MAN BITES DOG
A film review by Phineas Narco
Copyright 1993 Phineas Narco
I just rented this movie last night (I think it just came out on tape) and was kind of skeptical at first as I usually don't like foreign movies, but I was *very* *very* impressed by this movie. I know of no other movie that was so simultaneously shocking, disturbing and yet consistently hilarious as this one. Scenes like the shitting/singing guy and the nurse arguing in the hospital, confronting the other film crew and shooting them and many others have me ROTFL. Another interesting dichotomy was that the movie was simultaneously done very realistically and yet was extremely absurd. I'd be very interested in any information people might have as to how the movie was made, how such natural performances were elicited from people who may or may not be actors, the special effects, how much was actually improvised, etc. Some aspects of the movie reminded me of Woody Allen's TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN and Reiner's SPINAL TAP... due to the cinema verite' absurdist pseudo documentary style of the picture. Other scenes reminded me of HENRY-PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER such as the slow motion replaying of an attempted murder and the assault on a family in a suburban home. The neck brace reminded me of the final scene in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, another movie with a charismatic psychopath as it's focus. Many scenes reached the point of stomach wrenching realism and then some absurd element was added when the viewer reaches the maximum point of queasiness. *This movie is great!* In case anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about the movie is basically a pseudo-documentary that follows the exploits of a charismatic French serial killer. I *highly* recommend this film!
--Phineas Narco
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