Asian Horror Film not Re-cycled Trash, but Something New...

Since my return from the country of China, in the heart of the eastern culture, I’ve learned to appreciate more of their work and thought. Seeing them for the real people they are, filled with creative ideas, always hanging on to old traditions that mean so much to them. They take so much pride in themselves.

Though some rental places in Oshkosh aren’t exactly catering to the different foreign movies out there. That’s too bad. Because watching a movie from a different country exposes us to different ideas.

Which brings us to the film “Re-Cycle” of 2006. A very creative and fabulous movie of many incredible layers directed by the Pang brothers. The same ones who were responsible for the original film “The Eye.” Not the crappy version starring Jessica Alba. Hollywood needs to stop remaking other movies and try to make their own from now on.

The film “Re-cycle” shares the same lead actress from “The Eye”: Angelica Lee.
She’s a very capable actress who is able to dig down into the emotional turmoil that is strangling her life. She struggles with her new novel. But other things come to haunt her: an old relationship with her boyfriend. The inability to keep in touch with her family.

All of these things comes to her after deleting the first chapter of her novel, out of frustration, not being able to focus, concentrate. She is lost in her thoughts.

The film turns a sudden, supernatural path when she discovers a route into a parallel world filled with strange images, cast away people, their frightening faces filled with devilish horrors. They are filled with abandoned things. It is a place where banished ideas go to. It is almost a hell spot for lost creativity.

And this world follows along the same route as her novel to be. In fact, there is a nice comment the lead actress makes when she observes this crude, strange world. She said, “If this place is filled with abandoned things, why do they always turn out so frightening?”

The soundtrack is awesome. It is a pulse pounding beat that seems to be discomforting, almost threatening, as if telling you that a danger is approaching. The drop kick sounds seem to drown your ears out as it grows louder, signaling a terror that rises over the lead character like a dark ocean.

The Pang brothers know how to use good music for a horror film. Or is it a fantasy film? Whatever. Clive Barker would like this movie very much if he’s watched it.

But it is like a gothic version of Dante’s Inferno. The lead is taken through many different levels, each one growing worse than before, dwindling further, like falling into an endless abyss without a face. Only a darkness waits to comfort you in the very end. There is no brightness here, just a sense of loss. Feeling abandoned. It is no wonder that the spirits are very angry here.

The ghosts have been left behind.

The film is written also by several writers including the Pang brothers. They come up with some good ideas. And, unlike the American culture, this film digs right into the idea of losing a child. The eastern films certainly do like this theme: the death of a child seems to pervade their movies very much. But, to understand the eastern culture, you must realize that family is very important to Chinese people. That is their life. Everything surrounds the family. I know this through my two week venture into China and found that I have been welcomed into a family. It’s a singlemost lovely feeling of belonging.

But films such as “Re-cycle” explores the damage of losing a child. A theme that most American movies won’t even touch. And for good reason. It’s a very disturbing thought. Many people who love their children or are parents may want to stay away from a movie like this. The oriental culture makes no bones about portraying a loss of a child.

The abandoning of children is a theme most often explored here. But, in some ways, it sends a message about how one should appreciate children more. Their youthful enthusiasm should not be missed.

It’s a horror film. But more than that. It peers into the loneliness and feelings of destruction one has when a family is split apart.

This is a Cantonese film made in Hong Kong which is almost a country of its own. But many of the stark images of decay, and riddled trash, remains a poignant theme in many of the scenes: you can see the simmering amounts of dust along the buildings as they are collapsing slowly, like a dying city. It is a remarkable scene when you see the lead actress running through the maze of cumbersome buildings, finding her way though the pain of abandoned streets.

The actress Angelica Lee is great. Also a beautiful woman. She conveys a lot of her pain through silence and thoughtful gestures. Her face is framed with a lovely rain of dark hair that makes her younger looking, but she approaches her acting with a maturity that one needs for a film like this. She knows how to make her character very vulnerable. And that is very tragic in the film.

The nice thing is the ending of the film which offers a novel twist. And you’ll need to get there to find out what it is. (Just like the movie "Phone" that has a great last twenty minutes). I’m not going to spoil the story "Re-cycle" for you. But it’s fantastic to see some Asian cinema are going at length to tell a very good story through using horror elements. It’s not really a horror film. Because lots of fantasy has been thrown into it. Imagine if Terry Gilliam had been Asian and you might end up getting a movie like this. It’s filled with a spectacular string of picturesque scenes that might have been pulled out from a deranged mind.

But this is a journey for the woman involved in this different world. She learns more about herself as she digs deeper into the empty shell of this place. And she finds that she may be empty herself without realizing it. That’s very scary.

Now if I can only get my girlfriend Alina to watch a movie like this with me during an evening. Though I don’t think that will ever happen. She hates horror movies in the same manner that I hate Republicans. But I might persuade her someday. For now, I think I’ll have to enjoy them on my lonesome.