Fear X

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and written by Refn and Hubert Selby Jr. from an original story by Selby, Fear X is the story of a man who deals with strange visions that he believes has something to do with his wife’s murder. The film marks Refn’s first English-language feature following two features in his native Denmark. Starring John Turturro, Deborah Kara Unger, Stephen McIntyre, William Allen Young, and James Remar. Fear X is a very intriguing suspense film from Nicolas Winding Refn that loses its focus in its second half.

After the death of his wife in a shopping mall that he works at as a security cop, Harry Caine (John Turturro) is obsessed with finding out who killed her and why as he continuously searches through various security footage and pictures to find answers. After a friend in Phil (Stephen McIntyre) gives a video tape where Caine witnesses how his wife was killed as authorities ask him if his wife knew anyone. Caine suspects that the home that is across from his might know something due to surreal images he breaks in to find a strip of film on the floor. After uncovering the pictures that features a woman (Deborah Kara Unger) and a child, he learns that the pictures are from Montana as he travels to a small town to find answers.

Meanwhile, a lieutenant police officer named Peter Northrup (James Remar) has just been given a special award for his duties as his wife Kate watches in awe. Yet, Peter just learned that Harry is looking for Kate based on the photo he has where he reveals to his superiors about why Harry is here. With Harry getting closer to finding answers while dealing with the strange images in his head. He and Peter finally meet to discuss what happened to Harry’s wife.

The film is about a security mall cop who tries to figure out who killed his wife and why where he goes into this strange obsession to finding out who her killer is while a small town cop from Montana might have the answers. The film is about simply about fear, the fear of finding some awful truths and the fear of the guilt that is sweeping into a character. While it’s a premise that is interesting, screenwriters Nicolas Winding Refn and Hubert Selby Jr. don’t exactly create a payoff that is satisfying. While the first half of the story has this amazing narrative that follows Harry Caine weaving his way to find answers. The narrative then shifts a bit where Caine arrives in Montana as the focus is on this other man where things become messy and their eventual confrontation ends up being followed by moments that don’t make any sense.

Refn’s direction of the film is quite entrancing for the compositions he makes in the snowy locations of Winnipeg. Notably in how he sets a mood for Harry’s obsession in uncovering the mystery where there’s a great element of suspense as well a study into this man’s mind. One of the drawbacks of the film are these strange surreal montages that displays whether Harry is imagining things where it blurs the idea of reality and fiction. Some of which are seen as flashbacks but other times, it becomes confusing in the film’s second half to the point that it adds to the messiness of the narrative. When the film arrives in the second where Harry arrives in Montana, the focus on Peter starts forces the narrative to lose some momentum as if shifts back and forth for this eventual meeting.

While the compositions and the way Refn frames the meeting is interesting. It is followed by a very strange montage of visual images that really just hampers all of the tension. This would be followed by an ending that is very disappointing because it leaves more question than answers as it begs the question of whether Harry Caine’s obsession was imaginary or real. Overall, Refn creates a film that starts off very strong and then ends up into a huge mess where its payoff is a frustrating one.

Cinematographer Larry Smith does amazing work with the film‘s evocative cinematography from the lush interior settings he creates in the hotel hallway scenes to the gorgeous exteriors of the Winnipeg locations to play out the open-ended world of Montana. Editor Anne Osterud does nice work with the editing to play up the suspense of Caine‘s attempt to uncover the mystery along with some straightforward cuts to help intensify the drama. Production designer Peter De Neergaard, along with art directors Morten Isbrand and Rejean Labrie and set decorator Stephen Arndt, does terrific work with the set pieces created such as the hotel room that Caine stays at as well as the lovely hotel hallway that plays to the dark mood of the film.

