Friday, March 13, 2009

Witness to a movie.

Watched the movie Martyrs last night.



After reading some excellent reviews whereby some are championing it as one of the finest horror movies to come along in quite some time, I was really intrigued and quite looking forward to seeing it!

I would have to say watching a woman being beaten viciously and repeatably for close to fifteen minutes never really sits that well with me! And similar to my reaction towards the rape scene in Irreversible, I would have have to ask 'Is this nothing more than extreme shock tactics, a puerile quasi-misplaced excuse for entertainment or can the cinematic portrayal of extreme torture and abuse be in some cases justified?'

...

Is Martyrs as some have speculated; a critique on Neo-Con politics or an indictment of religious extremism? Should the subtext and metaphor be more compared to the likes of a passion play? Or is it just another excuse for an exploitative "torture-porn flick?"

I'm hoping to write a full review of it later- but for now, I'm still digesting...

Below is the film's trailer and a review to give you some idea of what I am talking about:
criticalmassreviews

2 comments:

Wings1295 said...

Never heard of this movie til now. Will wait for your review before adding it to my queue. Not sure if I want to see it, with that 15 minute scene you mention.

lu said...

This Comment is rated POed.
not intended for the easily offended.

If it were shot in the natural harsh light with women of average build without dramatic sweeping music, with out hauntingly beautiful gothic settings, but dirty bathroom floors and moldy basements... then it might have a prayer for the social commentary badge, as it stands its misogynistic porn.

The title gives it away.

Ask any woman who's been abused, raped what she thinks.

This is exploitive and speaks volumes for the plastic business of Movies. This is not a film; it's a thrasher porn flick.

If it gave you a hard-on, that's all you need to know to decide.

Sit in a room with 14 year old boys who have been raised on this shit; listen to them all discuss how some girl was asking for it, how when asked if rape is wrong, the answer is, "that depends."

....media is designed to have impact -- to sell shit. Who is the target audience? 40 year old men? Nope, Teen age boys? Yep. What is this movie selling?

Souls.