WatchSeeLookView Month At The LFF - Mandy (2018)

Oh, we are down the rabbit hole now, people. I’ve blogged before about my enjoyment of the mentalness that is the modern day oeuvre perpetrated by the force of acting nature that is Nicolas Cage but I think we have finally achieved a level of Peak cage which it will be extremely hard to top. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

Mandy
Dir. Panos Cosmatos / Dur. 121 mins

In A Nutshell:- A nutshell really won’t do justice to this - the Wikipedia tag of “action horror” or my description of it as “Cage embarks upon an ultra-violent quest for revenge on the religious fanatics who have wronged him” in no way gives you the full flavour of this film.

The Good:- While stylistically very different (being visually neon-lit and 70s-drug-fuelled in its aesthetic), it some small way there is a similarity to the work of David Lynch in that the characters all operate within a world that makes sense to them. It manages to somehow be an insane mash-up of influences such as Mad Max, Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and French comic / animated film Heavy Metal while still very much feeling like it is its own beast. There’s a sort of languid dreaminess to the first half of the film which is then completely overturned by the high-octane ultra-violence of the second half. When he does flip out, Cage is on fine form, even managing to wring out some sense of genuine emotion in amongst the over-the-top anger and action film star ability to endure superhuman punishment. The visual style is incredible too - it’s definitely a feast of the eyes in terms of lighting and composition and very much deserves to be seen on a big screen.

The Bad:- Well, it’s not going to be a film for everyone. It very much screams “cult” right from the opening frames with the 70s/80s Universal logo so it sets its stall out pretty clearly. 

The Verdict:- If you’re a lover of cult/pulpy films and Nicolas Cage going full Cage then this is definitely the film for you. It looks absolutely amazing and there's nothing quite like this out there. If the audience are anything to go by, this will definitely be playing in the cult cinema circuit for years to come..

Festival Confession:- I couldn’t get into the official festival screening but such was the demand that the Prince Charles Cinema have added about twelve extra screenings so I went to one of those. I’m still counting it as a festival as I saw at one of the official cinemas during the festival so it counts, I tell you!

Next Time:- We’re still in the realm of the experimental with a provocative French film.