The acting is simply amazing, the cinematography bizarre but effective -- but at times you find yourself wondering "what the heck am I watching?" The "Psycho/Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and drug use elements were actually less disturbing to me than the "Lolita/The Professional" elements. (Perhaps because the older target of the seduction was mentally challenged and sexually abused?)
I suppose I should have expected it to be disturbing -- it is Terry Gilliam after all -- but I was anticipating something more like Gilliam's "Baron Von Munchausen" mixed with Danny Boyle's "Millions." Instead, it was more like "Pan's Labyrinth" on a very bad acid trip -- and "Pan's Labyrinth" was very dark already!
I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone that isn't a fan of the dark and bizarre in cinema. Even a fan like me took issue with some odd pacing in the middle of the film that undermines much of the dramatic tension, but the character development made up for that. Watch this movie only if you think you might enjoy one of the most bizarre, twisted, deranged non- pornographic films of all time...
I suppose I should have expected it to be disturbing -- it is Terry Gilliam after all -- but I was anticipating something more like Gilliam's "Baron Von Munchausen" mixed with Danny Boyle's "Millions." Instead, it was more like "Pan's Labyrinth" on a very bad acid trip -- and "Pan's Labyrinth" was very dark already!
I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone that isn't a fan of the dark and bizarre in cinema. Even a fan like me took issue with some odd pacing in the middle of the film that undermines much of the dramatic tension, but the character development made up for that. Watch this movie only if you think you might enjoy one of the most bizarre, twisted, deranged non- pornographic films of all time...