Review: Edward Scissorhands

-written as an assignment for my Film 131: Narrative Film class for my Masters in Film-

Edward Scissorhands has been one of those untouchables movies for me, in league with such films as Loch Ness (1996) and Warriors of Virtue (1997), for its role in shaping my love for films at an early age.  I was five or six then when I first saw it on VHS and instantly fell in love with it. I remember distinctly being captivated by the story and the possibility of the existence of a man with scissors for hands. I recall vividly how and why the film created such a desire for me to travel to the States as a child—to catch a glimpse of people with scissors for hands and other peculiarities I imagined existed in that land so far away. Warm memories from that time usually accompany my recollections of the film. It is for these very reasons that I usually disdain revisiting such “classics”, for fear of discovering “flaws”, technical or conceptual as “taught” me by my years in film theory, in those films I loved so. It was with a great sense of hesitation then that I took out my copy of the movie that I bought so long ago for this assignment.

The film that functions as a darkly comic and slightly demented adult fairy tale still held my attention and admiration from start to finish. I was so delighted to see the very things that captured my imagination then—the appearance of a rather interesting character into the dreariness of everyday reality, the high tragedy of Edward and Kim’s doomed romantic relationship, and the tragic truth of man’s capacity for inhumanity—hold my fancy still. The images from the film I surprisingly still remember from the first time I saw it—the wacky shapes and forms of Edward’s topiary creations, the cartoonish and exaggerated look of the suburbs and gothic castle, the scene where Edward surprised everyone by grooming a neighbor’s dog, and most vividly the image of Kim dancing under the “snow” Edward creates while he was making his ice sculpture in the garden—are to me now still as beautiful as when I first beheld them then. I was grateful to realize that indeed Edward Scissorhands was and is a worthy film upon which I have associated numerous memories of my childhood with. What is even more interesting is that far from being disillusioned with the film, the takeaways I have from my years of film theory in university enrich my love of the film. Now I do not just like the story because “it’s nice” and “it made me sad but in a good way”, but I appreciate it now more so as it is an effective fictional narrative that explores the politics of inclusion-exclusion, the human capacity both for moral good and inhumanity, and a pleasant visual experience from the beauty and spectacle of one imagery to the next.

As with all films Tim Burton, his signature visual eccentricity is apparent in Edward Scissorhands. The images do not just delight but speak volumes of what the director tried to achieve. The cartoonish depiction of blood (a gooey hyper-red blob) every time it appears in a scene serve not just to soften the rating the film might receive for exhibition then, but also to consciously remind the audience of the artificiality of what is being shown. Most filmmakers would avoid this effect but Burton, in my opinion, highlights it even more to drive home what the story essentially is—a fairy tale, a fable. Another notable visual choice shown in the film is the exaggeration of the look of both the gothic castle and the suburb below. The gothic castle is so dark and generic that it achieves an effect much like a cartoon, consistent with other elements of the imagery such as the portrayal of blood, which dulls the horror a gothic castle might bring and brings it almost to a mundane sobriety. This dulling of an extreme is then contrasted with the sickeningly pastel-colored suburbia below, achieving a hyper reality of what is supposedly mundane and creating an odd but surprisingly effective contrast with the dulled and sobered up gothic castle. The visual quality of these two primary settings of the story highlights the qualities of the characters that come from them. Edward, an extreme and severe looking creature that comes forth from the gothic castle, longs for nothing but normalcy and the sense of belonging, while the residents of suburbia, with nothing special about each individual but the wacky clothes they wear, are roused by, interested in, and ultimately hateful of the former’s peculiarities. The lone image of the ordinary-looking and realistically-dressed family of the Boggs serve not just as a sharp contrast to express visually their difference from the rest of suburbia but also as the necessary anchor in reality that helps suspend the audience’s disbelief. The plainness of the Boggs makes it even easier to fall for, root for, and ultimately be taken up in the budding romance of Edward and Kim. These images, each a pretty enough picture to savor every time they grace the screen, serve the narrative and the purpose of the film exceptionally well.

