Stoker – Die Unschuld endet (2013)

Stoker – Die Unschuld endet: Directed by Park Chan-Wook. With Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, David Alford, Matthew Goode. After India’s father dies, her Uncle Charlie, whom she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.

“A thriller about psychopaths and sick agendas, Stokeru0026#39;s title summons connotations of the Dracula author. With its Gothic romance novel visual design, a moody anti-heroine right out of the Twilight craze, and a shower masturbation montage borrowing visual cues from Psycho, Stoker presumes to deliver a power-punch of stormy atmosphere and unsettling, offbeat storytelling. Provocative and lurid, artfully photographed, that atmosphere is indeed present in Stoker, as is its departure from the beaten path of mainstream studio fare.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe picture pulls its knock-out upper-cut however, by betraying a derivative (though not over-worn) story and a not-so-novel revelation of its mystery. The plot is essentially Hitchcocku0026#39;s Shadow Of A Doubt (1943), but this is a good one, full of potential for delightful and interesting variations, such as the wickedly disturbing 1966 Letu0026#39;s Kill Uncle with Mary Badham of To Kill A Mockingbird fame.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn Stoker, troubled India (Mia Wasikowska) reminds us of Wednesday from The Addamu0026#39;s Family. Wealthy, privileged, doted on, but misfit, morbid, and sporting a damningly annoying overbearing of sophisticated, anti-social charm, India is grudgingly and minimally cooperative. Sheu0026#39;s resentful, and seething with some inner grievances, but weu0026#39;re never made privy to what they are. Thereu0026#39;s a good and evil struggle within her, offset by a chronic, clear desire to be elsewhere. But rather than take action to affect change, she grumpily goes through the motions, while internally swimming against the current.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn East Of Eden, Cal Trask (James Dean) beguiles us by revealing an inner turmoil and a jagged chasm of obviously anguished, and likely twisted emotions. The feelings never have to be explained. Itu0026#39;s sufficient that Calu0026#39;s facial expressions betray them. Our imaginations run wild to fill in the rest. Similarly in Stoker, with her obviously charred soul, India is virtually a plot element unto herself, and the most intriguing one in the film. As with the old inmatesu0026#39; adage, family expectations and social constraints may imprison her, but in her mind sheu0026#39;s free, and u0026quot;theyu0026quot; canu0026#39;t take that away from her.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOr can they? India is stewing in repressed passions but we donu0026#39;t know what they are. Nor will we, for while we eventually receive simple explanation for the root cause of her condition, Stoker never explores the deep, murky waters of that bottomless pool personality behind Indiau0026#39;s ink-well black eyes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s a lot of masquerade in Stoker. While thereu0026#39;s obviously more to India than we can fathom, and we want to know all about her, thereu0026#39;s also more to her uncanny, disingenuous paternal Uncle Charles (Matthew Goode), and upon meeting him, neither we, nor India, are so sure we want to take a sounding. Charles makes the scene following the funeral for Indiau0026#39;s father whose very untimely death occurred in an equally unlikely accident.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite being extroverted and ingratiating, thereu0026#39;s something just not right about Uncle Charley. He exudes a facade of Mormon-esque, overly enthused, positive cheer which nearly overshadows a subtle undercurrent of ruthless self-service. But maybe thatu0026#39;s just Indiau0026#39;s cynical outlook rubbing off on us. Either way, Uncle Charleyu0026#39;s here to stay, and after inviting himself as permanent house guest, he begins brazenly courting Indiau0026#39;s bereaved, yet bored and impulsive, emotionally vulnerable mother (Nicole Kidman). Vanquishing from the household all who might oppose him, such as the loyal housekeeper (Peg Allen) and Indiau0026#39;s suspicious great aunt (Jacki Weaver), we can only assume heu0026#39;s after the family fortune, but disturbingly, he seems to have deeper designs. These include Indiau0026#39;s very corpus corporis and mens mentis, as she openly defies Uncle Charleyu0026#39;s attempts at domination until he discovers a way to manipulate Indiau0026#39;s, um, unusual susceptibilities.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAt first resentful of Charlesu0026#39;s intrusion. and put in an adversarial relationship with her mother who seems to be completely malleable to his will, India becomes jealous, but soon begins to bond with Charles. Indiau0026#39;s a gloomy, stifled little sexpot and she secretly craves the attention. The trio form a dangerous triangle, which sweeps them in a churning cat-and-mouse-play set of rapids toward the tumultuous falls of total bedlam. This is where Stoker shows its potential to become something original, to reveal fascinating, horrible things, to surprise us, and make us wonder, to keep us guessing on the edges of our seats.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt doesnu0026#39;t.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat could be a captivating web of competing, ulterior motives and petulant scheming never materializes. What could be an engrossing character portrait of India slams flat. We never get that coveted insight into Indiau0026#39;s motivations, how she sees the world or why she sees it that way. India is simply toxic and contrary with little explanation until the end, at which point she defies her own cunning nature and selects, in lieu of more interesting, profitable, and clever options, an irrational, self-destructive course of action.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEven so, Stoker is still pretty good. Itu0026#39;s a satisfying change of pace from the patronizingly conventional and downright silly horror releases lately issuing from Tinseltown like effluent from a landfill, and most Gothic thriller fans will want to see it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSouth Korean director Chan-wook Park is best known to fans of the weird for his bizarre, gory cult movies such as Oldboy from The Vengeance Trilogy. With Stoker, he makes his mainstream, US debut. To do so requires that he u0026quot;sell-outu0026quot; a little to the conventions of Hollywood marketing, and I suspect this is why he didnu0026#39;t tamper with co-producer, Wentworth Milleru0026#39;s script, even though its deficiencies beg to be tweaked. Stoker more or less works for non-discriminating audiences who can be dazzled by a bit of flash without being driven to look deeper. Parku0026#39;s penchant for the absurd and the gory is still subtly evident. Importantly, Stoker demonstrates Parku0026#39;s trustworthiness to competently direct conventional cinema. With Nicole Kidman on board, and an appeal to the current Twilight-style popular trend, Stoker will, we hope, allow the director to establish himself on the big-budget launching pad from which we anticipate more intriguing work to soar off in the future.”