So, I was overjoyed to discover that this month is a veritable Rothathon (not to be confused with the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah), with two new Roth films (the 2nd being KNOCK KNOCK) screening in select theatres for small audiences of die-hards and poor, unsuspecting couples looking for a little Halloween fun. Granted, there's some fun to be had. Roth seems in tune with today's youth (THE GREEN INFERNO's end credits even include people's twitter handles), or at least the popular perception thereof, and his script paints a humorously exaggerated picture of over-privileged twentysomethings' melancholy, disinterest, and general awfulness, "Activism is so fucking gay." Similarly, on the whole, the film can be interpreted as a tongue-in-cheek statement about "voluntourism" and "slacktivism." However, to really enjoy THE GREEN INFERNO, you need to be into watching people get messed up. Like, really messed up.
The film follows Justine, a college freshman, played by newcomer and Roth-wedder, Lorenza Izzo (who also stars in KNOCK KNOCK). During a lecture, Justine sees images of female genital mutilation in Africa and decides to join a student activism group to try to make a difference in the world. Before long, she's blindly following the group's charismatic leader, Alejandro, played by Ariel Levy (another member of Roth's circle, having starred alongside him in AFTERSHOCK, which Roth also co-wrote), to Peru to save a stretch of rainforest and a lost tribe living therein from being destroyed to allow a company access to lucrative natural resources. We get a LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE-esque montage of the kids zipping around in motorcycle rickshaws and taking in the local sights, but it's pretty much downhill from there. The group is able to delay the destruction by chaining themselves to the company's bulldozers and using their phones to live-stream what unfolds, thus keeping the hired security from just shooting them, because it would be witnessed by what Alejandro claims are millions of viewers. Unfortunately, on the flight back to the city, the group's plane crashes and the shit immediately hits the fan. You're always on edge when you're watching a Roth movie, because you know that at any moment, a character can suffer a revolting injury, and that it won't necessarily be the flashy decapitation or goring sort, which are often heralded by, say, an ominous shot of a spinning propeller, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK style. So, for example, when the plane's engine blows out and everyone gets tossed around, one guy drives the tip of his beer bottle into his teeth/gums area. It's one of those movie injuries that you really feel, like when someone gets hit in the crotch, because chances are it's happened to you.
The plane crash takes out a surprising number of kids; at first I thought Roth would have kept more around to sustain his sick carnival of horrors. A few fall out the back of the plane after a tall tree tears it open in midair, others die on impact, including the pilot, who has the top half of his head ripped off by a branch, well, mostly ripped off—it's still dangling by a piece of skin—, and then there's one kid who absentmindedly walks into the still-spinning propeller. Tallying up the numbers now, though, 8 make it out alright to face the really fucked up shit that's still to come, compared to CABIN FEVER's initial 5 kids and HOSTEL's 2 (3 if you count Kana), which allows for a more diverse bunch of kills that should please fans of Roth's work.
Shortly after the crash, that lost tribe that the kids were trying to protect shows up, and this is when Roth runs into a bit of trouble. It seems a lot of people are upset over how the tribespeople are depicted, i.e. as headhunters and cannibals, despite the fact that it's a fictional tribe. Of course there are real uncontacted peoples out there, but saying that THE GREEN INFERNO is irreparably damaging to them is like saying that HOSTEL was irreparably damaging to Europeans. I suppose the fact that we don't know all that much about the former group complicates things, though, whereas we know that not all European businessmen spend their leisure time chopping up American tourists and sowing them back together. There are impressionable people who watch movies, and it's certainly possible that they might get the wrong idea of uncontacted peoples at a time when rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and those who had once lived there in complete isolation are suddenly being exposed. To suggest that Roth has some agenda other than delivering trashy, throwback horror, though, or that his film will somehow play into someone else's corporate agenda, justifying the shitty treatment of uncontacted peoples on the basis that they're just a bunch of crazy cannibals—an actual concern that I've seen expressed on several activism sites—, seems pretty ridiculous to me.
Roth said himself that THE GREEN INFERNO's only targets are "slacktivists," those people on your Facebook news feed who change their profile picture to whatever a fake CeeLo Green page tells them to in order to "support" some cause. Sure, many of these people are genuinely caring, albeit misguided individuals, but others are just looking to posture. If you're wondering about Roth's motivations, just read his script, rife with lines like, "The only thing those posers [student activists] care about is looking like they care. It’s just a mere demonstration to appease their fucking white Jewish suburban guilt." Moreover, the tribespeople, despite being headhunters and cannibals, are far from the worst people in this film. That award definitely goes to Alejandro, and while I don't want to give too much away, let's just say that I'm more likely side with the dude eating another dude than the one who starts jacking off seconds after seeing his friend's throat get slit open. It's worth noting, too, that THE GREEN INFERNO is a spiritual successor to exploitation movies like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (even drawing its name from CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST's film-within-a-film), which Roth often cites among his work's primary influences. As strange as it may sound, THE GREEN INFERNO is a passion project. Its timing, however poor, is reflective of Roth's successes in Hollywood, which now afford him the freedom to make whatever the fuck he wants to, and not the current sociopolitical state of affairs in places like Peru. In short, I don't think the guy's trying to do anything but make a dumb homage to a bunch of dumb movies because he likes them, and he probably doesn't deserve all the flak that he's been getting.
