Cinema sobre realidade brasileira é destaque no exterior!
Enviado: 05 Jun 2008, 17:59
Every Halloween every major website, magazine, newspaper, and entertainment-related television show makes up a list of the ‘Top Ten Scariest Movies’. Every year every list lists almost the exact same movies that the other lists list, and every year every list lists the same movies they listed the year before (say it ten times, fast). And yet, for some reason I read as many of these lists as I can.
Perhaps I’m hoping for a radical change, or maybe I’m hoping this will be the year that Halloween will finally usurp The Exorcist as number one. Then again, maybe I like basking in the warm glow of the familiar Top 10 list; perhaps I find comfort in the monotony. It seems that the top ten scariest movies have been preordained, written in ancient times and buried for generations, like the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Even if there were a change in roster, I probably wouldn’t be satisfied with it deep down in my movie loving soul. Factually I find myself agreeing with most of these lists. The Exorcist is one of the scariest horror movies I’ve ever seen. And what kind of movie-hating Nazi doesn’t like Halloween?
Rather than quietly scoffing at these lists (while still adoring them), I’ve decided to write up one of my own. I’m going to do my best to avoid all the old clichés though, and try to do something a little different. Therefore, you will not find The Exorcist, Halloween, Psycho, nor The Texas Chainsaw Massacre here, no matter how scary they are. I'm going to recount some of the movies that scare and disturb someone like me, a horror movie fanatic, someone numb to the attacks of the jump-scare and desensitised to the shock of even the goriest special effect. These are movies that rely less on the easy 'boo', and more on crawling under the viewer’s skin, making their spine shiver, their stomach knot, and their general well being falter.
This list follows each film with a brief listing of the fears it creates in the viewer, and the fears experienced by the characters.
8. Brazil
I know, I know, it’s a comedy, but anyone who doesn’t feel an onslaught of anxiety while watching Terry Gilliam’s Brazil probably isn’t paying close enough attention. The movie takes place in one of the grimmest non-post-apocalyptic future ever filmed. Homes are filled with space-age technology that doesn’t work. The skies are perpetually gray with industrial pollution that no one asks questions about. The government and workplace are filled with so much unnecessary bureaucracy that nothing ever gets done. And there is a constant threat of bloody terrorist bombings.
OK, that sounds a lot like the world we live in now, but really, the movie makes it seem much worse. Personally I find little more frightening than unnecessary bureaucracy, especially when presented as a futile loop. Your house is on fire? Well just fill out this form, we'll get back to you in a week. Who hasn't had that dream where you or someone you love is dying and the authorities won't do anything about it.
There's also the original ending, the one that leaves attentive viewers with that freshly-kicked-in-the-teeth feeling. Madness, as an individual's only possibility of freedom from torturous physical and mental pain, is a grim prospect indeed. Distributor Universal didn’t like that ending and ordered a new one, along with a shorter, friendlier version of the film (these guys thought they were getting the next Time Bandits). This studio cut of the film was protested by Gilliam, and led to one of the most famous movie custody battles in history.
The plot, like most good politically motivated Sci-Fi stories, liberally lifts several of it’s best ideas from Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell’s 1984. It plays exceptionally well in today’s political climate. Really too well actually, if you ask me. I’m just happy my mother isn’t spending her free time having her face rearranged by a psychopathic plastic surgeon every day of the week.
When Universal originally released Brazil on DVD, it was, thankfully presented uncut, unfortunately there were no meaty special features. Then along came The Criterion Collection with their biggest DVD release of the time (still pretty big in today’s world of Super-Extreme-Collector’s Editions). Criterion’s Edition is three discs in length, which was all but unheard of at the time of release. The first disc contains the original directors cut and Gilliam commentary, the second contains a plethora of documentaries, trailers, and text essays, and the third contains the ill-conceived studio cut with commentary from the author of The Battle For Brazil book. This collection may be 5 years old, but it still holds together as one of the best DVD sets ever conceived. Other regions aren’t entirely left out; they get the director’s cut, the great ‘What is Brazil?’ featurette and some trailers. On the big plus side, the Region 2 release is listed as being anamorpically enhanced, Criterion’s is not.
