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crime story

Destroyer: Into the Darkness

January 11, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Destroyer tells the story of Detective Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman), an LAPD officer who, in her youth, went undercover to infiltrate a gang in the desolation of the California desert. Traumatized by the experience, Bell presently continues to work as a detective for the Los Angeles Police Department despite her overwhelming guilt. However, when the leader of that gang suddenly resurfaces, Erin embarks on a mission to find his former associates, bring him to justice while coming face to face with her past life.

Directed by Karen Karusama, Destroyer is a slow burn of a thriller, equally compelling and vexing. By boldly breaking down her narrative structure, Karusama creates an plays with the past in a way that informs the present. While this can prove frustrating at first, the film gradually unravels in a way that validates her approach. As Detective Bell, Kidman is virtually unrecognizable, fully immersing herself into the seedy underbelly of a bleak and hopeless environment. Known for her dramatic flair, it is this role that reveals her true range as an actress as she plays Bell with a surprising but desolate fury. In what could be a potentially career-defining role, this is Kidman at her very best and wildest.

Stepping into the darkness of the bleak Los Angeles heat, Destroyer highlights a world where evil marks everything in its path. Criminals can’t escape their past, even if they want to. The integrity of the police is flexible. In a world overrun by shadows, no one is safe from the stain of sin. Struggling to get through each day, Bell becomes the very picture of brokenness as she allows the demons of her past to unleash her inner demons. Unlike other characters who fight to free to themselves from their past, Bell has allowed herself to be completely swallowed by it. While her intentions start out well, she is slowly contaminated by her environment. As she descends into the underworld, the lines between good and evil become blurred and Bell’s judgment is compromised irreparably. Even in the present, Bell bears the scars of her past in ways that prevent her from escaping it. Despite the fact that she’s gotten out, she has never truly broken free.

Admittedly, hope in this world is hard to find. Interestingly, there is a glimmer of possibility through the eyes of Bell’s daughter, Shelby (Jade Pettyjohn). Even if she too is feeling the pull towards the darkness, Bell’s most redeeming quality is that she hopes her daughter “will be [a] better [person] than she is”. Through the character of Shelby, Karusama allows the viewer to believe that—maybe—there is a chance to break the cycle of pain and suffering in the future. Despite the bleak atmosphere, Shelby represents the opportunity to move forward and escape, provided she can learn from her mother’s mistakes

Playing out as an intense hybrid of Chinatown and Breaking Bad, Destroyer unleashes a world where everyone is tainted by culture’s pervasive evil. Buoyed by powerful performances and confident direction, the film gives itself the freedom to unfurl its narrative with boiling intensity.

Destroyer is in theatres now.

Filed Under: Film, Film Festivals, Reviews, TIFF Tagged With: Crime, crime story, Destroyer, Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan

The Handmaiden – A Delightfully Twisted Tale

October 21, 2016 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

 The Handmaiden takes us on a twisting road of deceptions, double- (even triple-) crosses in a crime drama that straddles worlds. Inspired by a novel set in Victorian England, the story has been transferred to the colonial period in Korea, a time that is tied to the traditions of the past and the emergence of modernity. The house in which most of the story takes place is a blend of both Japanese and English styles. The characters come from the aristocratic world and the world of the streets. The film uses both Japanese and Korean (with different colored subtitles so we know which language is being spoken).

Sookie (Kim Tae-ri) is a young woman chosen to be the new handmaiden for Lady Hideko (Kim Min-hee), a beautiful young heiress who has lived most of her life in Korea as the ward of her uncle, Master Kouzuki (Cho Jin-woong). When Sookie arrives she is in awe of the opulence of the home. But things are not as they seem. There are limits to where Sookie is allowed to go. The basement is especially off limits. There is a kind of dark feeling to this house despite the richness of the surroundings.

handmaiden3

The twists begin when we learn that Sookie is not really a servant, but a thief who has been recruited by The Count (Ha Jung-woo), a slick conman posing as nobility, to befriend Lady Kideko and help The Count woo her. The plan is for The Count and Lady Kideko to elope, claim Lady Kideko’s wealth in Japan, then have her committed and steal her money. But as the story unfolds there are far more twists, with secrets coming to light all along the way—including a love story. The less said about the surprises, the better. After all, that’s what makes this kind of movie so enjoyable—the way we keep feeling off-balance until the end.

handmaiden1

As with most crime films, The Handmaiden touches lightly on some of the darker side of life: crime, physical and emotional abuse, soft porn and the lasciviousness that feeds on it. But it does so in a way that avoids explicit portrayals. This is a story that spends a lot of time on the sinful nature of people, yet there is a small bit of the virtuousness of love that offers redemption from the depravity. That too is a way the film tries to balance very different worlds that clash in the story—by providing the chance for love to defeat all the plots of those who seek to do harm.

Photos courtesy of Amazon Studios/Magnolia Pictures

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: crime story, erotica, Japan, Kim Min-hee, Kim-Rae-ri, Korea, LGBT, Park Chan-wook

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