Fantastic Fest 2010 Mini Reviews: Rubber, Corridor, and Julia’s Eyes
by Britt Hayes
Rubber (2010)
Directed by: Quentin Dupieux
Starring: Thomas F. Duffy, Wings Hauser, James Parks, Jack Plotnick
Rubber may go down in history as having one of the best opening scenes in a film ever. We’re introduced to a police officer as he climbs out of the trunk of a car and gives an entertaining speech on the finer points of “no reason”. What we’re about to watch is a story that lacks any reason or purpose, about a psychic tire named Robert. Why? No reason. Also introduced are a group of spectators who have been brought to the top of a hill in the desert to observe, live through binoculars, the same film we’re watching.
On the side of a dusty road, a lone tire stands upright and starts moving on its own. This is Robert. He rolls over objects that are in his way, but then he bumps into an object he can’t crush. This is where things get interesting. Robert somehow figures out that he can use telekinesis to explode things, and with a little quiver and shake, Robert makes a rabbit explode. As you can imagine, Robert goes on to explode bigger things, like people. And thus we’re given some of the best head explosions on film since Scanners.
While there seems to be absolutely “no reason” in this trippy meta-film, Robert does have a slight purpose: a beautiful woman staying at a nearby hotel. He follows her there and explodes anyone and anything he deems a nuisance. Some lives are inexplicably spared, but this isn’t a film with a strong narrative or moral structure.
The joy in Rubber comes from the mindlessness of it all. Not all filmmakers need a reason to do what they do, and sometimes there’s just no reason why we find something entertaining. The spectators in the film represent us as an audience, and they have intermittent dialogue where they argue back and forth about the purpose of this story. Some of the funnier moments involve the police officer from the beginning of the film and his colleagues as they engage in some very meta action, breaking the fourth wall and controlling the story.
Director Quentin Dupieux (or Mr. Oizo as he’s known by his DJ stage name) concocts a senseless and disturbingly adorable story about a little tire that could… for absolutely no reason.
Corridor (2009)
Directed by: Johan Lundborg and Johan Storm
Starring: Ylva Gallon, Emil Johnsen, Peter Stormare
Frank is a dedicated medical student, just trying to stay focused and out of trouble, until Lotte moves in upstairs. It starts innocently: she asks for help moving a piece of furniture and borrows some laundry detergent, but pretty soon she’s coming over uninvited and insinuating herself in Frank’s life. Frank starts losing sleep when he’s bombarded with the sounds of Lotte having sex with multiple suitors in the middle of the night. Still, Lotte starts growing on Frank and things take a dark turn when she tries to break it off with her main boyfriend Micke and disappears.
The majority of Corridor takes place in Frank and Lotte’s apartment building and builds on the ideas of confusion and paranoia, and a frustrating absence of common sense. The film is intensely psychological and does an expert job of keeping you just as lost as Frank. Everything is from Frank’s point of view. We’re rooting for the guy, but we’re not sure what sort of outcome this is going to take us to. By the time we figure out where it’s heading, it’s too late for Frank to turn back. We’re given just enough breathing room to open our eyes to reality, but poor Frank has spiraled out of control.
Corridor has an appropriately short run time at just over an hour, and directors Storm and Lundborg show incredible restraint.
Julia’s Eyes (Los Ojos de Julia) (2010)
Directed by: Guillem Morales
Starring: Belén Rueda, Lluís Homar, Pablo Derqui
Julia’s Eyes is the latest Spanish film produced by Guillermo Del Toro and boasts Belén Rueda, the star of the Del Toro-produced The Orphanage. After her twin sister succumbs to a degenerative eye disease, goes blind, and is found hanging by a noose in her own basement, Julia suspects foul play. Sure, she hasn’t spoken to her sister in months, but twins are simply two halves of the same whole, and Julia’s sister would never kill herself. Unfortunately, no one believes her and to complicate matters further, Julia is also losing her eye sight. As she begins uncovering the facts, she discovers that going blind might be the key to seeing the truth.
Julia’s Eyes is a beautiful homage to Italian Giallo films: it’s a slow burn with a lot of suspense and mystery, but when it reaches climax it absolutely erupts with violent fury. The film explores the idea of what it’s like to really see and understand, and how sometimes we need to close our eyes to open our mind. It’s incredibly well executed, with my only complaint being the end, which felt awfully disingenuous and contrasts horribly with the scene directly preceding it. There’s an intriguing notion in the film concerning invisibility and how the people we don’t see or notice every day can often be the most dangerous. This plays well with Julia’s loss of vision, and how she was able to see someone no one else could.
Julia’s Eyes is a beautiful and haunting film from Guillem Morales, a director with mostly short films under his belt. Morales also directed The Uncertain Guest, a film I haven’t seen but according to its plot synopsis seems to explore some similar themes. Guillermo Del Toro continues to open audiences to new and exciting directors with riveting and horrific stories to tell.