Fear List: Brazil
- Prosophobia: Fear of progress.
- Technophobia: Fear of technology.
- Sociophobia: Fear of society or people in general.
- Decidophobia: Fear of making decisions.
- Coprophobia: Fear of feces.
- Achiphobia: Fear of government.
7. City of God
I hesitate to put this on my list because I’m afraid it will deter the less adventuress readers from seeing it. However, I feel pretty strongly that everyone, old or young, liberal or conservative, male or female, should probably see this film. City of God is the true story of three generations worth of gangster children growing up in a Brazilian slum during one of the largest gang wars in the nation’s history.
The film leaves the viewer with a general feeling of hope in the end, but along the way, we are forced into a world where any moment can lead to tragedy. There isn’t any celebration without death in this Rio De Janeiro. To impress the girl of his dreams the hero must call upon his loose drug connections, which leads to an inevitable, near death experience. Again, the violent reality of our world is the most disturbing horror around.
The most frightening aspect is that almost every character is a child, some of them already merciless killers at an age of less than ten. Nothing puts your own childhood in perspective like watching one kid forced to murder another.
The City of God Region 1 DVD contains a chilling documentary on the subject matter. This actual documentary, complete with some of the original news footage, was made well before the dramatic account. It also features a beautiful widescreen transfer, which does great justice to the sun-bleached cinematography, and an aggressive 5.1 Dolby Digital surround mix.
Also available is a Region 2 PAL collection of the TV spin-off, City of Men, which ran nine episodes long in Brazil. Another interesting (and equally horrifying) companion piece to is Bus 174, a (Oscar nominated) documentary about the most watched television broadcast in Brazilian history, a 2000 Rio de Janeiro bus-jacking. It discloses a more contemporary time period, delves into the reasons for such violence in Rio’s impoverished, and goes behind the scenes of the Brazilian jail system. Better off dead than in here seems to be the film's general message.
Fear List: City of God
- Pedophobia: Fear of children.
- Peniaphobia: Fear of poverty.
- Panthophobia: Fear of suffering and disease.
- Amissiophobia: Fear of loss.
- Sociophobia: Fear of society or people in general.
http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/arti ... hobia.html
Perhaps I’m hoping for a radical change, or maybe I’m hoping this will be the year that Halloween will finally usurp The Exorcist as number one. Then again, maybe I like basking in the warm glow of the familiar Top 10 list; perhaps I find comfort in the monotony. It seems that the top ten scariest movies have been preordained, written in ancient times and buried for generations, like the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Even if there were a change in roster, I probably wouldn’t be satisfied with it deep down in my movie loving soul. Factually I find myself agreeing with most of these lists. The Exorcist is one of the scariest horror movies I’ve ever seen. And what kind of movie-hating Nazi doesn’t like Halloween?
Rather than quietly scoffing at these lists (while still adoring them), I’ve decided to write up one of my own. I’m going to do my best to avoid all the old clichés though, and try to do something a little different. Therefore, you will not find The Exorcist, Halloween, Psycho, nor The Texas Chainsaw Massacre here, no matter how scary they are. I'm going to recount some of the movies that scare and disturb someone like me, a horror movie fanatic, someone numb to the attacks of the jump-scare and desensitised to the shock of even the goriest special effect. These are movies that rely less on the easy 'boo', and more on crawling under the viewer’s skin, making their spine shiver, their stomach knot, and their general well being falter.
This list follows each film with a brief listing of the fears it creates in the viewer, and the fears experienced by the characters.
8. Brazil
I know, I know, it’s a comedy, but anyone who doesn’t feel an onslaught of anxiety while watching Terry Gilliam’s Brazil probably isn’t paying close enough attention. The movie takes place in one of the grimmest non-post-apocalyptic future ever filmed. Homes are filled with space-age technology that doesn’t work. The skies are perpetually gray with industrial pollution that no one asks questions about. The government and workplace are filled with so much unnecessary bureaucracy that nothing ever gets done. And there is a constant threat of bloody terrorist bombings.
