PIC of the Week – Mandy
Article series by Ray Schillaci
This weeks PIC will take you places you may not want to go. Image Entertainment’s Blu of Mandy is uncomfortable, bizarre, and damn near mind-bending. Director Pano Cosmatos (son of George P. Cosmatos, director of Tombstone) definitely has his own visual flair. Flamboyant, outrageous, and unwavering, cinephiles will see his influences: Ken Russell, Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch. Rarely can any filmmaker live up to those names, but Cosmatos comes close with help from a gonzo performance by Nicolas Cage.
Much is being said about Cage’s performance in Mandy, although we really do not get to the crux of his performance until halfway through the film. Cosmatos fills the screen with so much dread before the (SPOILER – if you do not know by now) actual attack on Cage’s wife played with an ethereal air by Andrea Riseborough, best known for another equally strange film, Birdman. Cage and Riseborough are Red and Mandy who live out in the middle of the forest in the early ’80s with a hippie lifestyle.
He makes ends meet as a lumberjack, and she works at a general store and draws beautiful fantasy art. She also leans towards the dark in her reading and her artwork. The couples’ introduction is nearly fairytale serene almost at the edge of Lynch’s Blue Velvet. One cannot help but feel that her obsession with the darkness leads to their downfall. Whether or not Cosmatos and Aaron Stewart-Ahn insinuated that in their story is open to interpretation, as with most of the story of Mandy.
On the opposite end, are The Children of the New Dawn, a Manson-like cult looking to spread their beliefs upon the world, because they believe they were ordained to do so. This all appears to be semi-grounded in reality until the Children of the New Dawn summon Hades’ hounds in the form of a black metallic motorcycle gang. Honestly, they feel like leftovers from Clive Barker’s Hellraiser on wheels. Bizarre as it sounds, they do grow on us as something unearthly frightening.
Leading the cult is over-the-top psycho, Jeremiah, portrayed by Linus Roache, best known as Thomas Wayne in Batman Begins. Roache fills the role with an insidious glee that makes us squirm. He has become obsessed with Red’s wife. As crazy as Jeremiah is, we begin to wonder how Cage will top it. He does.
Cage does not just capture the insanity of it all, he embraces it. And, at times this revenge flick skirts the comedy of Raimi’s ’82 horror extravaganza The Evil Dead. The difference being, Bruce Campbell places tongue firmly in cheek while Cage delivers an occasional unsettling laugh, and then expertly draws you back into the seriousness of it all. This had to have been an exhausting exercise for Cage. Hell, I was wiped out just watching him go through his anguish.
Cosmatos doesn’t flinch at the evil, and some of it is close to an X-rating. In fact, the violence may even be secondary to some of the unpleasant visuals. The film is a phantasmagoria of horror, sci-fi, extreme violence, and hallucinogenic (bad) acid trip.
This is no ordinary film, and it’s one that will probably stick with you for quite some time. Although, there will be some who will question why Cage would be involved in such a hedonistic project, and that it only serves the purpose of the violent video game generation. It’s a good argument, but Cosmatos’ film goes beyond exploitation, and may deserve far more serious consideration.
Image Entertainment delivers a Blu with a multitude of bright colors contrasted with all the shades of darkness one can imagine, much to the intention of the director with a highly stylized HD picture. Those with HDR will notice that Mandy remains to have a filmic look unlike so many other high gloss films. Whatever grain you see is deliberate.
Audio wise, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 fulfills all the hallucinatory effects. Although, dialogue is stronger in the center speaker, everything else sweeps us into this insane world. You may even find yourself gasping for a moment of quiet to escape this horrific world conceived by Cosmatos.
Now the bad part…EXTRAS! Where are they? We’re only afforded a glimpse into the making with a 22 minute behind-the-scenes that, although may be interesting, it barely whets our appetite. Where is a Nicolas Cage interview or even one with his co-star Riseborough?
There are also some deleted and extended scenes as well. But, that’s it. This film cries out for a far more extensive bonus package. Who knows, may be there will be one with a Criterion version.
Now regarding lowest price, let me explain why I hesitate with Amazon and why I’m late with this PIC. After hearing all the hoopla surrounding Nicolas Cage’s performance and an extended standing ovation for the director at Cannes, I decided to pre-order this film on Amazon on October 29th. I was assured I would receive it by October 31st. Beautiful, I thought just before Halloween.
But, then I received an email telling me that it may arrive up to two days late. I’m thinking, it’s due to the popular title. No, the new AMZL US, a new delivery service by Amazon, lost my order in transit. And apparently I’m not the first. So, I hesitate suggesting Amazon right off the bat. With that said…
Best Price – Target, Walmart, and finally…Amazon – $14.99