He even has the t-shirt, you guys.
So, the fictional tribe that the kids encounter is cannibalistic, which, again, is not at all indicative of the practices of actual uncontacted peoples. There's a little bit of uncertainty as to whether or not they're friendly, but like a one word text response, an arrow through Alejandro's girlfriend's neck indicates that no, they are not. The kids are brought back to the tribe's village, where all but one is shoved into a pigpen. For some reason the one guy thinks he's getting a massage or something when they lie him down on a big stone altar. He's thanking them and shit as the tribal elders approach with an ax and what looks to be a pointy ice cream scoop. I have this thing about eye-related stuff; I can't even take an eye drop without breaking down. So, I nearly fainted when one of the elders sticks the pointy ice cream scoop (insert joke about eye scream scoop) right into the poor dude's sockets and starts twisting it around. Then, when that doesn't work, she just sticks her fingers in there, without washing her hands—rude—, like its a fucked up Three Stooges bit. Once buddy's eyeballs are rolling around in the dirt, the elder cuts off his tongue and puts it in her mouth like a Listerine Pocketpak strip, while another elder hacks off each of the guy's limbs in turn until he's fucking Bob Oblong—remember THE OBLONGS? The whole thing looks really fucking real, Roth & Co. having certainly honed their skills over the years. I could barely watch, but my friend and Throat Rip Reviews' resident Roth expert/raving fangirl was grinning rapturously, because she's one of the people who actually gets a kick out of this shit, and you enjoying this movie basically hinges on you being one, too. I'll spare you anymore gory details (ha), but several more kids meet similarly disturbing ends.
Interestingly, though, when I was at a second hand DVD store, I got to talking to the guy working, who said he hated THE GREEN INFERNO because he's, "seen worse shit [gorier stuff] on THE WALKING DEAD." I don't know about that. There's a death scene in THE GREEN INFERNO that's definitely reminiscent of that famous death scene in the original DAY OF THE DEAD (where the guy gets absolutely torn to pieces by a horde of zombies), that's since been recycled in literally every zombie movie and TV show, TWD included, but there's just something about the fact that they're normal people in THE GREEN INFERNO, as opposed to mindless monsters, that makes the death seem worse. The effects are definitely on par with anything in TWD (or GAME OF THRONES, for you people who think you've seen some shit just because you watched "The Mountain and the Viper"), but I'd argue that in THE GREEN INFERNO, there's an added layer of repugnance in the context.
The performances are all pretty lackluster, with a couple of exceptions, most notably Sky Ferreira's. Her character, Kaycee, is wonderfully sardonic, like Daria brought to life, and Kaycee's attempts to dissuade Justine from joining the student activism group constitute some of the most memorable parts of the film. This is largely owing to Roth's writing, but Ferreira definitely deserves credit for delivering acerbic quips like, "So I go to this party and Scott is like, 'You should totally rush.' I’m like, 'That’s retarded. That’s for kids who are stupid enough to go to Dartmouth,'" so convincingly.
When I Googled "Sky Ferreira," this still from THE TRUST came up. I thought it was funny.
The actors and actresses playing the cannibalistic tribespeople are also great. Apparently they're actually members of an isolated Amazonian tribe. Roth alleges that he showed them CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (probably CABIN FEVER, too—"This is the biggest movie in America!") to give them something to base their performances on, because again, they're not actually crazy cannibals.
In the end, you probably already know whether or not this one's for you. For people who aren't into watching other people get messed up, there are some breathtaking shots of the Amazon rainforest by cinematographer Antonio Quercia, fantastic makeup work—the tribe's red and black body paints look really cool—, and, again, Roth's sharp sense of humor. The guy knows how to inject pointedly witty commentary into his outwardly dumb horror movies, but he also doesn't shy away from frat boy jokes, which land pretty well, like when the token stoner character sticks a bag of marijuana in a dead girl's gaping neck wound, so that when the cannibals cook her, they'll get high (AF, BRO!) from the smoke, allowing him and the other remaining kids to escape unnoticed. This is followed by another funny, stupid bit where, OH SHIT, the cannibals have the munchies, man! For the most part, though, your time at THE GREEN INFERNO will be spent watching truly disgusting stuff, and unless that's your cup of tea, which then turns out to be a cup of your missing friend, you might want to catch something else.