Costume designer Darena Snowe does good work with the costumes as a lot of it is quite casual including the uniform that Harry wears when he works at the mall. Visual effects supervisor Morten Balling does some fine work with some of the visual effects montage that is quite surreal to look although they weren‘t really necessary. Sound designers Jens Bonding and Peter Schultz do superb work with the sound design from the calm atmosphere of Caine‘s home to the raucous world of the mall that Caine works at. The film’s score by Brian Eno and J. Peter Schwalm is wonderful for the way it plays out the tense atmosphere of the film with its chilling yet ethereal ambient score as it’s definitely some fantastic work from Eno who is the godfather of ambient music.

The casting by Carrie Hilton and Penny Perry is terrific for the ensemble that is created as it includes an appearance from Refn’s wife and Bleeder co-star Liv Corfixen as a hotel waitress as well as small roles from Amanda Ooms as a hooker, Mark Houghton as a diner cop, William Allen Young as an investigator who talks to Harry, Jacqueline Ramel as Harry’s late wife, and Stephen McIntyre as fellow security cop who helps Harry in providing security tapes. Deborah Kara Unger is practically wasted in her role as Peter’s wife Kate as she only appears in a couple of key scenes as she doesn’t get much to do but feel upset about what Peter could be hiding. James Remar is excellent as Lt. Peter Northrup who tries to deal with the news of Harry’s visit as Remar displays a great sense of anguish over what he could be hiding as well as the guilt he’s dealing with.

Finally, there’s John Turturro in an incredible performance as Harry Caine. It’s a performance where Turturro really gives a very understated approach to his character who is lost in his grief and determined to find answers for what happened. It’s truly mesmerizing in the way Turturro makes Caine into a character that audiences can sympathize with as he’s a man that isn’t about action but rather just someone seeking out some truth.

Despite some amazing images and John Turturro’s great performance, Fear X is a very underwhelming suspense film from Nicolas Winding Refn. While the film will feature compositions and a visual style that would be part of Refn’s later films. It’s a film that will disappoint fans of suspense films due to its incomprehensive second act and an ending that will leave everyone disgusted and confused. In the end, Fear X is a worthwhile but very frustrating film from Nicolas Winding Refn.

Nicolas Winding Refn Films: Pusher - Bleeder - Pusher II - Pusher 3 - Bronson - Valhalla Rising - Drive - Only God Forgives - The Neon Demon - The Auteurs #12: Nicolas Winding Refn

© thevoid99 2012

Bleeder

Written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, Bleeder is the story of a young couple whose life is changed when a man learns his wife is pregnant as she is bewildered by his sudden dark behavior. The film is an exploration into the transition of adulthood told in a dark fashion as it plays to Refn’s interest in the world of detachment. Starring Kim Bodnia, Mads Mikkelsen, Rikke Louise Andersson, Liv Corfixen, Levino Jensen, and Zlatko Buric. Bleeder is a wonderfully stylish drama from Nicolas Winding Refn.

After receiving news that his girlfriend Louise (Rikke Louise Andersson) is pregnant, Leo (Kim Bodnia) is shocked by the news and the arrival of a new baby as he’s unsure if he wants a child. While Louise’s brother Louis (Levino Jensen) is ecstatic about the news and hope Leo will do go, an event where the two were working at a club leaves Leo shaken by the violent incident. While Leo and Louis also spend their time watching movies at a video store with their friends Kitjo (Zlatko Buric) and the shy film buff Lenny (Mads Mikkelsen) who works at the video store with Kitjo. Lenny’s anti-social life starts to change when he meets and falls for a girl named Lea (Liv Corfixen) who works at a diner as he tries to talk to her but couldn’t muster the courage to make a date with her.

During one night where the four guys watch a film, Leo brings a gun to the screening to threaten Louis over a dispute concerning Louise. Leo’s behavior suddenly starts to unravel as he takes it out on Louise prompting Louis to do something. Notably as it would cause a lot of trouble for Leo who becomes consumed with guilt where he would do something that would change everything in his troubled life.