Ultimately, re-watching Edward Scissorhands was well worth the internal conflict of my hesitation against risking ruining my memories of the film as it indeed proves to be a timeless classic that stands the test both of time and any pretense of “knowing better”.

Taiwan Memories--Day 01 2011

I wonder why I forgot to add this on here when I first uploaded it months ago? I think it's my most subdued, laid-back, and personal piece to date.

It's a simple video chronicling the sights and sounds we were greeted with on our first day in Taiwan last November of 2011. Hope you guys enjoy! Don't forget to leave comments!

ENTABLADO (lit. The Stage) 2010

Finally, my horror short thesis Entablado (lit. The Stage) is up on Youtube! Uploaded in 3 parts, it tells the story of a Japanese film crew shooting a revisionist film on events that took place in the Second World War and the consequences they face when the force of history and decades' worth of secrets and ghosts avenge their injustice.

Watch it now and leave comments!!

'Fan of the Motion Picture' Gets a Major Reboot + My Very First Short

Just like what the title says, this blog of mine is getting a major reboot.

Since I am finally actively pursuing the direction I realized I have been called to--FilmMaking--the site will serve not just as a film review blog but as my past and upcoming film's official website. Trailers, clips, updates, casting calls, and if economically and technologically possible the films themeselves will be posted on here starting today.

So keep coming back to the site for news, clips, trailers, and a lot more on my films!

God bless!

caitianlong

P.S. For starters, below is a clip of my very first film project. It is a music video I directed and shot in Taiwan together with my amazing tour mates. View and like!

REC2

Having viewed and reviewed REC, this review would fittingly build on the questions asked in the former--the question on intent.

Seeing REC2 as the expansion of the narrative of REC, the question on intention of the film makers regarding the initial stated explanation of the virus as that which caused demonic possession or symptoms therefore was answered with a big fat 'YES' which is both a good thing and a bad thing in my opinion. The YES answer is a bad thing in that this would make the premise crumble in the face of facts in our world (beyond the world of the narrative) and would make the leap in logic fall apart. The good thing about this answer though is that finally the noted ambivalence and ambiguity observed in the first film (is it that we have science to explain the religious or the religious to guide us as we wade through the possibilities of science?) is answered--that they have chosen the route of science explaining away the religious by affirming the initial explanation of demonic possession as some strain or virus in the human DNA.

The choice finally gives the film a strong footing, strong enough to entertain the fancies of those who felt the first left the religious part of the phenomenon too much in favor of their scientific inclination with the inclusion of a new central protagonist, the priest disguised as a medical rescue doctor, exploring the religious implications of the outbreak. Noted in this success is the mindblowing scene of having the priest demonstrate the spiritual nature of the virus by pointing a crucifix directly in close proximity to an infected blood sample on a petri dish which causes the liquid to boil in reswponse to the presence of the holy icon and finally burst into wild flames. In that brief scene the film succeeds to appease the audience that felt left out in th first film and was able to further nuance the problem--that although it is established in the narrative that the scientific nature of the problem exists, the spiritual aspect of the phenomenon is still central, making a cool mix, this time a welcome compromise of the two questions.

Compared to the first film, REC2 is such a success both as a rare example of a sequel that beats out the greatness (I hesitate to use the word awesomeness) of the first and as an individual film that stands alone with a much more solid narrative that provides a spiritually and scientifically sound theme.

If REC2 is a sign of how further sequels to the REC story will get better and better, then I cannot wait for the final two films that will serve as both prequel and final sequel to the mythology of REC!

REC

The Spanish horror film REC is indeed a great example of that rare horror film that sweeps the audience up in adrenaline, the thrill and the chills bordering those of action flicks. Perhaps it is indeed this strong element of kinesis that makes REC a great movie, an urgency brought about by the constant movement with barely moments to stop and ponder until the next big one hits. If films were park rides, then REC would be the perfect roller coaster, dipping and turning you over 360 with only a few seconds to resettle your guts back into place before getting driven into another loop.


