Register  |  Sign In
View unanswered posts | View active topics It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:19 pm



Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
 The House That Jack Built 

Rate this film:
A 60%  60%  [ 3 ]
B 40%  40%  [ 2 ]
C 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 5

 The House That Jack Built 
Author Message
Keeping it Light
User avatar

Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am
Posts: 11185
Location: Bright Falls
Post The House That Jack Built
Image

Quote:
The House That Jack Built is a 2018 psychological horror film written and directed by Lars von Trier, starring Matt Dillon in the title role of Jack. The story follows Jack, a serial killer, over the course of 12 years in the 1970s and 1980s in the U.S. state of Washington. Von Trier has described the film as celebrating "the idea that life is evil and soulless." The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, marking von Trier's return to the festival after more than six years.


Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:14 pm
Profile
Forum General
User avatar

Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 1:53 pm
Posts: 8626
Location: Syracuse, NY
Post Re: The House That Jack Built
This is a great addition to the Lars von Trier catalog. Of course it's not for everyone but it is really quite fascinating and Matt Dillon gives a career best performance here as Jack. It feels a bit long in the tooth by the end but it has a lot to say and it entertaining throughout the majority of the running time and is darkly hilarious.

A-

_________________
Top 10 Films of 2016

1. La La Land
2. Other People
3. Nocturnal Animals
4. Swiss Army Man
5. Manchester by the Sea
6. The Edge of Seventeen
7. Sing Street
8. Indignation
9. The Lobster
10. Hell or High Water


Sun Dec 16, 2018 11:32 pm
Profile YIM WWW
Pure Phase
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am
Posts: 34865
Location: Maryland
Post Re: The House That Jack Built
This is excellent. One of Lars von Trier's best; I admit I am predisposed to his style and "voice," but I can also objectively tell he is creatively on fire here. It is such a feast of a film, and it conjures a laundry list of adjectives: disgusting, hilarious, philosophical, poetic, etc. At times, it is absolutely savage and nearly as frightening as a film can be (the hunting-trip incident, for example). At other points, it is an undeniably effective gallows comedy (such as Jack's OCD-driven inability to leave a crime scene, certain he needs to return just one more time to clean a final bit of blood).

And the more one ponders it—the conversations on art and morality shared by Jack and Virgil, the idea of Jack as a horror-movie metaphor for the director's own tendency toward provocation and self-doubt—the more it reveals itself as densely woven with ideas, themes, and a general air of possibility. By so completely committing to his mad cinematic muse, von Trier more than earns every tonal shift, as well as the film's epic length. And Matt Dillon boldly hits every note required of him; it is a portrayal of psychopathic narcissism to rival Christian Bale's in American Psycho.

I also have this peculiar, almost tactile love for how Lars von Trier films have nominal settings (Nymphomaniac is set in "England," this is set in the "Pacific Northwest"), but each is truly set in Lars von Trier World, a place where accents, geography, etc. blur. Exactly where we are in time and place becomes hard to specify. I know it is a partly unintentional byproduct of his fear of flying and his ability to gather prestigious international casts in Denmark for his shoots, but it nonetheless pleases me.

_________________
ImageImageImage

1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game


Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:18 am
Profile
Forum General

Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:48 pm
Posts: 8942
Location: Houston, Texas
Post Re: The House That Jack Built
This is easily one of the most interesting films I have seen all year. I'll admit that I'm not much of a Lars Von Tier fan, but after seeing this I do want to check out more of his films. It's way too long IMO, but I'd be lying if I said I was ever bored because I wasn't. Matt Dillon is truly fantastic in this, and for the most part this movie is definitely a dark comedy and it absolutely works. There is so much going on in this film that I almost want to watch it again one day to catch everything I might have missed and who knows maybe I will, but for now all I can say is I very interested to see what this director does next.

B+


Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:40 pm
Profile
now we know
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
Posts: 67000
Post Re: The House That Jack Built
This is superb. Overtly watchable and devlishly entertaining. Matt Dillon is fantastic and hilarious. Got to be the best performance of his life.


Sun Jan 20, 2019 4:04 am
Profile WWW
now we know
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm
Posts: 67000
Post Re: The House That Jack Built
Ooh, pressure. ;)

I am sure you will have some interesting insights regardless.


Tue Feb 05, 2019 11:24 pm
Profile WWW
Keeping it Light
User avatar

Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am
Posts: 11185
Location: Bright Falls
Post Re: The House That Jack Built
Good film where Dillon definitely nails the serial killer role. The film is well made, a disturbing story with some disturbing imaginary. I just didn't get really engaged with it, it's the first Von Trier movie I've seen, and there's some admiring quality to the story he's telling and how it's filmed, but as a whole I didn't feel that impressed with it either.

B


Sun Mar 24, 2019 3:48 am
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic   [ 7 posts ] 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 38 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group.
Designed by STSoftware for PTF.