I have never read a book by Carl Jung. Hell, I've only read bits and pieces of Joseph Campbell. But if I were going to do a serious look at Backrooms, I'd probably start looking into how Jung (and Campbell) read the story of the labyrinth. Is the minotaur the shadow? What if the hero's journey were an inward one, into the pathways of the mind?
Habits, loops. "Neural pathways of least resistance." The thing about Backrooms is, the first time you watch it, you are just gripped, engaged with the experience, as mystified as the characters are about what they are discovering; you feel it cohering, but how? Why? You'd have to be a sharper, faster analyst than I to be able to lucidly spell it all out; I doubt many could, on first viewing. The second time you watch it, you realize that there are decoder rings given to you throughout and the film is very, very cohesive, meaningful, applicable to your life, even. The therapy session at the beginning of the film is so thematically expressive that it gets repeated almost verbatim by the session's patient, later on, in the backrooms.
If you cannot find yourself in these monologues, you probably won't engage on the deepest levels with this film. You are actually meant, I think, to apply the ideas of the film to your life. It seems maybe worth doing, maybe even profound? (Or profoundly depressing? That last moment is kind of grim).
Of course, the aesthetics are gripping, too. Is that Kubrickian perspective? It seems close to it at times. And the set design is fascinating and the sound design is superb. I was able to close my eyes for one bit and just dig the music, during Clark's early explorations. You can enjoy the film just as an immersive experience, if that's what you're seeking. But thinking about what it all means... it really, really helps to see it a second time.
Some tips. If you are in Vancouver, see it at the Park. Don't pay too much attention to the decor on the way in. Just forget all about it and beeline for the theatre; but allow yourself some time afterwards to explore, because they've done something fun. Of course, one of the film's executive producers, Osgood Perkins, is involved with the Park, so there's a reason, maybe, why the theatre has some special features...? (Or is this happening in the Cineplexes, too?).
Backrooms is the most exciting cinematic adventure I've had since Beau is Afraid, and I think (since I don't have a Jewish mom, let alone the mommy issues of the protagonist and presumed filmmaker of Beau is Afraid) the more important film, the, dare I say, better film; Beau is Afraid is audacious and fascinating, but it's not especially useful (maybe in the same way Jung trumps Freud?). You can't take its lessons and apply them to your life, I don't think. It might help you to complain about things, maybe offer you some catharsis at best, but Backrooms is actually a useful film, a work of art worth thinking about. There are takeaways, besides a queasy feeling.
So. Go see it, then go see it again, both times at the Park. You'll be glad you did! Erika enjoyed it, too!
Oh, does Chiwetel Ejiofor remind anyone else, in his line deliveries, a bit of Ben Gazarra, or was that just my seeing the trailer for the film Husbands before Backrooms, tonight...?
Because speaking of Gazarra (and Cassavetes, and Falk), also at the Park, there's this Bleak Week thing coming up, and screenings of Husbands, as well as Bergman's noirish surrealist Hour of the Wolf, and some other films I want Erika and myself to see, starting in late June: The Virgin Suicides, Grave of the Fireflies, In a Glass Cage, The Deer Hunter, The Celebration, Nightcrawler, Christian F.... Park listings here and festival passes here.
And speaking of Ari Aster, the (shorter) 147-minute-long cut of Midsommar is coming up at the Rio, too. I got nothing against Ari Aster, I just think that's his best film (though I prefer the longer cut, myself).
No comments:
Post a Comment