OK, that sounds a lot like the world we live in now, but really, the movie makes it seem much worse. Personally I find little more frightening than unnecessary bureaucracy, especially when presented as a futile loop. Your house is on fire? Well just fill out this form, we'll get back to you in a week. Who hasn't had that dream where you or someone you love is dying and the authorities won't do anything about it.
There's also the original ending, the one that leaves attentive viewers with that freshly-kicked-in-the-teeth feeling. Madness, as an individual's only possibility of freedom from torturous physical and mental pain, is a grim prospect indeed. Distributor Universal didn’t like that ending and ordered a new one, along with a shorter, friendlier version of the film (these guys thought they were getting the next Time Bandits). This studio cut of the film was protested by Gilliam, and led to one of the most famous movie custody battles in history.
The plot, like most good politically motivated Sci-Fi stories, liberally lifts several of it’s best ideas from Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell’s 1984. It plays exceptionally well in today’s political climate. Really too well actually, if you ask me. I’m just happy my mother isn’t spending her free time having her face rearranged by a psychopathic plastic surgeon every day of the week.
When Universal originally released Brazil on DVD, it was, thankfully presented uncut, unfortunately there were no meaty special features. Then along came The Criterion Collection with their biggest DVD release of the time (still pretty big in today’s world of Super-Extreme-Collector’s Editions). Criterion’s Edition is three discs in length, which was all but unheard of at the time of release. The first disc contains the original directors cut and Gilliam commentary, the second contains a plethora of documentaries, trailers, and text essays, and the third contains the ill-conceived studio cut with commentary from the author of The Battle For Brazil book. This collection may be 5 years old, but it still holds together as one of the best DVD sets ever conceived. Other regions aren’t entirely left out; they get the director’s cut, the great ‘What is Brazil?’ featurette and some trailers. On the big plus side, the Region 2 release is listed as being anamorpically enhanced, Criterion’s is not.
Fear List: Brazil
- Prosophobia: Fear of progress.
- Technophobia: Fear of technology.
- Sociophobia: Fear of society or people in general.
- Decidophobia: Fear of making decisions.
- Coprophobia: Fear of feces.
- Achiphobia: Fear of government.
7. City of God
I hesitate to put this on my list because I’m afraid it will deter the less adventuress readers from seeing it. However, I feel pretty strongly that everyone, old or young, liberal or conservative, male or female, should probably see this film. City of God is the true story of three generations worth of gangster children growing up in a Brazilian slum during one of the largest gang wars in the nation’s history.
The film leaves the viewer with a general feeling of hope in the end, but along the way, we are forced into a world where any moment can lead to tragedy. There isn’t any celebration without death in this Rio De Janeiro. To impress the girl of his dreams the hero must call upon his loose drug connections, which leads to an inevitable, near death experience. Again, the violent reality of our world is the most disturbing horror around.
The most frightening aspect is that almost every character is a child, some of them already merciless killers at an age of less than ten. Nothing puts your own childhood in perspective like watching one kid forced to murder another.
The City of God Region 1 DVD contains a chilling documentary on the subject matter. This actual documentary, complete with some of the original news footage, was made well before the dramatic account. It also features a beautiful widescreen transfer, which does great justice to the sun-bleached cinematography, and an aggressive 5.1 Dolby Digital surround mix.
Also available is a Region 2 PAL collection of the TV spin-off, City of Men, which ran nine episodes long in Brazil. Another interesting (and equally horrifying) companion piece to is Bus 174, a (Oscar nominated) documentary about the most watched television broadcast in Brazilian history, a 2000 Rio de Janeiro bus-jacking. It discloses a more contemporary time period, delves into the reasons for such violence in Rio’s impoverished, and goes behind the scenes of the Brazilian jail system. Better off dead than in here seems to be the film's general message.
Fear List: City of God
- Pedophobia: Fear of children.
- Peniaphobia: Fear of poverty.
- Panthophobia: Fear of suffering and disease.
- Amissiophobia: Fear of loss.
- Sociophobia: Fear of society or people in general.
http://www.dvdactive.com/editorial/arti ... hobia.html
