#grueling

Warrendale (1967)

Directed by Allan King

Doomsy’s Rating: 69/100

A very difficult film to sit through, as is the case with many of Allan King’s films, but a rewarding experience in the end. Warrendale offers a disturbing and disquieting look at children put through hell and worse in a home for those with behavioral and developmental problems. King deviates from acceptable documentary conventions and instead finds truth in a verite style which makes the experience more cinematic than perhaps this narrative should be. In fact, King’s mere presence so close to the subjects does make me question where his motivations were during the making of this film. If his aim was to bring Warrendale down to its knees, he was in part culpable in the systematic abuse taking place within its walls, for framing the story as less an observational piece and more of a character melodrama. Story aside, King’s formalism here is doubly effective, both in the grotesque closeups of mental anguish and the black and white, scratched-up stock; both add up to an audibly disorienting nightmare that not only hurts to think about, but is still a horrible reality in some parts of the world today. 

Twilight (1990)

Directed by Gyorgy Feher

Doomsy’s Rating: 89/100

A creeping, monochromatic haze of gargantuan proportions. Taking cues from his fellow Hungarian depressive Bela Tarr, Gyorgy Feher subscribes to a similarly downbeat view of the human condition. This story, concerning a haunted detective’s search for a missing little girl in a remote village where violence and corruption pervade, would in Hollywood be a pulpy noir. To my delight, Feher removes every standardized storytelling practice form the equation and opts for an oppressive, doomy opera of nihilism and anhedonia. The torturous, unforgiving camera work that he utilizes evinces endless unease; almost every single shot in the ninety-minute runtime is dripping with shadows and fog, and most of the close-ups of faces are shown in chiaroscuro. There is no hiding from fate and, just as poignantly, no escaping from the darkness endemic in the hearts of men. Not a film to watch if you like happy pr fast-moving things. Twilight is as cold, bewitching and hypnotic as European art cinema gets, and is bordering on masterpiece status. Need to see more of this director’s work soon.