"Escape from Death" some time ago was ranked No. 1 among the 25 greatest films of 2017 by "Vision and Hearing". I personally like this movie very much, so I specially translated a piece of "Vision and Hearing". "A film review on the official website, by Trevor Johnston
Movie of the week: "Escape from Death", a surreal satire on racial tensions
Jordan Peel’s debut is a creative and outstanding horror film that reveals a series of disturbing injustices in contemporary America.
Since the release of "Night of the Living Dead" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", the key routine of horror genre films has been to constantly show the painful status quo of contemporary America. With more and more massacres on the screen over the years, I am very pleased to see that a creator did not try to bring us more clichés. On the contrary, he chose to return to an uneasy distorted by imagination. In China, it is this kind of anxiety that makes the TV series "Yin and Yang Devildom" a popular cultural symbol that shows the anxiety of the older generation of Americans.
This outstanding debut by Jordan Peel, who is also a director, is a typical work from our time, namely the Black Lives Matter era. Its tone is provocative, but it is also a film that uses Rod Serling's surrealism—as an imaginary shell—to show a series of sensitive topics. (Rod Serlin, a famous Hollywood filmmaker in the 1950s, represented as the TV series "Yin and Yang Devildom", translator's note)
Get ready to watch this movie, which digs deep into the whites’ unease about black sexual problems and the legacy of slavery in the national spirit. You may only find content that is more controversial only in the film "Mandingo" taken by Richard Fletcher decades ago and the photographs of African American athletes taken by photographer Robert Mapleshorpe.
As a horror movie dedicated to "Guess Who's Coming for Dinner", "Escape from Dead End" puts Daniel Kalua in the role of Sidney Poitier, a friendly young man who is careful The wealthy parents who face their white girlfriends are then exposed to a bizarre terrorist incident. What he strives for will no longer be his self-esteem, but his identity as an individual with independent consciousness.
It’s best not to reveal too many interesting B-level film reversals in this film, but I can still say that while Peel’s work is in a wild and unconstrained form, its core is still rooted in today’s problematic American reality. Obviously This was born from the consciousness of black Americans suffering from fear and anger. When watching this movie, people may think of movies like "Out of Aura", "Second Life", or even "Two Brains".
In fact, considering that this terrifying white couple are super wealthy experts—Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener brilliantly acted as a smiling and affectionate couple, until they suddenly tear up Below you can say Peel, the director who was well-known for winning the Emmy Award by the duo "Ke and Peel", discussed the two major social trends in the United States under Trump — the increasingly tense racial issues and The distrust of liberal elites, and Peel's powerful narrative techniques magnified these problems.
The horrible baggage that finally shakes out did not disappoint us, because it was even more bizarre than we thought. But the real highlight of the film is the first hour that was permeated by anxiety. When the easy-going protagonist played by Kalua gradually collapses after being beaten, we are extremely sensitive to any outrageous words and deeds. As the teaspoon was constantly stirred in the porcelain cup, Peel used brilliant imagination to reconstruct daily life and release the potential fear in it. The movie is complete in theme, but the subtle techniques and small narrative tricks will lead the audience into horror and at the same time bring a lot of laughter, and then the audience will realize the wonderful adventure they have just experienced. Is it too early to call it a contemporary genre film classic?
This article is a translation before reprinting myself
Original English link:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/reviews-recommendations/get-out-jordan-peele-surreal-satire-racial-tension
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