Film "Vicious games": feedback from viewers and critics about the plot, rating

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

2012 was marked by the Hollywood debut of two South Korean directors at once - Kim Ji Un with "Return of the Hero" and Park Chang-wook with "Vicious Games". Pak's picture was released in the United States in a limited distribution, despite the fact that the main roles of the project were played by famous actors - M. Wasikowska, N. Kidman and M. Good. Be that as it may, fans of extraordinary aesthetic dramas appreciated the gloomy viscous thriller at its true worth. The authors of the reviews for "Vicious Games" attribute the strong script written by the star of "Prison Break" Wentworth Miller, and the direction of Park Chan-Wook, who built an oriental mysterious atmosphere, to the main advantages of the tape.

Storyline Summary

The plot of "Vicious Games" begins with the tragedy of the main character of India (Mia Wasikowska), whose father Richard Stoker (actor Dermot Mulroney) dies on her eighteenth birthday. During the funeral procession, the girl and her mother (Nicole Kidman) are approached by Charlie Stoker (MatthewGood) and appears to be the brother of the deceased, although India has never heard of his existence. Charlie claims that he traveled the world for eighteen years, but now he decided to return to his family. A man quickly wins over a widow, which is why the already difficult relationship between mother and daughter is complicated to the limit. The new-found uncle, having moved into the house, persistently tries to make friends with India. Meanwhile, people begin to disappear in the vicinity. The beginning of the tragedy coincides with the arrival of a stranger.

Growing Up Express

Park Chan-wook, as a true master of stories about the nature of violence, boldly mixes general cultural and cinematic ingredients in his project, Hitchcock suspense with South Korean national horror, family drama with dark gothic. As viewers note in reviews of Vicious Games, there is a story of growing up in the plot of the tape, leading to an extraordinary outcome. India finds herself in violence and suddenly begins to take pleasure in cruelty. She has little contact with her peers, loves to hunt birds. At the beginning of the picture, the authors deliberately emphasize her immaturity, she even looks younger than she really is. But during the tape there is an express maturation of the heroine.

Thrilling moments

Among the most memorable episodes of the film, viewers note the piano scene, in which the director demonstrates the first awakening of his heroine's sexuality in an exciting and at the same time quite innocently. And the climactic scene on the road is just perfect. A girl smiling at the sheriff, bloody scissors, drops of blood on the flowers and a soundtrack that changes with reversed credits. Many authors in their reviews of "Vicious Games" recall the novel "The Wasp Factory" by the Scottish writer Ian Banks. There, the infantile protagonist staged no less genocide of innocent animals in anticipation of the return of his brother from the mental hospital.

A scary tale about family ties

Drama in the film is many times more than in the "Vicious Blood Games", but the thriller is still very interesting to watch. The suspense does not stun, but slowly and inevitably envelops. The narrative is filled with excitement, foreboding, anxiety and ominous symbols.

Domestic filmmakers in their reviews of "Vicious Games" positioned the project as an art-house horror, gravitating towards Lars von Trier's "Antichrist" (2009) rather than a traditional horror film. It frightens completely ordinary things, implicit, and therefore terrible details. Park Chan-wook carefully builds the atmosphere, there is neither unnecessary gesture nor unnecessary sound in the movie. Memorable scenes would be enough for several intellectual horror films and thrillers. Clint Mansell's musical score plays an important role, his contribution is no less weighty than the obscenely perfect picture of director Park's friend and longtime collaborator, cinematographer Chung Jung-Hoon. In the cinema, everything is over the top and overnight restrained. The actors playing the main roles seem to compete with each other in how, using a minimum of mimic nuances and gestures, to create an aura of mystery inherent in a terrible fairy tale.around their characters.

Acting Ensemble

The story of the film "Vicious Intentions" revolves around three main characters, the images of which were embodied on the screen by wonderful performers.

India was played by a promising former Australian and now Hollywood film actress Mia Wasikowska ("Alice in Wonderland", "Jane Eyre"). As reviewers emphasize, her talent is very ambiguous, but her appearance is very expressive. In the project of Park Chan-Wook, Mia coped with the role brilliantly. She got a 100% hit in the image. The camera simply loves the actress, she looks dazzling: thin, retaining her teenage agility and possessing feminine grace. India turned out to be extremely real, and small and believable features made the character frighteningly real.

The image of the newly minted mysterious uncle is in no way inferior in intricacy to the main character. Matthew Goode ("Watchmen", "Match Point", "The Imitation Game") brought Charlie to the screen amazingly. Through the efforts of the performers, the character received the relaxed plasticity of a dangerous predator, a spark of madness smoldering in his eyes, a charming voice and theatrical gestures. Both critics and viewers in their reviews echo in unison that Good is an excellent actor, he demonstrated a high-class game.

The third link in the star cast is Nicole Kidman (Moulin Rouge, The Others), who played the widowed Evelyn Stoker. The actress is traditionally gorgeous, played masterfully, but her character pales somewhat in comparison with the other two. However, the heroineKidman has several spectacular scenes.

Positive opinions from foreign critics

From the regulars of the Sundance Film Festival, the film "Vicious Games" received mostly positive reviews. They called the film a professionally edited family detective story with a touch of gothic tale and rated it 4 out of 5. The suffocating atmosphere and exemplary visuals are considered the brainchild of Park Chan-Wook.

Critics gave the tape the highest mark for sophistication, successful genre combination and acting work. We also paid attention to the presence of black humor and erotic tension in the plot.

Park Chan-wook has been called the next generation Hitchcock by some critics. Despite rave reviews, the thriller's IMDb rating is 6.80.

Negative reviews

Critics, summarizing their impressions after watching, called the images of key characters restless, while indicating that all script flaws compensate for the successful selection of actors. The acting did not impress them so much that they did not notice all the thriller's misses. The reviewers were categorical in their assessment, calling Pak's brainchild a ridiculous, completely empty and extremely unsuccessful work.

Other critics were much more condescending, however, they noted that "Vicious Games", like "Thirst", is not a high achievement of the director, rather, they should be seen as exercises in style. It is believed that the plot of the film suffers frompredictability.

Eccentric canvas

However, we should not forget that the extraordinary storyline of the "Vicious Games" is woven from dark matter, not at all entertaining. This is not the “Vicious Blood Games” by Alisa Pozhidaeva. Naturally, the picture will not appeal to that category of viewers who want to see some kind of abstract goodness, moralizing or entertainment in the movie. Park Chan-wook's thriller is like a dark stairway leading deep down to the abyss of madness.