Lies (Jang Sun-Woo, 1999)

Although the internet tells me the French translation of the above poster is "fantasies," the US title of Lies fits Jang Sun-Woo's film far better. Whereas fantasties are idealized, romantic versions of what might be, lies are concrete, often dirty things that hide what really happens. The two characters in Sun-Woo's movie lie - to themselves, to each other, and to everyone else in their lives. There's really very little fantasy involved after the initial meeting. Y is a 38 year old Korean sculptor with a wife studying in Paris, while J is an 18 year old student who wants to lose her virginity before she has a chance to be raped (as she admits in a painful monologue on the state of Korean womanhood). They begin a consentual sexual relationship, where she takes the train to his city every weekend to spend the whole time in bed, which evolves from just sex to extreme BDSM play. The BDSM in the film is entirely real, and when Sun-Woo focuses the camera on the welts and bruises after their sessions, we can really feel the actors' pain. The relationship morphs even further from BDSM enthusiasts to extreme pain/pleasure-seekers, when finally, something has to break. Apart from Y and J's story, Sun-Woo makes the interesting postmodern choice to film the actors talking about their roles and inserts that footage into the fictional story. We get Sang Hyun Lee, who plays J, taking about how she's nervous about doing nude scenes, and the next scene is Y and J having sex. This brings a second level to the film, and even more lies into the equation. Most of the negative reviews I've read of the film are about how the sex is excessive, or that it's not titillating. The sex is supposed to be excessive and unsexy - this is a film about reality, and not about, ironically enough, lies. My problems with the film lie in the lack of characterization of Y and J and in my own discomfort with some elements of BDSM. But this is a movie that deserves to be seen by those who are interested in the more extreme, yet human, elements of sexuality. 6/10

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Water Drops on Burning Rocks (Francois Ozon, 1999)

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again: I just don't get Francois Ozon. He makes visually gorgeous films, that's for certain, but there's always a little something missing for me. This same principle applies to Water Drops on Burning Rocks, Ozon's interpretation of an unproduced early Fassbinder play about an older man who seduces a younger boy into leaving his fiancee. Their relationship soon turns into one of the most dysfunctional I've seen on film, but instead of being interesting, it is natural, commonplace dysfunction, which actually isn't interesting at all, just annoying. Franz (the boy) and Leopold (the older man who is apparently irresistable, for some reason I couldn't see) finally fight until Franz is ready to leave, and his ex-fiancee Anna (Ludivine Sagnier, who spends most of her time onscreen naked) comes to take him back, but once she meets Leopold, and Leopold's ex Vera comes in to the picture, all bets are off. The scene is set for a sex farce, one would assume, but it then just becomes more of the grating same. There is a dance scene that is truly fantastic - funny and visually very cool - but that's about it. The results of this four-way are tragic, but not really because no one in the movie actually cares. Well, I didn't really care, either. Everything about the movie is so detached and commonplace, while the actions are so audacious and colorful that the two just don't meet at any enjoyable place. Again, Ozon has made a beautiful film, but one that is not the sum of it's parts. When will I understand this Ozon phenomenon? 5/10

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Sex: The Annabel Chong Story (Gough Lewis, 1999)

While watching documentaries focused on a single person, I often have trouble differentiating my feelings toward the person from my feelings toward the actual film. This is why I didn't much like Overnight, the story of Troy Duffy, a true douchebag who wrote a terrible movie and thought he was invincible - I couldn't stand to watch the whole thing. This is where my problem with Sex: The Annabel Chong Story comes in. As a film, it's not particularly good - apparently director Gough Lewis was an ex-boyfriend of Chong, who staged several scenes (the cutting one in particular); the editing is terrible; and Gough isn't very good at getting interviewees to say interesting, enlightening things. Chong herself, though (real name: Grace), is incredibly interesting and provocative. A gender studies undergrad who started doing porn either because she had already had sex with everyone on campus (what she tells her fan club) or because she wanted to take away the stigma associated with sex work (what she tells her gender studies class), she constantly tries to defend her decision to do porn by spouting feminist theory. While I agree with Grace's decision (it is, in fact, her body and her choice) and with some of the reasons she gives for doing it, it is also obvious that she is a very damaged, emotionally fragile young woman who desperately wants attention. Attention is the reason Grace decides to do the "world's biggest gang bang," having sex with 251 men in 10 hours (when Grace's record is beaten only months later, it's hard not to feel bad for her). Footage from the shoot is interspersed in the documentary, and it is, at times, painful to watch, both because of the physical pain Grace seems to be in at times, and because of the danger Grace puts herself in for sexually transmitted diseases (especially AIDS). The disease issue is discussed in depth in the film, and Grace says that if she did get AIDS from the gang bang, it would be worth it (because "sex is worth dying for," one of the most ridiculous things she says), but I got the definite feeling that she was just saying these things to seem in charge. In charge, Grace is not. Although she says she's doing porn for feminist reasons, there's always a sleazy man in the background, telling her what to do or what to say. I believe porn can be an empowering thing, but not the male-dominated, patriarchial form Grace has entangled herself in. But enough about Grace's ideas! The movie is stilted and not very well paced, as in the scenes where Grace has to reveal herself to her traditional Singaporian family - what could have been moving is instead just uncomfortable. Lewis isn't a good filmmaker, but Sex deserves to be seen, as it is so thought-provoking, whether you agree with Grace or not. 6/10

