I Stand Alone
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Movie Reviews of I Stand Alone
Movie Review: I Stand Alone....
Summary: 4 Stars
Gapar Noe is a great filmmaker. He is actually my new favorite Director and I look forward to seeing anything he touches upon seeing Irreversible which completely blew me away). It seems at first that his main focus is to take the things we have not yet endured in film and make us numb to it all.Noe is technically sound and writes an a decent screenplay here particularly the dialogue). Subtitles aside, if you speak English or French, the dialogue takes you deep into the mind of the film's "protagonist" (a character we briefly encounter in Irreversible as well).
Let's dissect the word protagonist for a moment. It can mean the principal figure or it can mean the leader of some kind of cause. Noe uses his protagonist for the former and destroys any positive connotation the word may have held at any point. Michael Corleone (The Godfather) and William Munney (The Unforgiven) are examples of villains directors are sympathetic toward, but there we find reason for their downward plunge, whether it be selfishness or simply the ever-relative feelings of retribution. These classic films pose some intriguing questions. Does real evil exist and assuming it does why should we care about what it thinks? or worse yet how we may actually see ourselves in their errors? Why can't we just put them in films and let their actions speak for themselves and let their consequences carry the audience toward a satisfying feeling of payback or resolution?
This story is about an old man released from jail and attempting to live his life plagued with guilt and hopelessness. He is a sad, indirectly sorry, unrealistic and profoundly disturbed character. He is misled and careless to everything around him. The kind of person we want to ignore completely and not know anything about. The kind of person whose motivations when taken into account entirely, make many of us cringe and want to warehouse him and others of his ilk in the demonic subculture of the American Correctional Facilities. But Noe takes a different approach completely. He not only engages this character but he refuses to sympathize, he just shows us what makes him tick. The film serves as a sort of diary for this character and shows us little in way of hope. He shows us a man who rationalizes every single dark thought and action he completes regardless of the fact that they are all so impulsive, primal and damaging to everything and everyone around him.
What Noe seems to understand is that the world is not always black or white, good or evil; but sometimes evil and more evil, pitch black and even darker. So here we can attempt to understand why a man would have a difficult decision to make between rape or murder, no matter how scary this proposition may sound to us. If you dare to take yourself into this character's mind then you may begin to realize that sympathy for anyone with even the potential to be like this is probably pointless, but your opinions are your own observations.
Keep in mind that Noe is not an advocate for his dark characters, he is really just a host. There are no messages in his film beyond how ugly life is in some circles. I'm not sure he means to say that life is as pointless as it seems here and in Irreversible. The film is definitely not for everyone; in fact chances are you will hate it very much but if you make similar observations that I have made after watching a movie than please go right ahead, but be careful. The film does contain some extreme violence and a brief pornographic sequence that appears on a TV screen, so be wary of these elements as well.
Movie Review: Souriré!.......don't you understand what I just said......Smile!
Summary: 4 Stars
I have watched this film some time ago but because it's been brought back up within my friendly pack I've managed to view it again while enclosing you to read this today. I have also seen Noe's Irreversible and thought it was quite disturbing but compare to this its sort of tame.
"I Stand Alone" was the debut feature film from French filmmaker Gaspar Noé. Noé rose to cult status in 2002 with his controversial film Irréversible which, in some circles, caused quite a stir. But "I Stand Alone" is a different film entirely. It is set in France circa 1980, and tells the story of The Butcher (Philippe Nahon). Forced into retirement due to bankruptcy, he finds himself locked into a marriage with his nagging pregnant wife (Frankie Pain) and a hateful mother-in-law (Martine Audrain). Having moved from Paris hoping for a new life, he finds himself at the very bottom of the barrel living in a cramped apartment and taunted by the women every moment of the day. Then one day when confronted by his wife for cheating he snaps. This man is ANGRY! and we are made aware of it in part by occasional acts of violence, but mostly by a continual stream-of-consciousness narration in which all his bile is directed in scatter-gun fashion at the world in general. It is difficult to tell how much this character is emblematic of Noe's own beliefs; one hopes he isn't.
