[Frankie Teardrop]

Originally Posted by Handyman Joe

Seen 2 films lately which will be familiar to the good folk of this forum.

1. Hotel. I saw this a year or two ago (see my review on Amazon under my ridiculous moniker of Now Zoltan) and quite enjoyed it. Watched it again late on Saturday night, on my own, lightly baked and it worked its magic on me. This is a damn creepy movie if you give it a chance, it messes with weird perspectives, arbitary myths (or are they?), movie in-references, discomfiting muzak and is aggressively slow but it's well anchored by the gangly, likeable leading lady and has a couple of memorable shocks amidst the doomy atmospherics. The disorientating feeling of starting a new job in unwelcoming surroundings is also brilliantly captured. A grower and future cult item methinks, I'm going to check out Lourdes by the same director.

2. Memories of Murder - Shit, how good is this? I loved the thematically similar Zodiac but it's a stuffed museum piece next to this gem. As usual in Korean cinema it's a balls out, fearless piece of work with no concession to political correctness or conventional narrative structure. I found the lack of blood and guts pretty refreshing (although violence is never far away), I loved the blacker than black humour and the wonderfully expressive cast and as for that last shot - well, genius is the only word for it.

Hotel is brilliant. Very Lynch-heavy, reference wise, which could easily have backfired. Yet it actually tanscends Lynch in terms of weird ambience.