Stories
of Disenchantment (1/2
star)
review by Jon
Waterman
Two friends, Diego and Ximena want to make a movie. While
they’re searching for locations, they come across this
seemingly abandoned locale that’s stuffed to the brim
with intriguing art pieces and fun house-esque objects. When
the owner comes home, the two are trapped inside and are forced
to face the consequences (after watching her strip naked, of
course). Lucky for them, Ainda is very nice about the whole
thing and even invites them to a party. The two agree, but
are unsure of her motives. After all, Ainda had wings growing
out of her back…didn’t she?
Yeah. That’s just a hint of the absurdity that goes
on in this movie. The storyline is all over the place and contains
many random, surreal, and fantastical dream-like sequences.
All of that sounds all well and good; after all, that’s
why I loved “Journey
Into Bliss.” However, “Stories” lacks
the good-hearted, insanely fun atmosphere and instead adopts
this unfounded melancholy, melodramatic pretentious demeanor.
And it’s saying something that I ended up not liking
this movie, because the opening sequence had me hooked. It
was this vision of hell brought to life through an amazingly
brilliant homage to early cinema mixed with the pre-requisite
modernity of computer graphics. It contained stunning shots
and interesting angles and intelligent compositions that showed
off some intricate production design. But after the backstory
was over, so was the only worthwhile part of the movie.
After that, we’re subjected to horrible special effects
shots laid haphazardly on top of nasty, uncontrolled digital
video. They go from mind-blowing to overly conventional – in
the worst way possible. And the whole thing about making a
film (within a film, how clever!) wasn’t really put on
the back burner, but I wish it was. Because Ximena makes one
little comment about how she wants it to be a musical and now
all of a sudden we have to listen to stupid random songs sung
by Diego’s floating disembodied heart to its former host.
It’s sort of like a Troma picture, except lower quality.
I also could have done without the “Run Lola Run” and “Alien” references.
If you’re trying this hard to make a serious artistic
movie, at least pretend.
The movie comes off like a taped stage play or a high school
video project with its bad, exaggerated acting, overuse of
slow motion, and its simplistic and pathetic computer graphics.
The production design is pretty bad, too. The world appears
post-apocalyptic assumedly because that means it can be barren – which
is cheaper. Diego looks like Jimmy Fallon dressed up like a
Ghostbuster or a scrawny, Mexican Indiana Jones. But don’t
worry. If you don’t like the costumes, you can just wait
a few more minutes and catch some more nudity! You also have
pointless flashback scenes (a huge pet peeve) that don’t
help you understand anything or provide insight into any of
the relationships, and you have an ending that doesn’t
resolve anything or tie any loose ends they way they think
it does. Completely unsatisfying.
They constantly repeat the quote “Beauty is a horror
that has become bearable.” Yeah. I know. Let’s
just say this movie is a horror, but it ain’t pretty.
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