‘’I can’t wait to watch life tear you apart…’’ Stoker (2013) (Part I)
The train wreck of films that was 2012 is over, fucking finally (kiss your arses good-bye ArgoFuckYourself, Nay Miserbales, & Breaking Yawn: Part II). I can’t say the 2013 Movie Year will be any less of a batch of hot messes since there hasn’t been enough info/trailers released yet on the new hell spawns for Oscar season (although browsing the list of new failures, everything looks/sounds like utter shit). But there is one film making its rounds which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2013 and opened March 1st in select cities. It has just earned a golden spot on my list of Most Anticipated Films for this year (also including Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights from the previous two years depending on the release dates - no I haven’t seen it yet, Kill Your Darlings - another 2013 Sundance film, Separate We Come Separate We Go with David Fucking Thewlis, and I guess I can add Ben Ockrent and Jake Russell’s Dust here too, at least that’s all I can think of for now). Although, the film I’m talking about here will sadly most likely be forgotten by the time Oscar season arrives (well fuck it, I can’t stand the Academy Awards anyhow, ironically enough since I somehow manage to still watch it but I think I hate it more and more every year; don’t get me started on the last ceremony and its explicit sexist/ageist bashing). So… Has anyone here heard of this?
Who has, let’s be honest?
Confession: I may just be little… obsessed. No regrets. (It already has a fan base. For real. Many are Park fans but not all.)
The Synopsis (from IMDb):
After India's father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him. (But there’s so much more…)
Starring Mia Wasikowska (VAH-shee-KOF-skə), Nicole Kidman, and Matthew Goode
Written by Wentworth Miller/‘’Ted Foulke’’ (the actor dude from Prison Break)
Directed by Park Chan-wook
Personally speaking, the clever marketing for this film was enough to grab me when I first heard of it weeks back. So, what is it?
It is a very coming-of-age family drama/psychological thriller with often times intentional camp and stylised Gothic-horror elements. And in case it isn’t immediately obvious the script is heavily inspired by Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (even stealing ‘borrowing’ Uncle Charlie’s name directly) and is influenced by Bram Stoker’s Dracula (hint hint) however it is
not about vampires,
according to Miller, the writer.
It was never meant to be about vampires but it is a horror story. A stoker is one who stokes, which also ties in nicely with the narrative.
There you go.
Despite how stylised it is (well damn, what isn’t these days?), which is something I wholly expect from Park’s filmmaking (see Oldboy and Thirst), it’s definitely a break from the constant crap that’s been gracing the cinemas. Not to mention, Park is probably one of the best directors alive and to see that this is his first English-speaking film, I’m impressed. See for yourself:
(There’s also a ton of TV Spots, BTS, Making-of-Featurettes, Clips and what have you but they’re waaay too spoiler-filled in case you don’t want to be spoiled to death.) Tell me this doesn’t look Bad Ass?
Captivating plot, interesting characters, compelling performances, visually stunning, excellent cinematography, striking score, and awesome marketing. What more do you need? It’s a shame that as of right now, it’s only playing in limited cinemas… anywhere but where I live, why you fucktard producers?!
So I have no idea when I’ll be able to see the damn thing.
But ah ha that’s where the script comes in! Thankfully, I was able to download a copy of the earliest draft when the script was floating around online temporarily (some pissed off studio bitches removed it, grr). At 104 pages in length I finished it in just 3 days and I have to say, it’s one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. No, no - it’s not perfect by any means (the Miller dude that wrote it, well, it was one of his first scripts after he penned the prequel Uncle Charlie and judging by how many screenwriting rules he breaks - like describing what India can feel and smell like you would in a book, sorry we as the audience can’t register that through the screen - you can clearly tell), but it is very good and definitely producer-happy-director-hungry-makeable. Why it got bought despite the [fixable] errors. (The script was voted to the 2010 ‘’Black List’’ of the 10 best unproduced screenplays making the rounds in Hollywood.)
So, stay tuned for a sort of movie/script review…
GIF courtesy of qn128, thanks love
Who has, let’s be honest?
Confession: I may just be little… obsessed. No regrets. (It already has a fan base. For real. Many are Park fans but not all.)
The Synopsis (from IMDb):
After India's father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him. (But there’s so much more…)
Starring Mia Wasikowska (VAH-shee-KOF-skə), Nicole Kidman, and Matthew Goode
Written by Wentworth Miller/‘’Ted Foulke’’ (the actor dude from Prison Break)
Directed by Park Chan-wook
Personally speaking, the clever marketing for this film was enough to grab me when I first heard of it weeks back. So, what is it?
It is a very coming-of-age family drama/psychological thriller with often times intentional camp and stylised Gothic-horror elements. And in case it isn’t immediately obvious the script is heavily inspired by Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (even stealing ‘borrowing’ Uncle Charlie’s name directly) and is influenced by Bram Stoker’s Dracula (hint hint) however it is
not about vampires,
according to Miller, the writer.
It was never meant to be about vampires but it is a horror story. A stoker is one who stokes, which also ties in nicely with the narrative.
There you go.
Despite how stylised it is (well damn, what isn’t these days?), which is something I wholly expect from Park’s filmmaking (see Oldboy and Thirst), it’s definitely a break from the constant crap that’s been gracing the cinemas. Not to mention, Park is probably one of the best directors alive and to see that this is his first English-speaking film, I’m impressed. See for yourself:
Click to view(There’s also a ton of TV Spots, BTS, Making-of-Featurettes, Clips and what have you but they’re waaay too spoiler-filled in case you don’t want to be spoiled to death.) Tell me this doesn’t look Bad Ass?
Captivating plot, interesting characters, compelling performances, visually stunning, excellent cinematography, striking score, and awesome marketing. What more do you need? It’s a shame that as of right now, it’s only playing in limited cinemas… anywhere but where I live, why you fucktard producers?!
So I have no idea when I’ll be able to see the damn thing.
But ah ha that’s where the script comes in! Thankfully, I was able to download a copy of the earliest draft when the script was floating around online temporarily (some pissed off studio bitches removed it, grr). At 104 pages in length I finished it in just 3 days and I have to say, it’s one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. No, no - it’s not perfect by any means (the Miller dude that wrote it, well, it was one of his first scripts after he penned the prequel Uncle Charlie and judging by how many screenwriting rules he breaks - like describing what India can feel and smell like you would in a book, sorry we as the audience can’t register that through the screen - you can clearly tell), but it is very good and definitely producer-happy-director-hungry-makeable. Why it got bought despite the [fixable] errors. (The script was voted to the 2010 ‘’Black List’’ of the 10 best unproduced screenplays making the rounds in Hollywood.)
So, stay tuned for a sort of movie/script review…
GIF courtesy of qn128, thanks love