Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Review: The Haunting of Hill House ( Netflix )


This series was high on my watch list for a few reasons, the main ones being 1) I love the horror genre, 2) the cast is superb, and 3) I had a vivid paranormal encounter when I was a child, so I believe 100% in the existence of a supernatural dimension.

I just finished the last episode and consider it one of Netflix's best productions, right up there with Narcos, The Crown, House of Cards and Godless.
( And it really amazes me how Netflix churns out such high quality fare in huge quantities. )

So what's my verdict?

Is it scary? A definite yes.
Hats off to director Mike Flanagan for his amazing skill in building tension and scaring the crap out of me - an extremely difficult feat, considering my high fear threshold.
Of course, THOHH has a major advantage over films - it spans 10 one-hour episodes, with ample room to develop characters and storylines.
Still, on the flip side, I could also have lost interest, or Flanagan might have run out of novel ways to frighten me. I'm happy to report that neither of these occurred.

To be fair, the first 3 or 4 episodes didn't pack much of a wallop. That's when each character was being fleshed out, with Flanagan taking his time to do so. But I remained intrigued and invested, and my patience finally paid off in episode 5, which made my hair stand.

And let's not forget episode 6! One of the most incredible achievements I've ever witnessed in television, with beautifully choreographed one-shot takes that lasted up to 17 minutes. The acting - including that from the young cast - was phenomenal. This better not be overlooked at next year's Emmys.


What makes it scary?
There're a few run-of-the-mill tricks, of course. Sudden loud noises, corpses sitting up, spirits floating around, horrible creatures crawling towards the screen.
But the ones that most affected me involved blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, and believing something no matter how evil it sounds, out of a sense of hopelessness and despair.

Special mention goes to the numerous "Where's Wally?" moments, where Flanagan hides ghostly figures in various spots in the background. I only noticed them after stumbling upon an article. IT CREEPED ME OUT.

It's no wonder Stephen King has been effusive in his praise, although I stop short of calling it "a work of genius".
However, it won't be easy to match or surpass THOHH anytime soon.


Is it only about ghosts? No, it isn't.
In fact, I would say that the bulk of the story revolves around the Crains rather than Hill House.
And this is where my repeated descriptions about the series being "really sad" comes in, as a previously happy family is irreparably damaged, and an earlier tragedy continues to haunt them decades later.
This particular story arc probably won't touch people who are haven't personally experienced great loss or dysfunctional family dynamics. For someone like me, however, the tissue moments were abundant.
I read online comments from viewers who found this boring. I feel sorry for them - they've completely missed the best part of the series.


The adult cast is absolutely magnificent. The actors are all terrific in their own ways, but my favourite is Michiel Huisman, who plays Steven Crain. He doesn't have as many dramatic scenes as the others, who get to portray characters with mental illness, substance abuse and psychic abilities. But Steven is the one who grounds the entire family - the most level-headed, the stable one, though still far from perfect.

In the last minutes of the final episode, Huisman delivers a poignant monologue, an excerpt of which I've posted here:
"Ghosts are guilt. Ghosts are secrets. Ghosts are regrets and failings. But most times, a ghost is a wish."

This encompasses the essence of THOHH - i.e. the many meanings of the word "ghost". Sometimes, real life is far more terrifying than anything supernatural.


Next on my watch list - Bodyguard, starring Richard Madden. :)

Monday, October 08, 2018

Review: Operation Finale


People who know me well are aware of my deep interest in certain historical events. Slavery is one of them. The Holocaust is the other.

My knowledge about Nazis began in early childhood, ironically, through a deceptively fluffy little adventure film called Raiders of the Lost Ark ( I was only 6 or 7 when I saw it at the cinema ). That, coupled with a detailed narrative from my history buff mother, nurtured a lifelong fascination with the Third Reich and its unspeakable genocidal acts.

Operation Finale (OF) recounts the capture of Adolf Eichmann, nicknamed "the Architect of the Holocaust", in Argentina, after which he was tried, convicted and executed in Israel for his crimes.

The story itself is pretty straightforward, and even shares quite a few similarities with the plot from 2010's The Debt ( Jessica Chastain and Sam Worthington ) - also about Mossad agents hunting a Nazi in a foreign country. Both movies are greatly helped by terrific casts, plus a number of memorable scenes.

It's interesting to note that Oscar Isaac is one of the producers of Operation Finale. It illustrates his passion for the project, with significant personal investment, even though he's of Guatemalan descent. Speaking of which, the choice of actors is rather odd, with Americans and a French playing Israeli characters, and Ben Kingsley retaining his crisp British twang as Eichmann.
Lots of Hollywood films do the same thing, of course, but it did perplex me, and I felt they could've at least tried to have more authentic accents like in The Debt.

Aside from that little flaw, I though OF was well done, satisfying and at times very moving. Without revealing spoilers, moments which stood out include a secret Nazi gathering in Argentina ( unsettling ), the Israeli prime minister's soft but poignant speech to the Mossad agents ( heart-wrenching ), and Isaac's one-on-one scenes with Kingsley ( enlightening ).

An article about the actual events versus the film's depiction offers good insights.
A choice quote from Peter Malkin ( played by Isaac ) is how "his conversations with Eichmann helped him to realize that the former Nazi was not a monster but a human being, which made Eichmann's actions during the war even harder to comprehend... a monster can be excused for his behaviour... The problem is not how a monster could do it, but how a human being did it."

This observation permeates many well-known movies about the Holocaust and Nazis. Amon Goeth ( Schindler's List ) developed a romantic attachment to his Jewish maid, while Reinhard Heydrich ( The Man With The Iron Heart ) was a devoted father. Their capacity for selective hatred and justification of clearly heinous acts is something I still struggle to understand.


Special mention goes to Isaac for yet another stellar performance. OF didn't make a huge impact at the box office, but neither did The Debt or The Man with the Iron Heart, and I found all three very compelling and highly recommend them.

I've followed Isaac's career since 2010's Robin Hood, before he found stardom with 2013's Inside Llewyn Davis. He's one of the finest actors of our generation, but is sorely underrated. It could be a result of his unconventional choices ( a preference for smaller films over mainstream blockbusters ), but every time he appears on the screen - ruggedly handsome, with a constantly melancholy expression, speaking in a soft yet urgent tone - I dare you to remain unmoved.

His scenes with Kingsley are superb. They speak in gentle, hushed voices, belying the horrific nature of their conversations. The power shifts are mesmerizing, and what I found most inspiring was how Malkin managed to overcome his disgust for Eichmann to play an integral part in the mission's success.


I visited Washington, D.C. in 2014. It included a tour of the Holocaust Memorial Museum - a place which none of my friends who've been to Washington saw ( very wasted, IMO ). Even in a museum setting, the pain and sadness that permeated the entire building was overwhelming, and the mood of all the visitors ( including high school students ) was sombre.
As I passed the huge pile of shoes which belonged to those who perished at the death camps, I remember wondering how mankind could be capable of such depravity. Then came the display of heroes' images, including Oskar Schindler's - angels who stood up to an evil regime and restored my faith in humanity.

My journey will continue next year, as I plan to visit Auschwitz and central Europe, where much of the Holocaust took place.

I will end this entry with a beautiful quote from the Holocaust Museum's Hall of Remembrance, from the Bible's book of Deuteronomy: Only guard yourself and guard your soul carefully, lest you forget the things your eyes saw, and lest these things depart your heart all the days of your life. And you shall make them known to your children, and to your children's children.


We will never forget. We must never forget.