A Tale of Madness and Screaming Ants: Masking Threshold (2022) Review [Panic Fest 2022]

Director: Johannes Grenzfurthner

Notable Cast: Johannes Grenzfurthner, Ethan Haslam

 

Putting an audience into the mindset of a character, mainly the protagonist, is script writing and filmmaking 101. The fastest way to instill empathy is to see through the eyes of that character. Any film student or casual viewer knows this to be true. Even when the protagonist is, essentially, the villain of the story. This choice is not one that will often make for an easy watch, but one that can explore some fascinating depths of the character. 

 

Masking Threshold, from director Johannes Grenzfurthner, fully dives into this approach. It’s a character study which attempts to fully immerse its audience into the world and thoughts of its protagonist, unfolding like a type of visual diary, as they begin their descent into a madness driven by obsession. It’s experimental to the max, making it one of the more unique watches of Panic Fest 2022, and fascinating to a point that it’s hard to deny that it doesn’t encapsulate its concept in full - even if it demands a lot of patience from its audience. 

 

Ghost of the Golden Groves (2019)

Directors: Aniket Dutta & Roshni Sen (Harun-Al-Rashid)

Notable Cast: Joyraj Bhattacharjee, Soumyajit Majumdar

Admittedly my knowledge of Indian cinema as a whole is almost non-existent in the grand scheme of things. I cannot speak to the overall state of Indian movies as a whole, however, I can say out the couple of handfuls that I have watched, both mainstream and more independent in nature, I have never quite seen a work like Ghost of the Golden Grove surface from the region. It's not just refreshing as a film confined within the scope of its own native cinema but a fresh new stroke of paint on the pallet of film, as a whole, making for one of 2019's greatest artistic offerings.

Directors Aniket Dutta and Roshni Sen have paired up to make their directorial debut collectively under the moniker Harun-Al-Rashid, a unified and singular voice that really does reflect their vision as a whole onscreen. A truly accomplished blend of artistic ideals that makes for not only one of the most thought-provoking works of the year but one of the most entertaining too. I don't wish to delve too much into the plot here, as going in blind is very beneficial in the end, but the film follows two separate characters, one during the first half and the other in the remaining time.

Alipato: The Very Brief Life of an Ember (2016)

Director: Khavn
Notable Cast: Khavn, Dido De La Paz, Marti San Juan, Robin Palmes, Bing Austria

This is not a review of Alipato: The Very Brief Life of an Ember.

I am slowly diving into the mad mind of Khavn, the Filipino equivalent of... well, no one comes to mind and if they did, they would be comparable to he, as frankly I've never experienced anything quite in the vein of this particular work. The few peaks I've had into his other works, I can say... he is truly one of a kind. I have only two of his films behind me, Ruined Heart: Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a Whore, and this one. While I think the former is a more "enjoyable" work, this is easily a more accomplished and uncompromising piece.

Hengyoro (Queer Fish Lane) - 2017

Director: Go Takamine

Notable Cast: Susumu Taira, Saburo Kitamura, Misako Oshiro, Ryuichi Ishikawa, Katsuhiro Kawamitsu

This film is as mesmerizing as it is confusing. I could follow the story, to a degree, and understood what was going on for the most part with the actual plot itself, but to say the hidden meanings and symbolism went over me more often than not is an understatement. What I do know though is that Hengyoro a.k.a Queer Fish Lane thoroughly impressed me through its masterful experimental craft done to perfection through great labor and love by Go Takamine, whom unfortunately until now, has went under my radar. Seeing this film, not only have I the desire to seek out more works by this madman (genius), but I have question the lack of creativity in cinema comparatively to this bonkers journey.

Haruneko (2016)

Director: Sora Hokimoto

Notable Cast: Lily, Min Tanaka, Yôta Kawase

Set in an eerie isolated wooded area, deep in the midst of seemingly nowhere, one by one, people that wish to die arrive via a small white car to these woods, where they are then brought to a mysterious café amongst the wild. Inhabited by a young boy in a partially knit scarf, and elderly woman in a rocking chair, and the young long-haired man whom manages the place, that brings each selective person to this odd establishment, Haruneko is a wonderful experimental feature filled to the brim with interesting characters and vivid imagery. Fans of the bizarre will find lots to enjoy here while more casual movie goers my find themselves scratching their heads from time to time. It's not to talk down on anyone though, because there were things that most certainly went beyond me, and I'm not afraid to admit it.

Miss Lovely (2012)

Director: Ashim Ahluwalia

Notable Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Niharika Singh, Menaka Lalwani, Anil George, Zeena Bhatia

The Duggal brothers produce very sleazy sexploitation during the 1980s in Bombay. The older brother, Vicky, played fiendishly by Anil George, has run into some trouble with a distributor and his relationship with his partner in the biz, and his younger brother, Sonu, played to chilling perfection by Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Gangs of Wasseypur), quickly becomes chaotic and destructive. The two sell their brotherliness quite well, and when things quickly become fractured between them, they keep it believable and intense the entire time.