Dogtooth (Kynodontas) d. Giorgos Lanthimos, Greece 2009.

This is a very peculiar film, in that while it has a fascinatingly disturbing premise, it seems to be full of unlikely outcomes and unexplained parts... but then, it's weird, so this is not necessarily a bad thing!

Telling the story of a few weeks in the life of a family headed by a patriarch so alarming (not that he seems it, especially) that he keeps his wife and grown-up children locked up at home and (the children at least) under the impression that the world outside isn't safe to go into because of cats(!), the film focuses on some of the psyhco-sexual affects of this bizarre set-up.

We see how the father decides that his son - though not, of course, his daughters - needs a woman from the world outside to satisfy his sexual needs. Inevitably, this doesn't turn out for the best, and her presence as well as the way in which one of the daughters manipulates her ends up contributing to some rather catostrophic events...

What IS weird is that this was billed as a comedy drama. There are certainly some amusing moments - but most of them are at the very least tinged with a slight horror at what's happening, and at the whole context of even the funny parts. Certainly I don't find the premise of keeping people entirely isolated from the outside world and, findamentally, fucking with their minds to ensure they stay that way, even remotely funny. 

One thing I found odd, too, is the notion that the three children (and presumably the fourth - if he ever existed - who's run away and been devoured by cats before the film starts) would look so squeaky clean and also have a vague sense of style. The girls also, it seems, shave their legs and armpits - and I dunno, it just really undermined the whole thing for me, as I'm just NOT convinced that even with their parents as role models, people would turn out like that if they lived in complete isolation. 

Also intrigued me that while they're not allowed to see TV or movies (just home movies), the older daughter seems to refer to at least three different ones... even though there's only ever any indication she's seen two. This added to the impression that we were seeing only part of the story - which, again, isn't necessarily a bad thing, but was a little confusing.

In many ways, while interesting, I wouldn't rush out to watch this: it's not really vry enjoyable - instead, it's a bit like the uneasy feeling you get from watching something like Funny Games, but less intelelctually rewarding, I think!

Winter's Bone (d. Debra Granik, USA 2010)

I saw this a couple of weeks ago, so my thoughts are hardly fresh... but it was one heck of a powerful film, so I thought it worth posting a few thoughts about, to encourage people to see it!

One aspect of it I really enjoyed was that while its subject matter and, to a great extent, also its setting is pretty depressing and relentlessly miserable, I felt it had quite a positive underbelly, and actually did see some hope and positivity in the limited but genuine choices people living in poverty (in the US, that is) get to make - if they embrace them as choices, and act decisively.

In essence, the film follows the struggles of a young woman already looking after her two younger siblings and sick mother; when her father skips bail, their home is under threat and she has to make some very hard decisions, and chooses to put her life at risk to help her family, and to try to figure out what has happened and how she can prevent her entire family's life from being torn apart.

It presents some really interesting and insightful representations of wider family relations, has some genuinely frightening moments, and, to my mind, in what it doesn't show - and in the brutish realism of its story - is far more unpleasant at times than slly nonsense of the Saw variety.

Particularly interesting is the way in which different ways in which women in the family units are shown: the setting of the film is a poor community that makes much of its money from manufacturing crystal meth - and has strictly hierarchical ways in which it defends its senior members from the long arm of the law.  It's hard to blog about it without ruining it for people who might want to watch it - but, in essence, it's worth watching, as its grimness is nicely countered, to my mind, by some beautiful filming, a not entirely gloomy outlook on what is, really, a rather gloomy life, and an impressive performance from its lead, Jennifer Lawrence.