Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc Faustus
The main thing I liked about it was the level of transgression and all the layers of it. First of all, the movie takes a private school and turns it into a women in prison movie. That to me is shocking and reminds me that whatever high school is to Americans, films like this and Suicide Club remind us it's twice as draconian to the Japanese. Second, I love the over-the-top splat interpretation of the cruelty teenagers, teenage girls in particular inflict on each other. Mean Girls? Heathers? They don't quite get how mean kids can actually be to each other, while this is over the top, I like the "might as well be" metaphor, as you can tell from my writing. These girls get a chance to strike back, which is HUGE when you look at the institution of school. The ending is poetic and intense, reminding me a lot of things like the Wall. As an anarchist who had a rough time in high school and saw a lot of girls messed up by the inhumanity of the institutions and each other, these ideas intrigue me. So, I don't look at it as torture for torture's sake, but as torture to reflect torture that is not called torture. I think this was a novelty and though some of the kink is too much, it says a lot.
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Thanks, Doc. I initially enjoyed the comparison of the prison movie cliche to create an interesting subtext surrounding the behavior and treatment of girls in the high school environment (and I found it shocking too, which was obviously the intent and incredibly successful).
You make a really good point, though - The subtext is controversial, disturbing, and purposefully over-the-top. The concept is brilliant and I also think it's well-done exploitation. While I appreciate the subtext, though, I think that the end (for
me at lease) doesn't necessarily justify the means (I think that, from a feminist perspective, there's a point where I have a difficult time watching exploitation, though I think that's more of a personal issue than an indictment of the film itself.
Thanks for the recommendation, though, and your analysis. I love and appreciate those who actually
think about movies and not just watch them... And you're one of those people.