Creature 2013 – 2013 – No, I’m not sure I get it..

Director: Ronny Carlsson

Short/Art House

I can’t remember when I started to get absorbed by the films of Ronny Carlsson. He has made some brilliant movies and I was so taken by one of them that I decided to co-fund its release. Somehow I managed to mention that in every review I’ve made about his movies since then. I guess I’m proud of my contribution to film history! But it also means that I compare everything he does to that one movie which isn’t necessarily a good thing. Its my problem of course, not Ronnys and it shouldn’t really affect what I’m thinking about his creations but I can’t help myself. I want to experience the same magic all over again one more time in my life!

I really like the style of this one; it was filmed using a cell phone just as the previous Goodbye Little Betty. It makes it look gritty and cheap which suit the film very well. There’s a major difference between the two though, this one has sound and even dialog. I can’t say that I’m used to that in a Ronny Carlsson film. Its not much dialog mind you but there are a few sentences here and there. I’m glad to say that these are in Swedish and even what sound like natural dialect to me. I hate when there’s none natural dialog in movies!

But… I’m not sure I got the story… I mean, I get that the female lead is experiencing something overwhelming but I can’t exactly say what. But that’s also the beauty of it. Why do you have to know every thin in detail to appreciate a movie? Why can’t the metaphors simply speak for themselves? We really don’t have to see everything the characters are experiencing! I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again (and again). Less is more every day of the week!

That doesn’t apply to the editing of this film though. The editing is also done by the Writer-Director Ronny Carlsson and emphasizes the bad feelings we feel when watching the woman descent into darkness. He did a marvelous job here. I imagined this took quite some time to get right! And there’s the usual Midas touch of suiting music to the imagery that Ronny Carlsson always seems to get just right!

7/10

                                                                                                                                                               

Art House Flick Review: Goodbye Little Betty - 2013

Goodbye Little Betty

Director: Ronny Carlsson

2013

Art house

As a major Alice Cooper fan I can’t help but think about the song Dead Babies from the early Seventies when I see the title of this. It’s a song about child abuse and negligence, at least that’s my interpretation of it. Having seen all of Ronny Carlssons previous films I figured that this would be about something like that. I was wrong! In fact, I can’t even say what it’s all about; there are no conventional storyline to be found! Yet I’m immediately hooked by what I see. I’m envious of Ronny as it seems so very easy for him to create suspense. Nothing really happens and still I’m so curios to what’s going to happen next and what the bottom line might be. Is there a message to be found? What is he trying to tell us? What deranged mind wrote this script?

It’s a very provoking film in the way that it’s made, maybe not as much as the pitch black sequence in Regissören but it’s close! And it’s all the way through too! As a viewer and reviewer I’m forced to watch this very unorthodox solution on how to tell a story. First we get all the events, then we get the metaphor and finally we get the storyline. Maybe the storyline and the metaphor are one and a same when I think of it…

I’m sorry to say that this approach was a bit of overkill for me. I liked the idea to be sure but after a while I find it hard to focus. It would have needed some relief in my opinion. I won’t go into to detail on which way I find it unconventional since I consider that a major spoiler in this case. Let’s just say that the way the film is made seems to be more important than what it’s really about. I have no problem with that but as I said before, some relief would have done it for me, maybe halfway through the film.

It’s still a good picture though! It has a beautiful black and white picture and it has a lot of suspense. But I find it a little bit too slow. I don’t necessarily want to wait the entire film before I get any answers. Yet I find it so brave a movie that I feel that I must commend this in some way. During the first half I was convinced that this was going to be a total fucking awesome flick (to be frank).After the second half? Well, it has flaws…

8/10

Review: My Monster - 2009

I was very impressed by Ronny Carlssons first film in this trilogy - Video Geisteskrank (well, there’s really two movies, not three) and my hope were sky high for this one. But I’m afraid it’s a little bit too odd for my tastes, it’s very well made as an art film and the visual stuff is amazing. There’s no holds barred there what so ever! If you have seen the cult film Begotten or I Never Left the White Room a film that I know to be one of Ronnys main influences you know what I’m talking about! There are strange colours or just something that looks plain odd. Unfortunately I feel this ruins the film a bit, there are too much form but on the other hand, it wouldn’t work at all without this visual excellence. The story is very shallow and the visuals are needed to give it a special boost so to speak.

