Morlang
Posted by Jared
Morlang (2001)
Tjebbo Penning
viewed 02.08.06
I number of different movies came to mind as I watched this film (La Belle Noiseuse, The Limey), but mostly it was a less creepy, less Art Garfunkel Bad Timing look-alike (kind of a shinier twin brother). An incredibly well made film, it nevertheless felll very flat. It was based on a true story about a man who coned his wife into committing suicide with him but didn't go through with it, and never meant to, after she did. But once you know these things, there isn't much emotional or psychological effect. Roeg's Bad Timing, which also concerns a dubious suicide and who's disjointed story telling style is mimed in Morlang, is an intense, disturbing tale of obsession and control, and seems to ask more compelling questions, or at least does so in a more compelling way. Roeg will mess you up.
I will say this though, Penning certainly knows where to put a camera. Stunning compositions.
A DVD I've had on my shelf for 3 or 4 years, I got it through a DVD-of -the-month club online called Film Movement which has provided some very good movies. It's a cool idea for film distribution that is worth checking out. A few of the films,( Light of My Eyes; Marion Bridge; Ali Zoua) are films I come back to or think about from time to time and always stay with me for a while.