Realizing what he's done the Butcher abandons them and returns to Paris. Poised on the edge, seething with bitterness and hatred for a world he must endure, he continues on looking for money, work and a place to stay. No one will help, not even his friends. After a barroom confrontation that leaves him filled with rage and filled with a resentment of his own life, he resorts to the one thing that makes him happy, this leads to what is quite possibly one of the most disturbing endings.
I usually don't like to compare films; I like to think that each piece can stand on its own and has its own merits. But there are many films today that borrow or pay homage to classics. "I Stand Alone" is one of those films that clearly borrow from films such as Taxi Driver. You can see the trademarks in the Butcher from the Travis Bickle character in Taxi Driver (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), the loner who's ready to explode from living in an unforgiving world that simmers with bitterness and hate. There is an unavoidable depth of decay and deprivation portrayed in the character that remains stagnant throughout the film. Unlike Taxi Driver the Butcher's depression doesn't transcend to nihilism, it builds and builds as the narration reaches an unconscionable crescendo. The Butcher reaches a point where all is lost except one ray of light, the proverbial silver lining, which is .......Sorry that's all I can say but recommended to you if your curios.
Movie Review: A Gritty Psychological Assault On The Viewer...
Summary: 4 Stars
(but not as shocking as I had been led to believe)...
... Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps I am jaded. Perhaps I have seen films like 'Salo', 'The Untold Story', and 'Cannibal Holocaust' too many times...
Gasper Noe's first official film 'I Stand Alone' has quite a reputation. I almost wish I would not have read so many reviews before hand. If I had went into this film with no expectations it very likely would've knocked me over with it's sheer nihilistic impact. However, after hearing a few rumblings about the shocking and disturbing nature of this film I became intrigued. Consequently I went and read a number of comments and reviews from IMDb & Amazon whilst I patiently awaited for my DVD to arrive...
I don't want to say that I was let down- this was a very entertaining and effective film. Very well-done (as we should expect from Noe). However, the prior knowledge I had of this film before hand perhaps muted and dulled the effects of viewing...
In my opinion, the pregnant-wife battering scene was much more shocking and brutal than the ending. The on-screen warning near the end of the film seemed a bit extraneous and actually unnecessary. If anything, that warning should've been placed before he beat on his pregnant wife. The ambiguous incestuous ending did not really shock or surprise me. It was actually kind of sweet, as it was the first time that the Butcher appeared human and capable of love. It actually redeemed him abit to me...
The Butcher was just about the most loathsome and pathetic creature I have ever seen upon the screen. He actually had me laughing out loud many times at what a miserable, nihilistic freak he was. I found myself wishing he would end his laugh to spare me having to listen to him anymore. He was utterly ridiculous. I say many of the awful and terrible things he says from time to time- the difference is that I am joking. The Butcher actually meant all of this. Incredible that someone could be so negative and pathetic...
All in all, this was a rather entertaining and unique film. If you are anticipating a blood-soaked shock-fest, you will be very disappointed. However, if you leave your expectations at the door and watch with an open mind, you will likely be amused and entertained. Do I recommend purchasing this film? That all depends on your level of obsessive DVD collection. If you have not had the pleasure of viewing Noe's 'Irreversible', most definitely see that first. I can whole heartedly recommend 'Irreversible' as a blind buy. Alas, I cannot do the same for 'I Stand Alone'...
Although it is a very effective work; an example of fine cutting edge film-making, tempered with a heavy doe of psychological battery; it is not quite as good as 'Irreversible' (in my opinion). However, if you are a fan of edgy cinema, and looking for something different, you can do much worse that 'I Stand Alone'...
Movie Review: Very Dark Film with a Superb Soundtrack!!
