Revenge story ditches violence and political commentary for weak take of triumph-over-evil variety
POINTS: 3
Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs (2008) has been rightfully regarded as one of the most extreme movies ever made, one of the best horror movies of the decade, and one of the main titles of the New French Extremism, a term coined by film critic James Quandt for a series of fiercely groundbreaking films addressing sexual debauchery, sordid violence, disturbing psychosis and taboo-breaking in terms of onscreen body image. This somewhat recently-born trend includes slashers, revenge films, home invasion films, body horror films, and torture porn films. Yet to Laugier, Martyrs differs a great deal from, let’s say, the torture porn Saw series, because his film is about pain rather than torture.
“My film is very clear in what it says about human pain and human suffering. It’s about nature and the meaning of human suffering. I mean the pain we all feel on an everyday basis — in a symbolic way. The film doesn’t talk about torture — it talks about the pain,” Laugier said in an interview.
In fact, at its debut in 2008 in Cannes, it polarized critics and viewers and caused widespread walkouts, just like Xavier Gen’s Frontiere(s) did, also regarded as one of the best films of the New French Extremism. Also, think of A l’interieur, by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, and High Tension, by Alexandre Aja as two other proud examples.
Martyrs belongs to the revenge films category, and it tells the story of Lucie, a young woman who tracked down and slaughtered the people who abducted and tortured her as a child - meaning a cult of well-off perverts who subjected their prisoners to tremendous suffering to cause a Joan of Arc-like state of grace that would allow them to see what lies beyond. Taken prisoner as a child, Lucie eventually managed to escape and, 15 years later, with the help of her girlfriend, also a victim of child abuse, she returns for sweet — actually, bloody — revenge.
Filmed with striking mastery of suspense, shock and surprise, and displaying hectic camerawork, furious editing, and an ominous sound design, Martyrs consistently delivers an almost unbearable degree of graphic violence of all types in a most painful vein of gritty realism. Add an unnerving subtext of social and political commentary on the wickedness of today’s dehumanized world and you’ll get the full picture.
Now, given this highly inflammable material, it’s not hard to imagine that Hollywood would make a remake, sooner or later. For the sake of the original and the purpose of a good remake, something is a must: keeping the violence, carnage and gore, together with the political intentions and philosophical appreciations. And that’s exactly what Hollywood chose to discard.
For the sake of mass audiences, Kevin and Michael Goetz’s recently released Martyrs (2015) is a ridiculously toned-down, poor copy of the original which dares betray its very essence. It’s also a display of faulty cinematic skills that eschews all the nasty ideological observations and exhibits very little gruesome violence. A Disney version, if you will.
The premise is the same: a young woman seeks to avenge her past with the help of her childhood friend, and those who victimized and abused them will have to pay their dues. Partially because of the unpardonable changes in the plot and partially because of their contrasting viewpoints, in the end you have totally different films.
While Laugier’s film is decidedly dark and nihilistic in its portrayal of a no-way-out, living hell on earth, the Goetz’s version offers a much less troubled world and it’s pretty much a story of triumph of the will against evil, with happy ending and all. Seriously.
Suspense and mystery are not palpable at all and the eerie atmosphere of Laugier’s film is completely absent. Grisly violence is seldom seen and so is gore, the moral and ethic implications are trivialized and downplayed. Whereas in the original the characters’ movements were erratic and unpredictable, in the US version you can see them coming from a mile away. Moreover, the two American martyrs are far more likable to mass audiences in all regards — for one, they don’t even have lesbian tendencies, as the French ones do.
And then there are the cinematic flaws. In stark contrast to the impressive, shaded French performances, the American ones are formulaic and one-dimensional, partially because the characters have been simplified and partially because the actresses just don’t hit the right notes. All the striking imagery and expressive visuals of the French version become generic, flat photographic compositions and uninspired art design in the US remake. Of course, the raw intensity of the original is absent too.
So while it’s very, very hard to sit through Laugier’s Martyrs without being disturbed to the core, it’s quite easy to be downright bored with its unnecessary remake by Kevin and Michael Goetz.
Production notes:
Martyrs (US, 2015). Directed by Kevin Goetz, Michael Goetz. Written by Mark L. Smith. With Troian Bellisario, Bailey Noble, Caitlin Carmichael, Kate Burton, Toby Huss, Lexi DiBenedetto, Taylor John Smith. Cinematography: Sean O’Dea. Editing: Jake York. Running time: 86 minutes.
