DVD Corner #1: One of These Things Is Not Like the Others

Grizzly Man. (2005; d. Werner Herzog and Timothy Treadwell) As you’ve probably already heard, Grizzly Man is Werner Herzog’s documentary about the crazy dude who lives with bears. And, as already noted by millions, if Herzog’s calling you crazy….Herzog does a phenomenal job of giving full voice to Treadwell’s belief that there was some secret wisdom in nature, while still creating a powerful counterpoint in his own position that life is nasty, brutish, and short, and best not spent living with bears. And I was surprised that despite Herzog’s own determinism, his ideological opposition to Treadwell, and the clinical detachment with which he dissects Treadwell in the back half of the film, he is still so visibly moved and empathic to Treadwell’s motivations and position. Still and all, though the movie is like nothing else, it is also a dead end moment—it is didactically exhaustive in its position, moving with such clarity in presenting the two arguments that I think it actually stifles any ambiguity or conflict in the two positions, and winds up being more a really interesting debate than a film I would revisit over and over again.


SPL (2005; d. Wilson Yip, s. Sammo Hung, Ken Chang, Donnie Yen). A movie of men, by men, for men. Not in a Brokeback sense. SPL features the stock Hong Kong crime drama set up of a cop and a ganglord who become so obsessed with each other, that the destruction of the other man becomes more important than each's own survival. SPL screws with the stock set up by involving a third man (played by Donnie Yen), and getting downright apocalyptic with the ending. I haven't seen an ending this over the top affecting since Old Boy. And props to Donnie Yen for some of the most innovative fight scenes I've ever seen. Like sex scenes, fight scenes can often feel distinct from the progress of a movie, which is an interesting problem considering most movies are built around one or the other. In SPL, there aren't many fight scenes, but, like the movie, the scenes feel sweaty and desperate, and enhance the feeling that wherever the conflict between these three men is building to, it's nowhere good.


Tarnation (2004; d. Matthew Caouette). Whereas Grizzly Man felt too complete, Tarnation almost felt too oblique. It leaves ellipses everywhere—almost always absolutely infuriating me. Sometimes, it’s obvious that the gaps were just material that was too hot to touch, like the first important relationship intersecting with Caouette’s almost off-handed mention much later in the film of his multiple suicide attempts and phases of acting out at the same time. Other times, it is obvious that Caouette is just as confused as we are, and choosing to portray the questions instead of the answers. Each choice feels organic and honest, a feeling only reinforced by the homemade quality of the movie. It’s easy to see why this movie feels like a revolution.