She's Just a Shadow

This is what happens when you grow up in Tromaville and become a filmmaker. Imagine starting with Ichi the Killer and mixing in Scarface, Spun, Showgirls, and Summer of Sam while reading 50 Shades of Grey and you should be able to smell how this movie is. To say that this won't appeal to everybody is an understatement, but that has never determined whether a film is worth seeing. Despite the amount of time spent on scenes consisting mainly of nudity and drug use there is a story that unwinds as you go with a lump sum delivery in the last 10 minutes. Production value overall is good and the players skilled enough to deliver their dialogue naturally with the correct posture. If you are at all on the fence I would say give it a watch, you were curious enough to read this review so don't stop short here.

A world full of sleaze, full of blood and nudity. Filth some may say and the "underground" that is shown here is morally bankrupt to say the least. With an added side story of a pervert who has a train and serial killer obsession. That may be putting it mildy. And yet, the movie looks gorgeous! And that is not a pun nor a reference to all the beautiful people who act in this (mostly nude).

Cinematography is tight to say the least. While the story may not be enticing to some, remember how some were cherising Giallo movies and made a big deal out of them? This makes more sense than some (if not most) of them. So while this is not an "homage" per se, you may watch it with that in mind. It tries to shock and it probably succeeds to some degree, but it also has a convoluted story that will either annoy you or entice you for being so out there ...

The story is a blend of traditional underground crime thriller exploration of sub-culture and more experimental risque imagery circling tropes such as sexploitation and torture porn. There is heavy influences that permeate the film, most notably Tarantino and Stahelski. The synopsis and my initial description make "She's Just A Shadow" seem like a very exciting film. And given the cinematography and set design for a lot of the scenes, this movie has some cool moments. But...there are several flaws here.

First off, the story moves so freely that there is a feeling of "lack of cohesion" that makes it hard for any of the major plot points to sink in. The foundation starts to feel weak. It is a gritty and interesting story, and the setting and subject matter are pulp fiction candy tropes. Unfortunately there seemed to be more focus creating moments of extreme sensationalized tableauxs, than creating solid story continuity. Again, there is some really cool stuff happening in "She's Just A Shadow", unfortunately it all seems disjointed and more fitting to music videos and short film, arthouse pieces.

The acting is tight, the cast do a good job bring life to these characters, there just isn't enough written here for them to go on. Most of the characters are two-dimensional, weakly written "shadows". So much so that inorder to give them substance you really need to grab on to the film's title, and near hallucinatory asthetics and hold on for dear life. Something that helps equally with watching this one is the celebratory over-the-top display of violence and gore. There is plenty of blood flowing in "She's Just A Shadow". I just don't know if there's enough going on here to satisfy most film fans.

Everything about this movie is highly stylized, which automatically means that everything about it is going to be intentionally over the top. If you understand this and keep it in mind while you watch, it makes the experience a good one. If you're a person who only watches "normal" movies, however, then this will seem like trash to you. It's a shame, from the movie's rating, that there are obviously a lot of people out there who don't understand this.

Its a great watch if you like noir movies good characters and great storyline must watch to understand