The collective ennui which permeates throughout Vecchiali's distinct and transfixing The Strangler transcends well beyond its familiar serial killer narrative framework to deliver what I can only describe as an existential investigation into the interconnectivity of desire and despair that perceptively exhibits the grand delusions we often construct cognitively in an effort to make sense of non-sensical material reality. Masterfully playing with perspective, Vecchiali's rigorous cinematic grammar allows him to explore affect from an angle that is largely detached from ethics, exploring how morality itself can be quite intangible. The cold, mechanical precision of the film's formal designs and oscillating perspectives elucidate a feeling of existential longing, one in which every disparate individual feels connected by this omnipresent force. I don't feel like The Strangler is concerned with politics or any form of social critique, instead it aims to encapsulate our collective existential struggle, one that is influenced both by our internal perceptions and our external relationships, as every individual begins to craft their own version of the truth as a means of escape from existential dread associated with mortality. I could see this film being perceived as morbid by some, but from my perspective, the film's treatment of the material invokes a sense of melancholy that is affecting and empathetic, reaching a state of transcendence beyond socially constructed notions of good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. Perhaps I'm way off, I probably should stop writing about movies directly after I watch them in an effort to ruminate and formalize my thoughts, but this film feels like another pretty major work - Vecciali is two-for-two so far in my book and I really can't wait to watch another one of his films.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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