I like them and I don't like them. Sometimes, I acknowledge its existence as a necessary part of the plot or character development. Other times, usually if it is happening too often or goes on way too long, I will get up and walk out of the movie. Where do I draw the line? Well, if I deem the movie good, I will want to grin and bear it. If not, I'm out.
As most of you know, I love lists. They give my life, my likes and dislikes, my things to do- today, tomorrow, before I die, a sense of order. Don't we all enjoy categorizing; Making sense out of chaos? So, here is a list of wildly uncomfortable movie moments, in no particular order:
Enter the Void (2009)
Directed by Gaspar Noé
I went to see Enter the Void this past summer with a friend of mine at the IFC. I wanted to see it because I heard it was quite a cinematic experience. I'm all for cinematic experiences... but not in this way. Watching this movie felt like the emotional and visual equivalent of being force fed tablespoons of fish oil while someone is punching you repeatedly in the stomach and yet somebody else is showing you their open flesh wound. Gross, right? While the whole movie made me wildly uncomfortable, the scene that really pissed me off was the scene where the newly reunited brother and sister are sitting in their tiny Tokyo apartment at dawn after staying up all night partying. Needless to say, they are fucked up beyond belief. They are hanging out talking and Alice's boob is just hanging out of her shirt. There's this sexual tension between the two throughout the movie and it just grosses me out beyond belief. Usually, in any movie, it's weird sexual tension between family members that makes me want to throw up in my mouth. Stupid prostitute sister and drug addict brother. Go on the righteous path, will you? If this movie set out to make me angry, it succeeded.
Shame (2011)
Directed by Steve McQueen
I saw Shame last week in the theater. The protagonist, who is completely unlikeable, lives a life of sexually hedonistic solitude. He really enjoys getting his rocks off. More than most people. Come to think of it, he's not even enjoying it as much as indulging in something that is a habit... it's like watching a chain smoker have her cigarette; it's more out of habit and necessity than it is enjoyment. In Brandon's isolated world, the only people to enter his apartment are prostitutes, online playmates calling out of his computer screen, and the girls he brings home from bars. But, one day, he comes home and walks into his bathroom to find his sister (played by cutie-pie, Carey Mulligan) in the shower. They have a surprised, 'what are you doing here!? You scared the shit out of me!' exchange and then... the uncomfortable brother-lingering-while-sister's-naked-in-the-shower. I don't know if my family was extra prudish, but we just didn't do that! And so, another inappropriate, incestuous moment, compliments of Shame. All in all, I didn't want to walk out of this movie the way I did with Enter the Void. Most of the movie wasn't quite so painful to watch. And, like my friend said, the movie did a good job of conveying the bleakness of the characters through their surroundings. I mean, NYC gets way more sun than we saw in this movie...
Damnation (1988)
Directed by Bela Tarr
Yesterday, I saw that a movie called the The Turin Horse was playing in the city and I read some reviews. The writer said this movie will have half the audience bored to tears and walking out of the theater and the other half mesmerized. I went on to look at what other movies this director has made and fixated on it all day. I needed to see Bela Tarr's movies. I rented Damnation and watched it a few hours ago. I really liked it. It was bleak but beautiful. It was mesmerizing how long a take was and, for me, it made me ask questions. I imagined the boredom these people must feel as the rain poured down each and every day in this boring, nothing town. There was one scene toward the very end, where the protagonist (again, not very likeable; more pitiful) was walking along some small lake, in the heavy rain, getting soaked and dirty. This detail alone was enough to make me uncomfortable, but then, he comes across some stray dogs. There are stray dogs all over this town. Mangy, tough dogs that just troll around looking for food. Well, this dog clearly didn't want this guy around and starts barking ferociously at him. What does the guy do? He barks back. At first it was funny, but then, in Bela Tarr style, it continued for a long period of time. With each set of barks, he got louder, and crazier, getting on all fours and circling around the dog, showing his teeth and barking wildly. I thought, for sure the dog was going to bite his face off... then I remembered the conversation he had earlier with his lover; he felt like he was going to soon go mad. The dog backed off, probably sensing his madness...
Young Adult (2011)
Directed by Jason Reitman
I saw Young Adult in the theater with some friends semi-recently and I very much liked it. I didn't, for one second, not believe Charlize Theron's character. I thought she was amazing in it, as was Patton Oswald. They made a fabulous team. She was quite a delusional alcoholic, clinging tightly to her faded glory, determined to get her high school boyfriend back, despite the fact that he is happily married. There were many scenes that had me thinking, 'No! Mavis, what are you doing?!' The one that had me cringing though, was when she finally had her delusions dashed for real and she lost her shit on her ex-boyfriend's wife. His wife, by the way, is the type of girl we all either want to be or want to hang out with... she's a drummer for a band that she plays in with her mommy friends, wears vintage rock t-shirts, and is so incredibly nice to the cold and crazy Mavis. The things Mavis said to her in front of the entire party made it pretty obvious she's got some issues. This made for a wildly uncomfortable movie moment.
Happiness (1998)
Directed by Todd Solondz
In 1995, Todd Solondz changed my entire world. He made it better. He did this by allowing Welcome to the Dollhouse to play in movie theaters across America and then created dvds of this amazing movie. Three years later, he directed another one titled Happiness. This one lacked the charm that Welcome to the Dollhouse had in abundance, but it had one thing for sure: a wildly uncomfortable movie moment. Come to think of it, I'd venture to say this entire movie is just one long wildly uncomfortable movie moment; And yet another moment of incestuous discomfort. But this time, the characters involved are father and son. The father, it is early on revealed, is a gay pedafile. His son is a total nerd. One day, the two of them have a "heart-to-heart" that happens sometime after the father drugs and molests his son's friend during an innocent sleepover. In this heart-to-heart, the son asks the dad what does cum mean? So, the dad goes on to explain what it is and asks Billy if he's tried playing with himself, complete with asking him if he wants him to show him how... It is done in the most fucked up of ways. It's like, if you put the TV on mute and just watched, it would seem like a heart-warming father-son talk... and then you remember the back-story and you listen to the words that are coming out of the son's mouth and you just think... EW... WHAT THE FUCK!?!?
I'm happy this post is ending on Happiness (no pun intended). That movie, with all the inappropriate penis talks involved, really should win the most uncomfortable movie moments award... and this movie has a lot of these awful moments.
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