It’s a very loose connection between this and Video Geisteskrank but this movie has some of that gruesomeness that made Video Geisteskrank so scary too! I don’t feel it in my marrow in the same manner but it’s there. I think it’s a bit more “difficult” to understand and that’s why it doesn’t appeal to me as much as it’s predecessor. However, it can be found on the anthology DVD Experimental Films Through the Lens of a Shitty Camcorder.

6/10

Review: Video Geisteskrank - 2008

As soon as Ronny Carlsson has made a new film I know I just have to have it as soon as possible. I like the innovative ideas and the ambition this you Swedish filmmaker! So when he released Video Geisteskrank on VHS I knew that I needed it! The general interest of this release (on the ancient format) was very low but I’m very proud over my limited numbered copy “1”. The film itself is also available on the anthology-DVD Experimental Films Through the Lens of a Shitty Camcorder (which I believe has been sold out!).

But regardless of the availability of the film I’m very impressed by the director’s competence when it comes to creating spellbinding sound/image combinations. All the music and sounds in the movie are just perfect to the graphic imagery. The style of the film seems to be inspired from the silent movie era and it’s just superb. I get the feeling that Ronny’s had a lot of fun making this and I really think that rubs off on the viewer. Apart from the silent films there’s obviously also inspiration from the infamous August Underground movies and there are bits and pieces here and there that manifests this quite clearly I think.

But if I’ll be completely honest with you I think this is more interesting than it´s more known inspirational sources! There’s a lot of suspense and horror when the films main character put starts to violate an innocent woman. The story is very simple but yet kind of genius. The main character (portrayed but Ronny himself) has this list where he needs to checks out one thing at the time, sort of a bucket list. First thing out is something “innocent” like killing a hitchhiker, after that he aims to vomit on two girls, which finally leads up to where the movie takes place – violating the innocent woman…

The killers mask, because the killer is mask, is another stroke of genius! It´s a pig head which might not be the most common mask in the business. It looks very original and horrifying, even real and that’s something I for one don’t take for granted when it comes to movies like this!

8/10

Review: Regissören - 2011

Regissören

Director: Ronny Carlsson

2011

Mocumentary

First of all let me tell you what an honor it is to be given the chance to write the first review of this in the entire world! I’ve seen all of Ronny’s previous movies, at least I think I have, and they’re all very special in one way or the other. You can clearly see that he has evolved from making fun shorts to complex thoughtful script where he forces the viewer to think. He has a thing for picking the optimal music for his scenes and there’s usually very little dialog – if any. The title of this movie – Regissören, literally translates into The Director and is in essence a mockumentary.

Its quite different though. But needless to say it works on so many different levels. First of all we have the obvious mockumentary level. I would certainly hope that some of the sequences are a product of Ronnys imagination. But there is also a true documentary side I think. Ronny may have chosen to manifest this in metaphors but have spoken with Ronny many a time I think I know what he means by it. It’s an expression of emotions and not to be taken literally.

It also works as an experimental and surreal film and it’s obvious that Ronny knows what his doing – or not? I say not because there’s so much trial and error in his movie making, at least that’s what he’s expressing here. But I could misinterpret of course, that may be part of the mockumentary. Haha!

The editing is top notch of course, that has always been Ronnys strong side and here he’s playing with it more that usual. The movie is mostly in Swedish but there are subtitles and some are spoken in English too. Dialog in a Ronny Carlsson film is awesome! There’s one sequence with an interview of sorts which is a highlight of the film. It’s so funny! They sit and talk about how to make and how to not make films. The true intentions of them and the need for experimentation. As soon as imaginative editing is mention the film takes a turn as shows just what they’re talking about. Many a true word are spoken here and I believe most of this is true to Ronny as a film maker and as a person.

