Title: Vengeance is Mine
Year: 2020
Director: Edwin
Country: Thailand
Language: Thai
Masculinity is really frail when you analyze it under a microscope. Much of what "being a man" means is held up by norms and traditions that don't really make much sense and/or are incredibly dated. Those who think they are "alpha males" are usually just those who stick to these strict, ridiculous standards and put down those who are different from an perceived "norm". Alas, Vengeance is Mine is a good window into toxic masculinity.
In a society ruled by machismo, a hibernating "bird" (boner) becomes a serious matter. In a life of brutality, the sleeping bird is an allegory for a peaceful and serene life, even when the whole world tries desperately to rouse it.
Erectile disfunction is the theme of Vengeance is Mine. Our main character is struggling to accept his difficulty and often reacts about the news in violent ways in order to prove that he is a "man". When most movies talk about boners they tend to be coy, this film doesn't beat around the bush and is both hilarious and heartfelt because of it. The film frames societies obsession with getting/maintaining an erection as part of toxic masculinity.
Faith Akin provides impressive choreography to the fight sequences that mimic 80's action movies, similar to the style of John Woo. Genre elements and stylized action work very well to entertain the viewer, but some side plots prove to be extremely boring and distract from the main theme. It feels like the writers were a little too ambitious and wanted to be about more things, but Edwin should have known better, cut the side stories and made the film 30-40 minutes shorter.
Vengeance is Mine is a fun film that will have audiences talking about how brash and over-the-top the language and action scenes were. It's quite a weird picture that I doubt would ever get funding in the West. Southeast Asian films are hidden gems of World Cinema.
No comments:
Post a Comment