Every movie gives its own spin to specific themes. Themes like love or revenge are the same in their basic concept, but the way it is brought to the big screen can take various forms. Sometimes there are movies who deal with a specific theme and have a lot of similarities, often not even purposefully. When watching Big Bad Wolves, which Quentin Tarantino chose as his favorite movie of the year, I couldn’t help thinking about Prisoners. Both movies are about the love a father has for his child and the actions he is prepared to take to find out the truth. In both movies they are willing to go very far to let people talk that they are expecting are responsible for the disappearance of their daughter.
Miki (Lior Ashkenazi) is a detective who has strong suspicions that a teacher (played by Rotem Keinan) is responsible for the disappearance, abuse and murder of several children. During the opening of the film he tries, together with two other cops, to make him talk in an abandoned building, without much success. When his boss finds out he has to hand in his badge while the case is investigated. Still he can’t let go of the investigation and decides to take matters into his own hands. A father of a lost girl (Tzahi Grad) has the same idea and the two, together with the suspect end up in a very remotely located house.
If you can’t stomach watching extreme violence/torture then this is a movie you shouldn’t be watching. Just like in Prisoners the people involved are willing to go all the way to find out the truth and not everyone will be able to appreciate that. But the thing is that the violence the movie has isn’t there to shock the viewer (although it will), but is a natural fit to the story. As a viewer you wonder how far you would be willing to go, but the movie also plays with your emotions. Have these guys actually found the right guy? At various moments the movie goes in unexpected directions, something which I really loved. When watching this film its best to do so in its original undubbed form as the American dubbing is horrible and takes away a lot of the raw emotion the movie has on display. If you are someone who can appreciate South Korean revenge movies then you should give Big Bad Wolves a shot.
I thought Prisoners was a terrific film, and this sounds like it might be equally as compelling. Nice work, Nostra!
Do watch it if you get a chance to do so.