09/10/2002 Entry:
"Chaos - Hideo Nakata (1999)"

I had never really heard much about Hideo Nakata before, and when this showed up at Facets I went and did some research. Apparently he's really big in Japan for doing horror films, a couple of which are slated for big Hollywood remakes here. This film, while not perfect, was pretty good and technically wonderful, filled with great shots and cinematography.

While there are two sequences in this film which directly reference Vertigo, the similarities end there. Chaos provides a fractured narrative which doles out its surprises in drips and drabs, providing twists and turns which don't necessarily come out of nowhere, but you don't really see them coming either. A couple of the twists were pretty farfetched, and this was my big problem with the movie. I really didn't believe for a second that the handyman would have gone through with this plan at all, which kind of renders the entire proceeding moot. Other than that though, the film was very enjoyable. The "rape" scene was particularly effective.

It is interesting thinking of this film in terms of Vertigo. I have often wondered how Vertigo would have played out had the big shocker been held off until the end. Hitchcock himself wavered over this decision until the last possible moment. I believe I ultimately came to the decision that vertigo is a stronger film the way it is, but I guess I'll never know for sure. After this film I started thinking about how it woud have played out if its fractured narrative had been put forth in chronological order, and I feel it would have played just as strongly that way, if not more so. The fractured narrative seems like such a plot device here, while it adds some mystery in the beginning and middle scenes, it takes the focus away from the actors and their performances, as well as the story itself. I have read some reports which called this movie confusing, which I didn't find at all. I was able to folow the story pretty easily (excepting where it was obvious that I wasn't supposed to.)

There were some specific scenes which were filmed fantastically. All the scenes in the hunsband's office were beautiful. This very sterile office with everything placed on a desk with the utmost precision. First its lit very nicely, but it also seemed like the blue was tweaked up a bit in the scene, which just added to the coldness of the room. All the scenes in that office were really nice. Overall, the depth and quality of the color was quite beautiful. I found some sites with subtitled Nakata DVDs and I might have to order some and catch up on the rest of his work, particularly Ring which is apparently his big horror classic. Someday I suppose I should also catch up on some Takashi Miike, although based on the descriptions I've read I'm not entirely sure I have the stomach for it.

Replies: 3 comments

just discovered this blog and it's great. i'm thinking of turning my livejournal into a film journal because that's all i seem to do is watch movies. i've been keeping track of what i've seen for the last 3 years...i need to put it online eventually. anyway, about takashi miike...if you haven't seen any of his work, i'd suggest you start with audition. it's not as crazy and over-the-top violent as some of his other stuff (like ichi the killer and dead alive). it's also one of his best. a theater here in SF is playing chaos this weekend. i'm looking forward to seeing that and dark water when it comes to the dark wave festival here in october. Posted by chris @ 09/24/2002 02:52 PM CST

It looks like my first for Miike will be Happiness Of The Katakuris since it is showing at the Chicago International Film Festival in a few weeks. However, I've always heard good things about Audition, and at some point I will have to check it out. Unfortunately I missed a whole slew of Miike stuff when it showed locally some months ago. Let us know what you think of Chaos when you see it, I will have to get that DVD of Dark Water soon. Posted by gdd @ 09/24/2002 09:13 PM CST

GDD: I'm curious to hear your take on AUDITION; I didn't think it was all that, but I seem to be in the minority. HAPPINESS OF THE KATIKURIS is a lot of fun, though. Kent Posted by Kent M. Beeson @ 09/25/2002 12:59 PM CST