This week let’s dust of the pliers and blowtorch to go medieval on scenes of revenge. Please agree, disagree and add your suggestions at the bottom.
Is there anything more gratifying than a good revenge flick? Whether eaten cold, as the Spanish suggest, hot, al dente or with fava beans and a nice Chianti, it is certainly a satisfying dish. Partly it’s the investment involved; we agree to endure over an hour of pain and suffering along with our protagonist purely for the momentary satisfaction of the brutal final reel.
For us non violent types, our demons are exorcised through the vengeful actions of others on the silver screen, which hopefully safeguard the annoying guy we encounter on the underground or dithering old woman in the supermarket queue. A valve has been opened, pressure released.
It is horrific and unpleasant to watch that scene in Irreversible but then a further torture is that we have had our revenge in the first few minutes. Its perverse format means we are forced to endure the revulsion of the crime with the knowledge we have already had our reprisal. The more traditional film provides closure and ultimately satisfaction. This film alongside chronology-shuffled Memento leaves a more empty feeling, an endless search for the catharsis of retribution. A more realistic perhaps, but inevitably less satisfying.
So, which films out there gratify your primal urges and punish the wicked. Is it better to turn the other cheek or is exacting bloody revenge the only way?
1. For Lenny revenge is a dish to be eaten all day every day. It’s a reason to live for somebody who has nothing else.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQZiO-c7QaU&feature=related
2. A film from a trilogy concentrating purely on the nature of revenge, questioning the motives and fulfilment. The dark but visually beautiful Sympathy for Lady Vengeance. A group of wronged parents decide on bloody revenge then orderly wait their turn.
3. In a more lighthearted example of revenge the Duke brothers suffer for their dollar bet.
4. Enter the Dragon utilises the classic flashback sequence just to remind us that retribution is required, nay demanded. The immortal Bruce Lee. Would you mistreat his sister?
5. The phenomenal Reiko Ike avenges the death of her father and shows us all where Tarantino took it from.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ4bNTU965E
6. Nobody does revenge like Leone. He allows us to savour it like a good meal. Here Charles Bronson avenges his ‘lovin’ brother.’
So, lets see your favourite clips and suggestions of mental and physical retribution…
Interesting list. But I have to ask, where is Kill Bill? By the way, big ups for choosing Lady Vengeance over Oldboy. Sometimes the unpopular decision is the right one.
I love Kill Bill but I think Sex and Fury covers that base. Tarantino always wears his influences openly by referencing them and this is obviously one of his favourites.
Any suggestions for more clips?
Basically any movie from the Seventies that deals with vigilante justice.
You know, your Death Wishes, your Dirty Harrys.
Oh, and Rolling Thunder is pretty good.
Oh, and depending on your definition of tasteful entertainment, there is the infamous “I Spit on Your Grave.”