A woman seeks revenge after being brutally attacked by dishonest land developers.A woman seeks revenge after being brutally attacked by dishonest land developers.A woman seeks revenge after being brutally attacked by dishonest land developers.
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- 2 wins
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Featured review
Stunningly original, no-dialogue feature
This "silent" feature (there is an amazing soundtrack, but there is not one word of dialogue) from director Savage (who also co-produced, wrote, photographed and edited) is a huge surprise and clearly his most personal, uncompromising work.
Though it's a revenge yarn, there's not a single other movie I can compare it to.
It's beautifully photographed (by Savage himself) and walks a very delicate line between art-house, exploitation and humanistic drama. The combination, which shouldn't work on paper, works beautifully here because of the director's sheer forcefulness of vision.
Susanne Hauscchmid is The Woman, a mother and environmental campaigner whose life is destroyed by the brutal actions of property developers. Her performance, virtually mute, is certainly one of the year's best and it's interesting to know that Hausschmid also produced the film with Savage and a tiny crew.
Child actor Bethany Fisher also delivers a superb performance as a young girl who befriends the battered Woman in a portion of the film that feels unlike anything the director has attempted before. It must be said that the director's obsession with the ocean, cemeteries and broken dolls is amped right up in this confronting but highly satisfying fantasy. Also amped up is the director's take-no-prisoners approach to the staging of grotesque but cinematic ally justified sexual violence. Additionally, one scene of self-mutilation involving breast slicing will be quite beyond the pale for most viewers.
The film won Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Actress at the recent Melbourne Underground Film Festival. It's a remarkable achievement for sustaining its dialogue-free structure over ninety-eight minutes and re-inventing a long-lost cinematic tradition.
But be warned: Its staggering beauty is contrasted with equally staggering brutality and horror.
Savage's best so far.
Though it's a revenge yarn, there's not a single other movie I can compare it to.
It's beautifully photographed (by Savage himself) and walks a very delicate line between art-house, exploitation and humanistic drama. The combination, which shouldn't work on paper, works beautifully here because of the director's sheer forcefulness of vision.
Susanne Hauscchmid is The Woman, a mother and environmental campaigner whose life is destroyed by the brutal actions of property developers. Her performance, virtually mute, is certainly one of the year's best and it's interesting to know that Hausschmid also produced the film with Savage and a tiny crew.
Child actor Bethany Fisher also delivers a superb performance as a young girl who befriends the battered Woman in a portion of the film that feels unlike anything the director has attempted before. It must be said that the director's obsession with the ocean, cemeteries and broken dolls is amped right up in this confronting but highly satisfying fantasy. Also amped up is the director's take-no-prisoners approach to the staging of grotesque but cinematic ally justified sexual violence. Additionally, one scene of self-mutilation involving breast slicing will be quite beyond the pale for most viewers.
The film won Best Film, Best Cinematography and Best Actress at the recent Melbourne Underground Film Festival. It's a remarkable achievement for sustaining its dialogue-free structure over ninety-eight minutes and re-inventing a long-lost cinematic tradition.
But be warned: Its staggering beauty is contrasted with equally staggering brutality and horror.
Savage's best so far.
helpful•94
- fertilecelluloid
- Aug 12, 2004
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- Also known as
- Беззащитная
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- Runtime1 hour 30 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Defenceless: A Blood Symphony (2004) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer