Friday, April 26, 2013

The Tribeca Files 3: Of Monsters And Men...Who Will Soon Be Turned Into Monsters - FRANKENSTEIN'S ARMY


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FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY is the ultimate found footage horror film. It’s a straightforward, free-of-complications depiction of a Russian platoon’s rescue mission into a remote World War II era Nazi occupied village. What they, and by proxy we fortunate viewers, find in this presumably alternate history are monstrous amalgamations of man and machine that decimate their numbers until the film reel ends. But not before introducing us to a devilish take on the iconic pop culture figure with a god complex.   

One watches the Czech production with a sense that something impossibly esoteric has been unearthed; from the rubble of battle torn ruins or perhaps the bottom of drawer containing secreted away, classified files. This footage is imbued with an old stock quality that blankets us with a warm antiquated feeling.

It also makes the viewing feel closer to being a head on experience. It’s an inherent quality of found footage films that is all too often neglected. The lurching stops and starts create disorientation and a sense that physical harm is rapidly descending upon us. Kind of like the most incredibly conceived of concept for a haunted house attraction ever.

The monstrous creations enlisted in FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY are literally the stuff of nightmares. When my dreams go dark, they rarely contain easily identifiable figures. They tend to be distorted mixtures of various cultural reference points. That’s what director –‘s inventions are like, adding another layer to the experience not unlike feeling trapped in a helpless dream. Another great use of the found footage mode makes it so they do not ever feel neatly framed. There is no outward acknowledgment that this is a movie. Instead they lurch awkwardly about, sometimes not even aware of our presence. Threatening to notice and turn in our direction at any given moment.

Yet they are not without their vintage historic scifi (re: Steampunk) appeal. propeller blades, divers' helmets, and other mechanisms are repurposed in thrilling ways. Terror intersects astonishment.

Also of note is the brilliantly oppressive soundtrack. Between the fade in and out of thundering, militaristic propaganda dirges are dense walls of sound. The racket of a giant generator, for instance. When it fades momentarily, you feel like you’ve been given a reprieve. (You’ll also probably notice the enthusiastic applause of other viewers.)

Can it not be said that FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY is a powerful statement on the horrors of war? Sorry for getting serious while we’re all glazed over with thoughts of propeller-faced behemoths and other warped monstrosities, but the instances of anti-heroism in FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY seem to form a pretty blunt statement on the subject. There is bullying behavior and bloodthirsty intent in the part of the team we follow. Nobility appears more in the meek civilians encountered along the way. And the rescue mission itself is tainted by hidden agendas. Yes, while the film does operate as a tour of sensory delights, it does in fact have a plot worthy of keeping your attention on the interplay between characters.

That Raaphorst has acclaim as an ad director is no surprise. He has an obvious gift for animating scenes that will remain in viewers’ unconscious. This probably has a lot to do with FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY being a successful exercise in form as well as content. The movie is in fact a shot in the arm to the realm of creature design, giving recent forerunners in this twisted art like Yoshihiro Nakamura cause to up their game. His cult-worthy Tokyo Gore Police has nothing on FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY.

FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. Its future fate is of no small amount of intrigue.

Follow this link for some sketches of the creature designs. But make a point of seeing their blessedly CGI-less animated forms on a large screen.

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