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Dead or Alive (Takashi Miike, 1999)

Being a pretty big Miike fan, and having heard about how outrageous and violent this movie is, I was expecting a lot. Dead or Alive doesn't necessarily disappoint, but it doesn't really deliver, either. It is the story of a cop, Jojima, with a very sick daughter, who is incredibly involved in his job, much to the chagrin of both his superiors on the take and the criminals on the street. Ryu is a yazuka boss (I think) with a brother who's studied in the United States, and wants no part in his brother's business. When Jojima and Ryu's paths cross, as they inevitably do, it means a lot of fighting and explosions. And one really cool gunfight in a club where probably fifty people die. Dead or Alive is an entertaining cop film that gives a little insight into the relationship between the Japanese and the Chinese in Japan. Apparently there's a lot of tension between the two groups, a tension that fuels a lot of the violence in the film. Again, there's a lot of cool, stylized violence, but there's not too much more to it than that. The ending, though, is what divides people so strongly about this film, and is probably the single most ridiculous thing I've seen in a movie in a long, long time. It's worth seeing, if just for the last thirty seconds. Really. I hope that the next two films in the series are just as entertaining as this one. 6/10 RIYL: Quentin Tarantino

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Criminal Lovers (Francois Ozon, 1999)

Criminal Lovers is a twisted, queer postmodern version of the Hansel and Gretel myth. Two young lovers (Natacha Regnier and Jeremie Renier, from L'Enfant) kill a fellow student, then drive out to the country to hide the body in a forest. They lose sight of their car after burying the body, but that is only the beginning of their problems. If you know the Hansel and Gretel story, you can pretty much guess what's going to happen next, but Ozon adds some interesting twists to the story. Luc, Renier's character, has been unable to have sex with Alice, but things happen to make him more traditionally masculine. After their encounter with the man in the forest, Luc's masculinity is defined, even though he finds it through untraditional means. Then, there's the competition/attraction between Luc and Said, the student they kill; at times, it seems that Luc is jealous of Said's connection with Alice, and at others, like he is more attracted to Said than to Alice. These postmodern twists make the story fresh and highly interesting. To me, Ozon's films are more about the visuals than the actual story (see my post of stills, be warned of spoilers). The visuals in this film are stunning, dark and creepy, like some fairy tales are. While the ending might not seem happy, there are surprisingly bright moments near the end of the film, where we feel that the characters have come to their logical ends. But, like other Ozon I have seen, the story is lacking in comparison to the visuals. It is an interesting story, but not handled that impressively, as it could have been a great movie, but, as it is, it's a pretty good one. 7/10 RIYL: Catherine Breillat

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Moonlight Whispers (Akihiko Shiota, 1999)

I came into this movie expecting a strange little film about teenagers in an S&M relationship. I got that, but I'm not sure it's actually want I wanted anymore. Hidaka has been obsessed with his kendo partner Satsuki for as long as he's known her, and when she reciprocates her feelings, it seems that all is going well. But Satsuki soon finds out that Hidaka has been taking pictures of her, stealing her socks, and taping her while she pees. Oh. She breaks up with him and starts dating Uematsu, but she soon realizes that she and Hidaka have a connection that binds them to one another. That connection is S&M, I guess. Hidaka wants to be her submissive, and she tries to hurt him and every turn. While I'm interested in S&M relationships as something outside of sex, the characters in Moonlight Whispers are too immature to make this relationship work, or even interesting to an outside party. Satsuki goes from doe-eyed in love with Hidaka in one scene, to vengeful S&M goddess in the next. What fuels her sudden intense interest in making Hidaka cry? How does she make that change so quickly? She keeps remarking throughout the film that she hates Hidaka and only likes Uematsu, and while she seems sincere, her actions say otherwise. I suppose I didn't like this film so much because of the improbability of the characters' actions. They act the way a screenwriter would have them act, not how actual people would. The first half is solid, but I wouldn't recommend the film as a whole. 5/10

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