A
Comprehensive 'Wicked' Review by
ATROCITIES
CINEMA . COM
Matthew
Hill
Say the
words "fairy tale", and you'll evoke a different response
from everyone. To some, the term implies any story that contains
cute, happy-go-lucky woodland nymphs who fill the forests with
echoing laughter and mischief. To others, it conjures a darker
subtext, with witches, goblins, and bogeys who punish meddling
mortals...usually in ways that reek of poetic justice. For me,
it's somewhere in between...the "lighter" aspects
of your typical Grimm brothers tale or Hans Christian Anderson
story betray a much darker moral and sexual patina.
The good
girl or boy might be rewarded, but you can rest assured that
there is a hefty price to pay in terms of fear, loneliness,
and loss of innocence. So, with this heady brew of morality
and terror, it's often interesting to see fairy tales "brought
to life" on the screen, but too often the story and subtext
give way to sheer spectacle (e.g. Ridley Scott's mixed-bag Legend).
It seems that truly fractured fairy tales come from the least
obvious places...even from Singapore, as is the case with Tzang
Merwyn Tong's exquisite, artful short film A Wicked Tale.
The synopsis...
Pretty young Beth (Evelyn Maria Ng) is tasked by her mother
to go to Grandma's house to deliver a basket of goodies...but
not before mother warns Beth of the dangers of talking to strangers.
Along the way, she is stopped by Louis Le Bon (our "wolf"
in Danish Rock Star Johan Ydstrand's body), who is definitely
a stranger, albeit a mysteriously charming and gentlemanly stranger.
Despite her mother's warnings, and those of her Uncle Charlie
(who is apparently a gardener or landscaper instead of the more
traditional "woodsman"), she accepts a gift from Le
Bon...a bright red, incredibly phallic lollipop, which Beth
proceeds to tongue nervously. Le Bon sends Beth on her merry
way, but it's clear that he's already hatched his plan. Using
an apparent short cut, Le Bon arrives at hash-smoking Grandma's
house just long enough before Beth so that he can beat her to
death, and sit in her bed waiting for Beth to arrive. When Beth
shows up, she enters grandma's house, where she finds that Le
Bon is there waiting. Now, it must be said that Le Bon has done
absolutely nothing to conceal his identity. He just curls up
in Grandma's bed, lights up a joint, and immediately starts
flirting with Beth. This is particularly interesting because
either A.) Beth doesn't really care, as she is so caught up
in this mysterious man's charms, or B.) She is so symbolically
"innocent" that she isn't particularly predisposed
to noticing that her Grandma suddenly looks and talks oddly
like the man who, not a half hour before gave her a symbolic
candy penis to suck on, or maybe C.) A little bit of both. Either
way, Beth just goes along with Le Bon's little game, and the
sexual tension just builds and builds to an almost unbearable
level. We, the viewers (especially male viewers) are torn between
wanting Beth to get nekkid and wanting Uncle Charlie or somebody
to bust in and rescue Beth from what is, let's face it, a rather
creepy, slimy dude who's clearly just trying to shag her rotten.
I digress. The "seduction" continues, and Le Bon even
manages to convince Beth to smoke some dope...and he's pretty
much straightforward with her about why she should smoke it...to
relax her inhibitions. Suddenly, Uncle Charlie busts in, and
from that moment, A Wicked Tale gets bloody. I cannot and will
not ruin the surprises and twists that the remainder of this
short film has in store, but even if you somehow see them coming,
they will lose none of their eerie, timely impact.
 |
"A
stunning, visceral, and absolutely goregeous film ... one
of the most original treatments of the Little Red story
in cinematic history." |
What
we're left with is a stunning, visceral, and absolutely goregeous
film. This ain't the version of Little Red that you grew up
with. In fact, it's fairly unique in film history...the closest
cousin to A Wicked Tale might be Neil Jordan's underrated The
Company of Wolves, which also dealt with wolves as symbols for
the dangers that girls face when they become women (i.e. sex).
But where that film may have missed the mark due to its obtuse
symbolism and over-the-top special effects, A Wicked Tale succeeds
mostly due to its simplistic approach. Director Tzang Merwyn
Tong doesn't spare us the point of what's actually happening
here, but the way he says it makes it one of the most original
treatments of the Little Red story in cinematic history.
Tong
attains a particularly lofty height with one aspect of A Wicked
Tale...the characterizations. Aside from being astoundingly
beautiful and having a flighty, childlike voice (that we don't
hear until halfway into the film...but more on that later),
Evelyn Maria Ng's "Beth" is a character defined by
two distinct features: her body language and her costuming.
Beth is an archetypal "Little Red" in some ways; doe-eyed,
waifish, and innocent, but her deeper characterization depends
on the viewer making associations based upon her wardrobe...first
a girlish red frockdress and Mary Jane shoes, and then a seductive
and suggestive undergarment. She is clearly meant to be viewed
as the lecherous Louis Le Bon views her...as "dinner"
for his sexual appetites. Likewise, Ydstrand's Le Bon is the
archetypal "wolf"...he is a predator...nothing more,
nothing less. That he (sort of) becomes a sympathetic character
near the film's end does not absolve Le Bon from his sins. He
is a character defined by his desires...clear as day and deep
as a well. These two characters work so well together because
they are the literal physical and emotional manifestations of
what their archetypes represent so effectively in the source
"fairy tale"...the big bad dashing dude with insatiable
cravings and his target...a ripe, nubile woman at the height
of her sexual blossoming.
| "In
a lesser film, this would all feel too artsy and pretentious,
but here...well, it just works so goddamned well that I'm
not going to complain." |
 |
Now, aside
from all of this pontification and symbolic posturing, A Wicked
Tale is a stylistic triumph. Tong utilizes a veritable bonanza
of cinematic styles and techniques. The majority of the first
act of the film is played out silently, with all of the (minimal)
dialogue shown with title cards. Then, he shifts gears and styles
to embrace a far grittier, dirtier stylistic approach that is
quite appropriate during the second act's seduction sequence.
And again, he moves into a slick, polished style during the
climactic fight/torture sequence...worthy of Miike or Argento.
Finally, he moves into a cold, sterile environment shot in icy
hues that bring to mind a Kubrickian aesthetic. Tong is a director
who knows the language of film, and he employs every bit of
filmmaking savvy at his disposal for great effect. In a lesser
film, this would all feel too artsy and pretentious, but here...well,
it just works so goddamned well that I'm not going to complain.
The DVD
I'm reviewing here is not the final, "retail" product,
and thus I cannot speak to such things as "special features".
No, this is a DVD-R copy (in PAL, no less) supplied to me by
Tong. I'm not sure about future domestic DVD release plans,
but I'm in the process of interviewing Tong, so I'll ask him,
and then pass the information along to my readers.
According
to the INRI Studio website, A Wicked Tale has won several awards
at various film festivals around the world, and I can see why.
I don't want to overspeak here...this film isn't perfect...but
it's got so much going for it that I can't help but recommend
it as highly as possible.
###
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