Arena Theatre

 

DVD Reviews

The Idiots – Lars Von Trier – 1998
This film centres on a group of people who, for various reasons, go around pretending to be mentally and/or physically disabled. Angry? I was, but it does raise questions about film making in general and whether such difficult and contentious issues should be used. My view is that it should be regarded as an important message about society's attitude towards mentally and physically disabled people.

 

Bangkok Dangerous – Danny and Oxide Pang - 2002
Bangkok Dangerous is typical of the Eastern cinema ‘gangster’ genre; however, the reason for reviewing this film is because ‘Kong’ the main character is portrayed as being deaf and mute. This film offers nothing new from other Eastern counterparts in its predictability such as the violent blood-letting or the chance of romantic redemption. But the Pang Brothers exploration of the themes; disability, weakness and death in the main characters more than outweighs its predictable nature.

 

Dans Ma Peau (In My Skin) – Marina De Van – 2004
This film tackles the notoriously taboo subject of self harm. The film is shocking and disturbing but intelligently manages to explore the subject in a non gratuitous or exploitive way. It is credit to the Director, Marina de Van that the film doesn’t descend into shock horror or sensationalism as it could have quite easily done so. Dans Ma Peau is a vital, confrontational, distressing, emotionally compelling & intelligent piece of cinema which deserves to be seen.

 

Accion Mutante – Alex De Iglesia - 1993
The DVD front cover is a large red and black motif featuring a red star with the universal wheelchair symbol albeit with a new twist of a gun included. Interesting, I thought so. This film is totally non PC, it includes some traces of wacky humour as well as some excessive violence. The cover is the most interesting part as the film itself is mind numbingly dull.  The sad part is the underlying statement about society and the portrayal of the physical body in the media is valid, this film promised a lot but ending up delivering nothing.

 

Sue Thomas FBEye
‘Sue Thomas FBEye’ features a deaf woman with a Hearing Dog working for the FBI. I had to watch this as I’m deaf and assisted by a Hearing Dog to. The series is loosely based on the life of Sue Thomas. The actress playing Sue is called ‘Deanne Bray’ who for a change in TV or film is actually deaf. The main theme is about Sue having to overcome her colleague’s apprehension about having a deaf FBI agent with a Hearing Dog on the team. Although, I’m critical of the America that is portrayed. Credit must go to the fact that the lead actress is disabled, that there were a number of other deaf or disabled characters appearing more than once, these were played by real deaf/disabled people and not just in a token sympathy parts. The program raised and dealt with relevant deaf issues from an adult as well as from a child’s point of view in a realistic way.

IN THE LAND OF THE DEAF (LE PAYS DES SOURDES) - Nicolas Philibert - 1992

The film looks at the language of sign and features deaf people in their environment but not looking in from the outside but from within. Fabulous film a must for all who seek greater understanding of the deaf world.