"Martyrs"

Time to write again! I've been feeling a bit disconnected from the world, what with working at home (poor me!) and not venturing into Austin nearly as much as in the past. Although that may change soon.

Anyway, I needed to start writing about watching movies again, which makes up the bulk of my hobby time now. And the last one I watched warranted some musing. It was "Martyrs." I would suggest that if you haven't seen this movie and are thinking about watching it, don't read anything in this post below this paragraph, because it's impossible to discuss much about the plot without giving away key points....and those key points are what are worth discussing.

Okay, here goes! While watching "Martyrs," my opinion changed a few times. The 2008 French-Canadian movie begins like a few flicks you've probably seen before: a young woman escapes from a terrible situation and then she comes back to enact revenge. Well, maybe you haven't seen it a hundred times, but you get my drift. The young woman, Lucie, has a childhood friend, Anna, who ends up helping her with post-revenge clean-up....which might seem a little strange, but one scene shows that Anna has a personal motive to aid. Lucie is being tortured by an (it turns out) imaginary assailant, almost reminiscent of Bob in "Twin Peaks." This gets Lucie to do all sorts of horrendous stuff to herself, culminating in her death.

And then everything changes.

What I thought might turn out to be an ordinary twist....I couldn't help thinking of a recent French horror exercise "High Tension"....instead shifts to almost another movie entirely. But it all has a purpose. You just don't know the why until the final few minutes. And it's a powerful final few minutes, with complete ambiguity. The last part has been debated endlessly....just go to the IMDB page for this movie and look at the discussion boards. One thread has over ten pages with people arguing the last few minutes' meaning. That's what I call entertainment!

I love ambiguity in movies, something that has completely disappeared from the mainstream and isn't used much even in smaller fare these days. It's something that keeps a movie fresh to me. I always abhor comments I see from people about a movie that begin "but WHY did blah blah....?" Ya know, sometimes you weren't meant to know and knowing more would take the glorious mystery away. And the debate can be as absorbing as watching the movie.

Let me state that "Martyrs" isn't a fun watch, and you won't be pulling it out every year with the enchanting call, "hey kids! It's 'Martyrs' time!." It is gruelling. There is torture in a sense, but it's very different than the torture of say, "Hostel." I think it's very well-made, satisfying both gorehounds and people who want a little more from movies than just visceral experience. I realize that I didn't really discuss that many key points I mention in the second paragraph.....maybe that's good. Just watch this with an open mind.

Here's the trailer, which is pretty misleading. Looks like standard modern horror fare. That's only the first half.