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5
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
A
deranged mother (Michele Valley) and daughter (Meredyth Herold)
indulge in S&M
games when their sanctuary is invaded by a mysterious stranger
they nickname "Singapore Sling" (Panos Thanassoulis)...
By
virtue of its extreme images of depravity and sadism, Singapore
Sling has attained a fervent cult following. The film
is often referenced as a sort of cinematic right of passage
—
a litmus test, if you will. While the film is strong enough,
it nevertheless lacks the sheer visceral gut-punch of something
like Deodato's Cannibal
Holocaust, and doesn't succeed in wallowing in enough depravity
to warrant inclusion among the likes of Passolini's Salo.
Taken on its own terms, in fact, this noir-art film hybrid is
too indecisive in its aims to be particularly effective.
Greek writer/director
Nicos Nikolaidis constructs the film like a '40s noir thriller
as envisioned by David Lynch. The narrative is obtuse to the
point of being meaningless, and while there is much to be said
for ambiguity, Nikolaidis misses the mark. All the ambiguity
and weirdness only serves as a hypocritical facade for what
is, ultimately, a rather revolting exercise in cinematic shock.
Far from having something profound to say, the director revels
in male castration fantasy imagery, playing on its intended
audience's fear of women as sufficient motivation for the garbled
fantasy. The references to Preminger's noir touchstone Laura
(1944) have some wit, but the combination of laconic voice over
narration, dreamy black and white photography and the requisite
femme fatale figures only serve to pay lip service to his cinematic
forebears without ever showing a particular insight into the
downtrodden spirit behind them. If Nikolaidis' goal was to shock
the viewer, he is in many respects successful —
but it is a hollow victory. Without characters of any depth
or meaning, the narrative is never involving. The story unfolds
with all the appeal of an accident scene, sufficiently grisly
and sensational to keep one looking, but always at a distance.
There is no dramatic 'in'
to hook onto, turning the film into a succession of coldly unemotional
set-pieces that have all the depth and significance of a pretentious
student film.
All this is not to
suggest that Singapore Sling is
without merit, however. While the film definitely suffers from
an overdose of avant-garde superficiality, one is left admiring
the sheer skill and artistry of its execution. The imagery is
frequently stunning —
Nikolaidis makes particularly strong use of rain, effectively
soaking the imagery in a constantly shifting barrage of shadows.
The action manages to pick up, albeit slightly, in the final
section. Though the film never becomes emotionally involving,
there is a certain sly satisfaction in seeing how the narrative
resolves itself. Even so, one is left wishing that the director
had used his obvious technical expertise to better ends. Simply
beating the viewer over the head with repetitious displays of
sensationalism is not only deadening, but often tedious to boot.
|
|
|
| Synapse's
release of Singapore Sling is mostly
first-class. The film has, not surprisingly, proven elusive in
its intended uncensored form. Synapse rectifies this by presenting
it completely uncut. The transfer is splendid — the 1.66/16x9
image is razor sharp and clearly defined. The black and white
photography is perfectly rendered, and only some minor deficiencies
in the source material — a few splices and the like — are bound
to cause distraction. The soundtrack is also clean and clear.
While much of the dialogue is in English, the voice over narration
is in Greek and some snatches of dialogue spoken by the mother
are in French; while this dialogue is burned onto the source material,
Synapse has seen fit to offer optional English subtitles which
are superimposed, somewhat awkwardly, over the preexisting subtitles,
with the aid of a none-too-subtle gray matte that crops a decent
portion of the image. Why Synapse opted for this is open to speculation,
but these oversized subtitles are optional and removable, leaving
one with the perfectly adequate subtitles already burned onto
the image. Extras are negligible — a paltry still gallery and
a trailer. 1/11/07 |
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