Wednesday, August 01, 2012

The Tall Man and Guessing Until the End: A Movie Review

*here be major spoilers. See the film before reading this review.

Directed/writer: Pascal Laugier.

Cast: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, Jakob Davies, William B. Davis, Samantha Ferris and Katherine Ramdeen.

This reviewer would like to move horror fans away from this review and towards the film. The Tall Man utilizes a non-conventional story line whose themes are revealed in the final few scenes. Much of the film's mystery will be ruined for viewers if they read this review before seeing the film.

With that aside, The Tall Man is a film from writer and French filmmaker Pascal Laugier. Film fans might recognize Laugier from his shocking 2008 outing, Martyrs. Martyrs involved brutal scenes of torture and disfigurement. The title here, The Tall Man, releases on video-on-demand platforms today (August 1st) through Image Entertainment and horror fans will want to take notice. Laugier uses elements of French New Wave and New French Extremity to create a sometimes surreal story of child abduction and abuse. Themes of poor parenting, and cycles of physical abuse are also touched upon in a truly excellent film.

The story centrally follows Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) in the small town of Cold Rock, Washington. She is a local doctor who has lost her husband to unexplained circumstances. She now spends her time with a/her child, David (Jakob Davies). Meanwhile, children have been disappearing from the dreary and downtrodden streets of Cold Rock. Some blame the mythical Tall Man. Others might want to look to their neighbours.

Julia is leading a double life. She is a local doctor. She is also a child smuggler, of sorts. She has been taking children from the streets and sending them to a confederate, her very living husband. Their underground railroad is an attempt to save children from neglect, physical abuse, alcoholism and general patterns of violence. The purpose of their confederacy is to shuttle children from unsafe homes into safer ones. Themes, thus, begin to emerge.

Laugier's film seems to be a critique of parenting. He emphasizes this theme with shots of couple's arguing late in the film. Other children are shown without adult supervision, while the character David, not Julia's son, is rescued from an emotionally unstable and homeless mother. Few films will tackle themes this powerful.

And, Laugier pays homage to the films from his French past. Laugier's narrative style borrows heavily from the French New Wave movement. This style of storytelling was developed in the '50s and '60s. New French Wave was a revolution against certain conventional cinematic styles. An example of French New Wave in The Tall Man involves the use of non-linear time frame. As well, the protagonist changes from hero, to victim, to villain and to hero over the course of the film. This film fan has not seen this much character change pulled off in film, ever. Cinema from French New Wave also introduces ambiguity. Viewers of this film will not know who to root for until late in the feature. Feelings that are aroused may include: confusion, anger, sympathy and triumph. The Tall Man can sometimes act as narrative roller coaster. As well, French New Wave will often answer the story's central questions late in the feature. There have been few films that have kept this film fan guessing into the seventy and eighty minute mark. At some point, you just have to let the film reveal itself on its own because major plot points are kept in darkness. There are many more elements of New French Wave incorporated in The Tall Man, but these were the main ones noticed by this watcher.

Director Laugier is also part of the New French Extremity movement. This more modern style of filmmaking incorporates themes or elements of sexual decadence and bloody violence. Films of the New French Extremity include: Them (Ils), High Tension (Haute Tension), The Inside (À l'intérieur), Frontiers and Laugier's previous effort, Martyrs. Violence is shown in The Tall Man. Julia battles a shrouded picture in bloody fashion for close to fifteen minutes. The action is gory and difficult to watch. Also, the New French Extremity movement hopes to cover certain social taboos through horror. The social taboo tackled in this film involves poor parenting. In general, no one wants to talk about poor parenting. People spend days and years earning degrees for their careers, but parenting courses are not mandatory. Laugier highlights some of these issues with his narrative and visual style. Viewers might not enjoy this confrontational approach. However, this is the purpose of New French Extremity, to make viewers feel uncomfortable.

That uncomfortableness is one of several elements that make The Tall Man such an excellent film. Its narrative style is very abstract with voice-overs from actress Jodelle Ferland (Silent Hill) revealing little. The original music from Todd Bryanton also adds to the mystery. The soundtrack is not telling you how to feel as some musical scores will. The lighting and sets are darkly moody. The tension from the feature is amplified by both of these elements. Also, actress Jessica Biel plays out of form. She is dressed down with much of the film resting on her shoulders. She pulls out an excellent performance here against type. The ending is well done and the story is kept hidden until very late in the picture. All of these elements and a few more add something thrilling to this great feature.

Watch The Tall Man on video-on-demand now or see it in theatres September 5th. In either form, you will most likely enjoy a very strange and surreal film. This title is recommended for horror fans who are looking for something different. Thriller fans will also find something here to excite. The Tall Man brings elements of French New Wave and New French Extremity to North American shores and this reviewer hopes that more films of this style come this way. There are few films that can keep one guessing like this one.

Overall: 8.25 out of 10 (interesting story, strong themes, excellent performances, late reveal, unpredictable, many character arcs).

The film's trailer can be found at Image Entertainment:

The Tall Man at Image Ent.


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