy way of saying that the viewer doesn't know what's going on but the characters in the movie do. The intended audience of this film should slowly be able to piece together the themes and narrative as the film progresses.)
...Then it transcends the most cringe-inducing body horror film ever!! I'm absolutely stumbling through this review, since the movie simply has to be seen. I loved it, but text can't do it justice. Um, there really were no technical flaws; come to think of it. Maybe it's not a likable film, but it's as perfect and unique as a cinema experience gets. (At the very least, check out the fantastic score. There's a great song performed by Bonnie "Prince" Billie in the opening scene.)
September 17, 2011
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