The Killing of a Sacred Deer
In the next several posts I will share my 2017 discoveries. These are the films that moved me and or inspired in one way or another. Here they come. In no particular order.
Naming the new Lanthismos' film one of “best of”
somehow does not sit well with me. The film is so disturbing and
challenging that I am inclined to say “I hate it”. Can I hate it
and name it among the best of 2017? I hate it and at the same time I
tremendously appreciate it for its audacity, technical dexterity and
the questions it posses.
The questions:
How, if at all, do we take
responsibilities for our actions?
Can we afford to be oblivious to our
actions?
How mindful are we in our lives and
work?
Do our actions return to us? Do they have to?
If so, how?
How do we pay for our mistakes?
Where is the border between the private and the social?
Can we will justice on others?
Do children posses moral radars that we
have lost?
The story is quite troubling.
It's troublesome irk comes from a combination of two techniques: the
first is a preposterous assumption thrown into a reality and then
treated with utter seriousness. The same happens a lot in
Kieslowski's films – for example in Double Life of Veronique.
The
second comes with externalizing and visualizing (and making audible)
that which is about to happen. The result of which is the unnerving
feeling that the boy on the screen is an exemplification of something bigger.
Or that his fury is foreshadowed and somehow made subconsciously
known to the main character. (The first possibility narrows down to certainty if we follow the myth of Iphigenia. But I assume that not everybody pays attention to the clue and that furthermore not everybody remembers the myth.)
There are many decisions of varied degree of subtlety layered in the film. For example most of the time Collin Farell speaks
fast as if trying to put a spell on reality. He can't. Nobody can.
Our deeds will hunt us until we will have to pay for them in full
conscience. Hence karma 2.0
