The House that Jack Built

There might be some spoilers.

Towards the end of this film I was shouting at the TV for it to hurry up and END, partially because I was bored, partially because the ending was predictable, and partially because I did not feel the character deserved such a long send-off.

I'm getting kind of tired of watching films whose only purpose is to be shocking, either through extreme violence or extreme emotional turmoil, but otherwise have nothing to say, and which leave you with that lingering, nagging question: what was the point of that?

If this film's intention is to show how a psychopath thinks then it was pretty much same-old same-old. There was nothing new here and I can get so much more insight reading a book about a serial killer instead.

I'd be interested more in how he got into the serial killing game, how he deceived his victims, and this is something the film fails at. It shows him deceiving one woman, but other women appear without any preamble. If there is anything to say about psychopaths I think it is to show how they can manipulate and how people allow themselves to be manipulated. But that is detailed and nuanced, and is something most films can never achieve.

Perhaps the film was to show how the police and the general public fail to notice the activities of a serial killer, to show how easy it is for people to get away with such things for so long, even when they announce publicly what they are; and in many ways this film is not entirely unlike the book American Psycho. In fact, this film is much closer at capturing the essence of that book rather than the terrible adaptation we ended up with.

I was expecting to not like this film and I was expecting it to be misogynistic. My curiosity informed my desire to watch. I don't think it is particularly misogynistic because it portrays what psychopath's do, but I cannot help feeling that within the premise of the film is a desire to show women being tortured. It is a surprisingly boring film, but with graphic violence in places. The violence is shocking and not particularly enjoyable to watch.

The parts that affected me the most were the parts where he had gained the trust of his victims. They are the bits that stick in my mind the most rather than the violence and mutilation. I think von Trier tried to push the craziness of his character to shock the audience, and I cannot help feel there is something a bit desperate about that.

The part where he makes a mother 'feed' some pie to her already dead sons comes across as a desperate attempt to shock and feels a little bit out of character to me. I doubt the mother, who was suffering form post traumatic shock, would have complied. The serial killer also indulges in some amateur taxidermy, positioning the corpses in certain ways before freezing them. Again this seems more to be an attempt to shock than anything. For me there is nothing one can do to a corpse that comes close to what one can do to the living.

But it is a surprisingly boring film – or, perhaps not surprising – and if you compare this film, which tries so very hard, with a film like, say, Brief Encounter you will see that compelling stories do not need special effects, violence, depravity. Shall I compare this film to Brief Encounter? Why, yes!

I watched Brief Encounter not long ago and was much more impressed by that old, black and white drama than by this steaming pile of shit. For me, Brief Encounter was new and fresh and original – and it is so original. I was struck by how simple yet compelling the story was; how such a compelling narrative could arise from the most ordinary of circumstances.

And it was a story that drove me to tears, that elicited feelings lurking within; and this is something The House that Jack Built could never do.

Over and out for now, guys!

xxx