The film is about the life of a man that is about to change due to the fact that he’s going to become a father. Unfortunately, he isn’t ready because of all the anxieties he’s facing about becoming an adult and handle the responsibility to deal with a child. Notably as an incident where he works as a bouncer at a club leaves him shaken about the world he’s about to enter his child in where would eventually unravel and scare his friends including his girlfriend’s brother who is later to be revealed as a more troubling person to deal with.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s screenplay is intriguing for the way he explores the world of young adulthood in Copenhagen as it features five characters who are quite young with another in his 40s. Though the narrative is uneven due to the subplot of a socially-awkward film buff who falls for a book-loving woman who works at a diner which is a bit comical. It does make the film also uneven in its tone though it is still a very engaging story as it fits to the theme that Refn wants to explore.

Refn’s direction is definitely stylish from the opening montage to introduce the characters to the wandering hand-held tracking shots he creates to explore the video store. While the film is presented in a straightforward manner in terms of its drama with some style added in the compositions that Refn creates. The film does have an air of darkness in the main narrative from the club break-in scene to the more chilling moment in the film’s third act when Louis confronts Leo in one of the most disturbing moments in film. Some of the darker moments of the film does have compositions that are quite striking while Refn does maintain the focus on the anxieties men have in the transition to adulthood. Despite the uneven narrative, Refn does create a solid film that is exciting but also unsettling.

Cinematographer Morten Soborg does excellent work with the film‘s very colorful photography to play out the exciting world of late 90s young adult culture while creating some stylish lights for some of the film‘s interiors such as the club, the bookstore Lea hangs out at, and the room where the guys watch the movies. Editor Anne Osterud does incredible work with the editing to play up the rhythm of the some of the film‘s violent scenes with some swift cuts to more stylish cuts such as dissolves and jump-cuts to play with the film‘s transitions.

Production designer Peter De Neergard does wonderful work with some of the places in the such as the video store Lenny and Kitjo work at to the diner‘s kitchen that Lea is often at. Costume designer Loa Miller does very good work with the costumes as a lot of it is quite casual with the exception of some of the stylish suits the men wear during their movie night. Sound designer Svenn Jakobsen is terrific for the some of the intimacy set in some of the interior locations to more tense moments in the club fight that Leo witnesses. The film’s score by Peter Peter is a superb mix of chugging hard rock, metal, dream-pop, electronic music, and ambient as the soundtrack plays to the personalities of these characters as it includes a great dream-pop cover of John Lennon’s Love that is played in the film’s final credits.

The film’s cast is brilliant for the ensemble that is created as it includes some memorable small performances from Ole Abildgaard as a video store customer, Gordana Radosavljevic as a mother Louise befriends, and Clause Flygare as Lea’s diner boss Joe. Zlatko Buric is very funny as the wise and laid-back Kitjo while Liv Corfixen is wonderful as the bookworm Lea who is intrigued by Lenny’s strange behavior. Rikke Louise Andersson is excellent as Leo’s kind girlfriend Louise who is baffled by his sudden behavior as she is trying to help him make changes. Levino Jensen is superb as Louise’s brother Louis who is concerned about Leo’s behavior while proving to be someone who will get serious if things go wrong.

Kim Bodnia is great as the troubled Leo who is dealing with all of the new changes around him as he brings a real intensity to his character that is teetering on the edge. Finally, there’s Mads Mikkelsen in an impressive performance as the shy film buff Lenny who always talks about films just so he can avoid talking about real life. There’s also a wonderful restraint in Mikkelsen in the way he displays the awkwardness of his character as it’s definitely a performance to see.

Bleeder is a stellar drama from Nicolas Winding Refn that features incredible performances from Kim Bodnia and Nicolas Winding Refn. While it’s a very different film of sorts from some of the more violent films that Refn has done. It’s also quite engaging for the way he presents life in transition despite the uneven narrative it presents. In the end, Bleeder is a charming though dark film from Nicolas Winding Refn.

Nicolas Winding Refn Films: Pusher - Fear X - Pusher II - Pusher 3 - Bronson - Valhalla Rising - Drive - Only God Forgives - The Neon Demon - The Auteurs #12: Nicolas Winding Refn

© thevoid99 2012