Further more, the movie also works as a finishing part of Ronny “Shitty Camcorder Trilogy” which started with Video Geisteskrank and My Monster as well as a standalone anthology. I like this very much! Finally I think it kind of works as a promotion for Ronnys Forthcoming film Dustbox which I cannot wait to see!

7/10

Review: Dust Box - 2012

Dust Box

Director: Ronny Carlsson
Drama

2012

I have been told that I have misunderstood what Ronny wanted to do with this film and for that reason I have re-written the first paragraph which contained som factual errors.

According to Ronny, this is sort of a sequel to Récompence at least as far as theme is concerned. I don’t really follow it but I guess if you take some roaming in the woods and call that the theme I understand what he means. But on the other hand, Récompence was very stylish and I think I kind of expected more of that. And on a bigger note, I expected more altogether of the film. It’s a little bit too common and I can’t really see what I saw in the previous movie.

That doesn’t mean that I find this to be a bad movie but I wanted it to be a little more special. This is shot in both color and black and white and the picture is kind of regular. There are scenes that are more special but mostly it’s not. Instead this movie tries to build up a story that’s much more comprehendible than anything I’ve seen Ronny do. Furthermore, this film has dialog! Or at least the female lead has some lines. I commend this as it’s an evolving move for Ronnys filmmaking but I’m not sure if it was a fantastic idea. It’s not really convincing even if it’s spoken in Swedish. Thank God that there’s no bad English which so often wreck a promising idea.

As always, the touch when picking the music couldn’t be any better! If it’s something Ronny masters, it’s just that. To pick the music and sounds that emphasis the imagery. But on a total level I’m a bit disappointed. I expected more but I guess that’s my problem more that of the film.

6/10

Trailer: Dust Box

Here it is! The Teaser Trailer for the upcoming Dust Box by Ronny Carlsson. Do I need to add how high my hopes are for this one?

Dust Box - Official Teaser (2012) from Ronny Carlsson on Vimeo.

Review: Récompence - 2010

Récompence

Director: Ronny Carlsson

2010

Horror

A girl wakes up in the woods with no memory of what has happened before this point. Hurt and in need of help, she wanders through the woods and begins to question her own sanity as a figure starts appearing and disappearing everywhere she goes. What makes it all even stranger is that she feels a connection to this figure, an attraction of sorts.

I won’t deny that I stole synopsis above from the official site of the movie. Not because it’s a very hard film to comprehend in that way, even if it’s hard to interpret in other ways, but because that there’s not that much plot to describe. The movies strength isn’t in the plot anyway, it’s in the expression of it!

This movie spellbinds you even before the opening credits come to an end and if you have seen some of Ronny Carlssons movies before, you know what to expect when it comes to image/sound combinations. This one doesn’t disappoint either! This is, in fact, one of the best movies I’ve ever seen in that matter. It’s very exciting very early on in the movie and just after the opening credits, when you hear some environmental sounds to the beautiful black and white imagery, it’s even more interesting. What are we about to see? What will happen? Will we be surprised? Shocked? Disgusted or even astonished?

It’s hard to judge the actors in a film like this, there’s no dialog and the actors are not even the main characters. Instead it’s the very beautiful cinematography and the remarkably fitting music together with the camera angles that makes the movie to what it is! What the figure in white represents is a tough question to crack and it results in a thrilling feeling when we follow the woman’s path through the woods. Trees have never been more attractive! Begotten comes to mind with the extremely black and white footage, especially at one time when a sequence where all shades of gray are extinguished in a very stylistic effect! There are certainly similarities with Begotten, apart from that this movie is much better and more understandable that Begotten ever was!

But even if it’s understandable from one point of view, there are still plenty of question marks to straighten out. Does the film tell something metaphorically? What does the figure in white represent? It’s a question that's open for subjective interpretation. A lost love? Death? Something completely different? It’s up to each one to decide, but either way it’s an extremely visually beautiful film! Did I mention the cinematography?

8/10