stylish imagery....awful subject matter

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2006)

Went into this film for one reason only -- it was directed by the same man who directed Brotherhood of the Wolf. Stayed in the theatre, despite my husband's restless grumpiness at being forced to watch the subsequent splatter and gore, for one reason only -- Gan's directing. The man truly, truly understands the power of light and shadow, and has a delicate touch with not only camera angle, but also the composition of his shots. LOVED the creepiness and dreamy quality of the ash-covered, shadowless town, drowning in the constant silent fall of fluffy, beautiful, deadly ash. LOVED the way he frames faces (even those which we do not particularly want to see) in complex angles; doorways, set components, and juxtapositions of anatomy. LOVED his color control -- monochrome greys, sparked with crimson, hot orange, and purple; warm breaths of yellows and tender ochre acting as a heartbreaking contrast. He's not afraid to fade to black, or blank out the screen with a scream of white, either. Though this film had plot and characterization inadequacies, and though I feel that it was a subject unworthy of this director, the images in it and the psychological enigmas reinforced by that imagery are very compelling. Gans is a master, though this is not his masterwork. Can't wait for the next one. The man is a cinematic artist.