STOKER

It got me pretty stoked.

It bewilders me that this little gem of a film flew under my radar. Stoker (2013) is a film obviously targeting toward filmmakers and those who enjoy arthouse films. It is a devilishly gorgeous film, driven by it’s visual and sound design that is packaged with a dark story of a girl in realization of her true self.

Suspense / Thriller

At first glance watching this film one may mistake it for a family drama or romance drivin movie. Well this isn’t all wrong, the film uses these two elements as a backbone for what is a dark suspense drama about a family, who they are, and what they become. Several elements go into making this a successful suspense film -

Camera and Sound

Chan-wook Park is known for his love for everything Hitchock, and this is why he even became a director in the first place. This film really shines in that regard, from the movement and recreation of Hitchcocks famous shots to the characters and their relationships. Camera movement is huge in this film, whether some may like it or not I feel as though it really works. Most shots throughout have movement, some more than others but there is rarely a static shot throughout the entire piece. These shots often times are created to represent the protagonist’s (India’s) mental state. Many distorted angles, slow pushes, even handheld shots are present here. It does a good job with throwing the viewer vicariously into the situations at hand, whether that be creeping through a dark cellar, or in a field full of poppys. We feel for the characters more so through the camera movement, which is actually rare in film where camera movements may take a viewer out of the film. I think where they succeeded was the established movement from the first shot, it desensitizes the viewer and gets them ready for he journey ahead. As a generic example of one of these suspense shots: India’s uncle is looking for her in the house, we follow India until she leaves the house, then focus in on the uncle. As he looks for her, we see her outside the windows creeping back in through a rear entrance, where we once again meet her with the camera, all in one shot. Many scenes like these help build suspense, but not without sound.

Sound place a huge role in this movie. The director emphasizes the little things. Things that are prominent in the life of India. For example we watch India cracked boiled egg, the sounds of the movie fade and we just hear the cracking of the shell for a good thirty seconds. India enjoys the sound and is intoxicated by it, we feel for her in this instance and that alone is a powerful scene. The sounds of nature in contrast with the dark cellar sequences show diversity in the sound design, and all ultimately lead to an immersively suspenseful end product.

The Characters

Park did a great job with the casting and the portrayal of relationships within the film. We start with an isolated family Evelyn (Mother) and India (Daughter), who live in a rural house in the middle of nowhere. India’s father passed away when she was younger, and the family has been in a strange state of mourning ever since. When their uncle Charlie comes to town and decides to stay with them in the house, things start going downhill. The feeling isolation is so strong in this film, they are stuck in the forest inside of a house with a devious man who could be a killer. They are free to leave if they so choose, but there isn't anywhere to go and the uncle seems to find them no matter where they hide. The relationship between the characters is full of mystery and aggressiveness that you can feel just by watching the characters interact with one another, or other side characters. Once again the suspense is created through this in conjunction with the camera and sound.

Coming of age?

In my eyes, Stoker is very much a coming of age film under everything else. Quite literally we follow India from childhood until her transformative new identity at the end of the film. We see her make moral choices, evolve as a human, and finally end with what makes her happy all along. She quite literally becomes an adult toward the end of the film, mentally, sexually and physically. She also begins isolated in the same spot she’s been her entire 18 years on the earth, finally drives off into the sunset in a stolen car at the end. It may not be typical for a coming of age, for she becomes someone darker than she was prior; but it was what makes her internally happy and change for the better of her own character, whether or not the audience can relate to it at all.