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Two films open this week that challenge the idea that “normalcy” has anything to do with virtue. “Chained for Live”, which opens at the IFC in NY today and at the Landmark in LA on Friday, is inspired by Todd Browning’s “Freaks” but without the carnival sideshow vibe that made the original such a cult hit. Directed by Aaron Schimberg, who was born with “a gaping hole” in his face that was surgically repaired, it confronts conventional expectations as he explains in the press notes:
When disfigured characters are seen at all in films (usually played by handsome actors with disfiguring latex), they are trotted out to play monsters or objects of pity, made into vessels for the symbolic expression of cruelty, sin, villainy and other ills. “Bitter defectives,” as a character in my film says. Even when they’re portrayed sympathetically, they function only to impart inspirational lessons to the able-bodied people who encounter them.
“Depraved”, which opens at the IFC on Friday, is based on the Frankenstein story but, like “Chained for Life”, leaves you with the feeling that it is normal people who must be feared. It is directed by Larry Fessenden, who is hands down the smartest and most socially aware director of horror movies today. Made in 2007, “The Last Winter” was about global warming. This film was way ahead of the curve given the occurrence of five category five hurricanes in the last 3 years as compared to the zero count between the time “The Last Winter” was made and 2016.
full: https://louisproyect.org/2019/09/11/chained-for-life-depraved/ _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
