christopher-underwood

It was set in Romania 1987 and those were some very bad communist times and with the brutal Ceausescu. Abortions at the time were more of less completely illegal so these two students have to set it up with themselves and get someone to do it. It seemed that almost everything, even cigarettes and chewing gum had to be on the black market. This is bleak and sad almost from the beginning and it gets worse. The film is amazingly done, the abortion in the hotel room so terrible and I did understand how the girls were having to finance that rather unpleasant man immediately. Later the boyfriend's mother's party is beautifully shot and all around the table everyone seems to be talking and happy. Throughout the nine minutes the camera doesn't move, and the poor student doesn't smile and has to go back to the hotel and find her friend.

A rather nasty, sad story of this made by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and written by Hiroshi Takahashi about an awful tale of people torturing and killing young girls and then selling their videos. Clearly the yakuza are involved but who exactly is doing it? This guy, who's daughter was killed, and worse, gets his mathematics teacher to help him and find the man who did it. It gets rather complicated not only about the maths but about the others who have to find them and some more will have to die. It is rather good and unusual but unfortunately, of course, the path of revenge and violence goes on and on.

It was a great idea and I always think that dolls coming alive are rather creepy. At the beginning the church like building in the woods is really good although inside most of this is a set. The dolls, especially their eyes, are really cool but when we get down to the story it is rather silly. They sit down and eat several times and it is not too good as they give us some of the story which we never believe for a moment. I think every now and again there are great moments and it is very good when we get close-ups of hands. Creeping around someones back, across the floor, within cuffs of hands covered with blood or not but otherwise most people are standing around or screaming. The lift and the cellar with close-ups are okay but when we see the set it is just not good. It's unfortunate that all the dolls look so new and the sets and Chun Ho-jin playing as the curator looks just as bored as us.