Dead Silence

Last night I was watching the film Dead Silence, directed by James Wan. It's about this guy (Ryan Kwanten) whose wife is murdered, with her tongue torn out, apparently by a ventriloquist's dummy that is mysteriously delivered to their apartment. The police naturally don't believe him, but the man connects it to a local ghost story from the small town called Raven's Fair where he and his wife grew up about a ventriloquist called Mary Shaw who was implicated in the disappearance of a local boy and murdered by a vigilante mob, who tore out her tongue, and ever since comes back as a malevolent spirit to kill and remove the tongue of anyone who screams. The film's director, James Wan, and writer, Leigh Whannell, were also responsible for the Saw series of films (interestingly, both this film and the Saw films feature creepy ventriloquist dummies). The films is pretty creepy in places and is very stylishly done. I really didn't think it was bad at all.

Later on I was watching another film on television called Shakes the Clown, written, directed by and starring comedian Bobcat Goldthwait. The story is set in the fictional city of Palukaville and tells the story of depressed, alcoholic clown Shakes (Goldthwait) who specialises in performing at children's parties. When his boss is murdered and Shakes is framed for the killing he goes on the run to clear his name. The film is a pretty nasty and mean-spirited dark comedy. The film depicts communities of clowns and mimes as bitter, rival sub-cultures, obsessed with status. It features Robin Williams in a cameo as a mime teacher and Adam Sandler in a small role as a clown.

I had a quiet morning today. At around lunchtime I headed out to the Filmhouse cinema. I had just missed the bus that I usually get. With a bit of running though, I managed to catch a differnet bus and get to the cinema on time. The film I was there to see was a re-release of Jules et Jim, a 1962 French film directed by Francois Truffaut and based on the novel by Henri-Pierre Roche. It's set around before, during and after the First World War and tells the story of Jules (played by Oskar Werner) a shy writer from Austria who becomes good friends with Jim (Henri Serre) an extroverted Parisian. However, their friendship is tested when they meet the free-spirited Catherine (Jeanne Moreau), whom they both end up falling for. It is a very good film, and one of the classics of the French New Wave movement. It features a kaleidoscope of cinematic tricks such as voice-over narration, freeze-frames, on-screen captions, newsreel footage and handheld camera footage. After the film I went and had a drink in the cinema cafe-bar before heading back home.