Day 15 - Your favorite movie and what it’s about.

I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what to write about. I love a lot of movies! I could go with something from my childhood, like Indiana Jones or Shrek, The Lion King, Artificial Intelligence, Kill Bill...or something I've gotten into more recently. A friend of mine introduced me to David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Dr.) and Stanley Kubrick (although I'd seen the Shining before, since I really like Stephen King) and Akira Kurosawa (I recently saw Ran), all of which were fantastic! But I think I want to talk about Gaspar Noé, who I discovered while surfing the Internet over the summer, and is not necessarily my favorite, but has some really poignant, highly disturbing films. Irreversible is his most famous, but the one which really made an impact on me (read: depressed the shit out of me) was Seul Contre Tous (in English: I Stand Alone). 

It's the type of movie that immediately grabs you by the throat and doesn't let you breathe until it's over.

This is a sequel to a short film Noé previously made called Carne, but you don't have to have seen it because its plot is summarized in the first few minutes of the movie. Anyway, the whole thing is about a butcher - a horse butcher - who's had a really difficult life - he was an orphan, had to start making a living at a very young age, wasn't very educated, so he became a butcher's apprentice, slowly working his way up until he finally got his own shop. A one-night-stand led to the birth of his daughter, who was mute, and her mother left shortly after she was born. He took care of her to the best of his abilities, but got arrested for stabbing a worker who he thought had raped her. So the movie begins; he's just gotten out of prison, lost his shop, has no money, nowhere to go, so he decides to begin life anew. He leaves his daughter and marries an annoying fat cow he detests because she promises to buy him a new store, and impregnates her. Throughout the entire movie, there is a voiceover of his thoughts, which is the main reason I like it so much; in truth, he does and thinks some terrible things (I don't want to give away too much), but at the same time, the audience is forced to empathize with him, because at the root of all the monstrous things he does, there is something very human - a fundamental pain brought about by his unfortunate life, the cruelty of society, which in the end for me makes him less detestable. Pitied, even. It's very strange, having empathy for a murderer, a rapist. Clearly, it's a very heavy movie, but the fact it's so engrossing is part of what makes it brilliant.


Here's a little textual preview (taken from the subtitles, mostly the butcher's thoughts):


"Death opens no doors.
In the end death is nothing special.
Everyone makes a big deal out of it.
But from a close view
It's nothing serious.


A lifeless body, that's all.
People are just like animals.
You love them,
you bury them, that's it.


Even though this is the
first time I see it.
Evidently it's her first time too.
She sure looks devastated.


While it's so damn boring.
Ok, I'll take her home.
She sure looks fragile.
And pretty cute, too.


Let me walk you home.
She reminds me of my daughter.
My Cynthia.
She must be very lonely
wherever she is now.
Come.


But loneliness means nothing.
Living with a guy or a girl
or even with kids...
...but you're still alone.
I'm alone.
And so is she.
We are born alone,
live our lives alone and die alone.


Alone, forever alone.
Even when fucking we're alone.
Alone with our body
Alone with our life...


...which is like a tunnel,
impossible to share.
Over the years it only gets worse...
...only leaving memories of a life
that's slowly deteriorating.


Look, Mrs Fabienne.
What is she doing here?
Damn, we're there already.


Strange... whenever I like a girl,
I mess it up.
Even when they want me.
She definitely does.


But I bet she has a boyfriend.
All girls have boyfriends somewhere.
Life is a tunnel. Everyone has his
own little tunnel.
Only there is no light at the end.
It is a void.
Even memories will be gone.


The old people do know this.
They live a simple life...
...they have small pensions
and a small grave.


And it's all completely useless.
Even having children.
When you're old and poor
they will put you in a home...
...to let you suffer in silence.


They don't care.
They don't love their parents.
It's a myth. You only love your
mother when she feeds you.


And your father when he gives you money.
Once her breasts are all
dried out...
...or when your father's pockets
are empty, better put them away...
...and hope they'll die a
quick and cheap death.
It's the law of life.


Only when there's an inheritance
the children pretend to be nice.
But for a fridge or TV there is
no need to play nice guy.


Maybe just the bare minimum,
for ease of mind.
Call them every other month...
...a couple of tears at the funeral
and you've done your duty.


Love and friendship. It's all
full of shit
Illusions from your youth...
to cover up the fact...
that all human relationships
are redundant.


Sure friendship and love are useful,
only when they're beneficiary .
Reality is much more corrupted.


You love your mother because she
feeds you so you stay alive.
Your friend because he helps you get
a job so you stay alive.


Your wife because she cooks for you
and relieves you of your sperm...
...and gives you children
to look after you when you're old...
...and afraid to die.


But punish your child once
and it'll retaliate when you're old.
The punishment...
...will be their tool.
When they put you in a home...
...that will be their excuse to
hide their disinterest...
...that we all have
towards our up bringers.


No, I don't like the baby they're
trying to let me have.
And I'm sure the baby
will think the same.


No, fucking is definitely
misunderstood.
It's even damn expensive.
But well, it's a pastime.


When you don't want to fuck no more
that's when you know your time is up.
And that it's all been the
same in this life.


Merely a reproduction code
that's been imprinted on us...
...that we think we should obey.


Thanks.


Being born against your will. Eat.
Wave your dick around.
Make new life. Die.


Life is one big void. It's always been
and it'll always be.
A large void that can do
just fine without me.


I don't want to play that game
anymore. not in this life.
I want to experience something personal,
something intense.
I don't want to be the final replaceable
part of a giant machine.


The day I die I want to
have done more...
...than the shit millions of fuckers
have done together.
Look at it like this...
...every sucker's done the same things
that I did.


I don't know.
I must find a reason...
...an excuse or what ever
to find the motivation...
...to go on another 20 years.
Until I die.


Should I start my life all over
I'd want to make porn movies.
It's all clear.
The people who do that...
...understand the human race.


Either you're born with a cock
which has to be...
...a big hard dick
filling snatches.
Or you're born with a pussy
which has to be filled with cock.


In both scenarios you'll still be alone.
Yeah, I'm a dick.
That's it.


I'm a sad, sad dick...
...and to earn some respect
I must be hard all the time.
But with the fat cow
I can't do it anymore.


I'd rather take
the old tart.


Or a threesome.
Me, Mother, Daughter.
I bet they'd like it too,
those perverted sluts.


Both getting a good fucking
on daddy's bed.
Cow would freak out."
~Seul Contre Tous


Heavy shit. Deranged, even. But who wouldn't be with that kind of background? The scary part is, I'm afraid, that there is some truth in some of it.

As a little bonus (and to show that my interests range quite a bit beyond crazy butchers), here is a list of my favorite TV shows::
The Mighty Boosh
The IT Crowd
South Park
The Simpsons
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Yup.