Summary: 4 Stars
... Interestingly, no one has mentioned about the soundtrack of this film. May be it's me, who has the incurable soundtrack fanatism, but this film has one of the best soundtracks. I mean the song that plays in two scenes: at the beginning when the narrator tells the lifestory of the buthcer, and the secondly at the end credits. Gaspar Noe likes to underline the main theme of his films with majestic classics of Baroque times. He did the same in his latest film, "Irreversable" with Beethoven's 7th.In this film, that song, which sounds like a war theme from the Baroque times, fits very nicely, although the film has got nothing to do with Baroque times. I would normally guess that such a song would fit to films like Barry Lyndon of Kubrick. But, Noe used it in his extremely nihilistic film.
...As for the movie, I should confess I was expecting something very different, especially after the supern opening scene abotu MORALITY. The way it opened, made me expect something like a French version of "Pulp Fiction". But, no, this is a very different film. A film about a looser man, a butcher, who lost most of his life's meaning, and getting closer to even worse days. Noe makes us feel more than a simple movie audience. he makes us travel through this man's brain, thoughts, and feelings. You feel his dark thoughts, gradual ruining, and his rather pervert thoughts. With the much talked "Irreversable", Noe successfully managed to let us feel the very dark sides of human life. I wonder if he shall continue like this, or, will he use his ability to let us see other sides of human life.
The darkness of the film's atmosphere is quite understandable, but the scene where the butcher shoots his daughter in his dreams has more than necessary amount of gore. I am not sure why we had to see the blood spurting from the girl's throat in such a long time. That was the most negative part of this film, way too much for a film.
Another interesting point: we see that Noe carried the buthcer's story into his next film "Inreversable". In the first opening part of Irreversable, we see the same man sitting in a room with another man, and discussing why he was kept in jail for raping his own daughter. So, he used a small nice touch of connecting the two films, saying us "the story of the loosers still continues". Also, the fast movement of the camera is another method that Noe extends into "Irrevesable" from "I stand Alone".
For those who likes the etreme drama of dark films and their looser anti-heros, this is a good film, but for those expecting a regular studio action, I recommend you pass this along.
Movie Review: Extremely Disturbing
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is about a French 50 year old former butcher who is down on his luck. He didn't have a good childhood, his mother abandoned him.. no one will hire him and he has no money. Not only that but he's admitted to molesting his own child, beats on his pregnant mistress and hates the world. He never smiles. Not what you would call a ''good guy'', in fact he's just the opposite despite his somewhat interesting theories on certain aspects of life.
After beating up his pregnant mistress he takes off, gets some seedy motel room and begins to contemplate how he's going to make ends meet all the while having thoughts about how he hates people, life, and talking about how all he has left is his life and his gun. He's a patriot, he loves his country and that's about the only thing you can tell he has any feeling for and also a slight fondness for sex which he calls the only purpose in life....
He is a very angry depressed man. You can hear the thoughts in his mind. He keeps insisting his existence means nothing and he wants to even the score. This guy is losing control, has major class envy and wants revenge on people who have money.
Up until this point you think yea, this guy is insane but how much worse can it get?
Until 9 minutes after the first hour when this appears..
'Danger! Danger!' flashes across the screen in bright red letters and a message appears that says...You have 30 seconds to leave the screening of this film...
What happened after that was extremely disturbing and made me sick. He is so convincing in this role and the act was so realistic it made me sick to my stomach. The depth of his mental illness and the act which he 'supposedly' commited topped almost everything i've seen.
Though as with French films this is another one that totally suprises the hell out of you at the last minute. You will never expect it. Let me just say this guy has a meltdown, as to the outcome of that meltdown you will never guess it. This is a mind-bending extremely controversial movie. I still don't understand exactly what the end of the movie was trying to convey.
What makes this film one of the most disturbing of all time is this man's mental illness and his descent into the unthinkable. It's a portrait of a man who hasn't succeeded in life and has gone to the brink of insanity. This is scary stuff.