Beyond the great ride and experience, what is most attractive in REC is what lies at its core--a reflection of a society at a crossroads of choosing between making sense of traditional faith in terms of modern science and navigating modern dilemmas (brought on by science and technology) guided by faith. It is this core that is most interesting, this ambivalence that pervades the narrative that is neither one that sees faith in the eye nor science in its pure cold objectivity and is present in modern-day Spain. Filipino viewers can identify with this issue, not because we put ourselves to the standard of modern Spanish living--a level of modernity the Philippines has yet to arrive at--but we share (indeed we owe it to them) the same deep entrenchment of faith in every aspect of society. Thinking back, it is precisely this ambivalence, this perceived hesitation in choosing which road to take that both drew me in while watching the film and later made me feel quite distant, in that I dislike this move that plays too safely. I thought it was a cheap trick to try to explain away the phenomenon of demon possession as a strain of mutation in the human DNA that could be isolated and cured by modern science, one that does not stand up to logic as previous exorcisms have involved the non-possessed being bitten (or some other way by which body liquids could be transmitted to another) and yet without the news of contamination or the "virus" of possession spreading. This gap in logic, which can never be determined as intended or unintended by the filmmakers unless we get a statement from them, leaves room for the ponderer who watches the film and thinks over the points raised after to consider the 'falseness' or 'wrong' of the first explanation provided--that the spreading virus is one that concerns demon possession. Since previous established exorcisms did not yield a possession that was infectional, then the virus in the film could possibly be wrongly identified as that strain that causes the phenomenon of demon possession, or rather, the effects of demon possession as experienced and manifested by an individual. (Of course, this ambivalence would be answered in the sequel REC2 when they do establish that indeed the virus spreading in the building and its inhabitants is one that is concerned with demonic possession.)

This nuanced consideration though should definitely not take away from the fun that is viewing REC!

The Descent

The Descent is wonderful adventure film akeen to the likes of REC and Splinter whose initial draw is in its action-packed narrative that borders on horror with horrifying situations and elements interspersed. This quality is what made me doubt The Descent's inclusion into the catalogue of films shown in class initially, a doubt which I have in time come to terms with upon reflecting on the images presented in the film.
The Descent's portrayal of abjection, from bat poop to a gigantic pool of blood and creature feces, certainly identify it to the horror genre together with the inclusion of humanoid creatures the protagonists stumble upon deep in the cave system. Above these categories however, the remarkable way by which The Descent is a horror film is the source from which the horror and dread comes from--the tension of relations between the completely human and normal female protagonists. The true horror of the film is the raw presentation of the breakdown of a tight group's friendship strained externally by their stressful, dangerous, and hopeless circumstance but more so internally by what each harbors against another in the form of secrets, frustrations, etc. Beyond the lasting images of those horrible cave-dwelling creatures captured on camera by night vision and that one particular shot of one of them actually mounting the main protagonist who remains motionless and calm to ward it off, the most effective and perhaps the most significant horror the film delivers comes in the decision and action of the same main protagonist when finally confronting her former friend whom she discovers had accidentally killed one of their buddies in the cave and have been fooling around with her newly departed husband. In that climactic exchange of words in a flurry as sounds of the creatures draw louder and nearer where they stand, the main protagonist raises her pick-axe and stabs her double-crossing, friend-killing, husband-robbing companion with it. Just the finality, decisiveness, and satisfaction the act brings to the main protagonist is haunting as she leaves her Lara Croft-esque companion behind with a gut-churning smile on her face to offer up to the mercy of the creatures.

The Descent is in one helluva film a creature feature, a feminist approach at portraying the dynamics and complexities of relationships between women, and an action-adventure survival horror flick that satisfies, even with its future-bleak not-so-happy twist ending.