Roth said himself that THE GREEN INFERNO's only targets are "slacktivists," those people on your Facebook news feed who change their profile picture to whatever a fake CeeLo Green page tells them to in order to "support" some cause. Sure, many of these people are genuinely caring, albeit misguided individuals, but others are just looking to posture. If you're wondering about Roth's motivations, just read his script, rife with lines like, "The only thing those posers [student activists] care about is looking like they care. It’s just a mere demonstration to appease their fucking white Jewish suburban guilt." Moreover, the tribespeople, despite being headhunters and cannibals, are far from the worst people in this film. That award definitely goes to Alejandro, and while I don't want to give too much away, let's just say that I'm more likely side with the dude eating another dude than the one who starts jacking off seconds after seeing his friend's throat get slit open. It's worth noting, too, that THE GREEN INFERNO is a spiritual successor to exploitation movies like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (even drawing its name from CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST's film-within-a-film), which Roth often cites among his work's primary influences. As strange as it may sound, THE GREEN INFERNO is a passion project. Its timing, however poor, is reflective of Roth's successes in Hollywood, which now afford him the freedom to make whatever the fuck he wants to, and not the current sociopolitical state of affairs in places like Peru. In short, I don't think the guy's trying to do anything but make a dumb homage to a bunch of dumb movies because he likes them, and he probably doesn't deserve all the flak that he's been getting.
He even has the t-shirt, you guys.
So, the fictional tribe that the kids encounter is cannibalistic, which, again, is not at all indicative of the practices of actual uncontacted peoples. There's a little bit of uncertainty as to whether or not they're friendly, but like a one word text response, an arrow through Alejandro's girlfriend's neck indicates that no, they are not. The kids are brought back to the tribe's village, where all but one is shoved into a pigpen. For some reason the one guy thinks he's getting a massage or something when they lie him down on a big stone altar. He's thanking them and shit as the tribal elders approach with an ax and what looks to be a pointy ice cream scoop. I have this thing about eye-related stuff; I can't even take an eye drop without breaking down. So, I nearly fainted when one of the elders sticks the pointy ice cream scoop (insert joke about eye scream scoop) right into the poor dude's sockets and starts twisting it around. Then, when that doesn't work, she just sticks her fingers in there, without washing her hands—rude—, like its a fucked up Three Stooges bit. Once buddy's eyeballs are rolling around in the dirt, the elder cuts off his tongue and puts it in her mouth like a Listerine Pocketpak strip, while another elder hacks off each of the guy's limbs in turn until he's fucking Bob Oblong—remember THE OBLONGS? The whole thing looks really fucking real, Roth & Co. having certainly honed their skills over the years. I could barely watch, but my friend and Throat Rip Reviews' resident Roth expert/raving fangirl was grinning rapturously, because she's one of the people who actually gets a kick out of this shit, and you enjoying this movie basically hinges on you being one, too. I'll spare you anymore gory details (ha), but several more kids meet similarly disturbing ends.
Interestingly, though, when I was at a second hand DVD store, I got to talking to the guy working, who said he hated THE GREEN INFERNO because he's, "seen worse shit [gorier stuff] on THE WALKING DEAD." I don't know about that. There's a death scene in THE GREEN INFERNO that's definitely reminiscent of that famous death scene in the original DAY OF THE DEAD (where the guy gets absolutely torn to pieces by a horde of zombies), that's since been recycled in literally every zombie movie and TV show, TWD included, but there's just something about the fact that they're normal people in THE GREEN INFERNO, as opposed to mindless monsters, that makes the death seem worse. The effects are definitely on par with anything in TWD (or GAME OF THRONES, for you people who think you've seen some shit just because you watched "The Mountain and the Viper"), but I'd argue that in THE GREEN INFERNO, there's an added layer of repugnance in the context.
The performances are all pretty lackluster, with a couple of exceptions, most notably Sky Ferreira's. Her character, Kaycee, is wonderfully sardonic, like Daria brought to life, and Kaycee's attempts to dissuade Justine from joining the student activism group constitute some of the most memorable parts of the film. This is largely owing to Roth's writing, but Ferreira definitely deserves credit for delivering acerbic quips like, "So I go to this party and Scott is like, 'You should totally rush.' I’m like, 'That’s retarded. That’s for kids who are stupid enough to go to Dartmouth,'" so convincingly.
When I Googled "Sky Ferreira," this still from THE TRUST came up. I thought it was funny.
The actors and actresses playing the cannibalistic tribespeople are also great. Apparently they're actually members of an isolated Amazonian tribe. Roth alleges that he showed them CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (probably CABIN FEVER, too—"This is the biggest movie in America!") to give them something to base their performances on, because again, they're not actually crazy cannibals.
In the end, you probably already know whether or not this one's for you. For people who aren't into watching other people get messed up, there are some breathtaking shots of the Amazon rainforest by cinematographer Antonio Quercia, fantastic makeup work—the tribe's red and black body paints look really cool—, and, again, Roth's sharp sense of humor. The guy knows how to inject pointedly witty commentary into his outwardly dumb horror movies, but he also doesn't shy away from frat boy jokes, which land pretty well, like when the token stoner character sticks a bag of marijuana in a dead girl's gaping neck wound, so that when the cannibals cook her, they'll get high (AF, BRO!) from the smoke, allowing him and the other remaining kids to escape unnoticed. This is followed by another funny, stupid bit where, OH SHIT, the cannibals have the munchies, man! For the most part, though, your time at THE GREEN INFERNO will be spent watching truly disgusting stuff, and unless that's your cup of tea, which then turns out to be a cup of your missing friend, you might want to catch something else.
Hmmm don't think I could handle this one! :s
ReplyDelete