[FANTASIA 2018] ‘THE SCYTHIAN’ and ‘CHAINED FOR LIFE’ Mini-Reviews

THE SCYTHIAN (aka The Last Warrior)

The Scythian is a brutal, bloody assault on the senses. Lyutobor (Aleksey Faddeev) is a fierce swordsman, a Christian warrior with a wife and child. This family gets involved in the middle of a conflict with the last of the Scythians, Pagan soldiers who were once powerful that in their dwindled numbers have become mercenaries and assassins. After the wife and child are kidnapped by the Scythians, they demand that Lyutobor kill his leader Oleg (Yuriy Tsurillo) in order to get them back. Refusing to do this, Lyutobor travels with a captured assassin named Marten (Alexander Kuznetsov) in order to rescue them, who he makes swear to his deity that he will help in exchange for his freedom. Their journey will be met with peril; there’re clashes with a blind monster, a vicious tribal clan, Lyutobor’s own people, and the fearsome Scythian’s themselves. And blood. A LOT of blood.

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This movie is pretty awesome. It’s a simple, modern story that’s set in an ancient time. It’s full of grounded realism mixed with fantasy and myth elements that creates a compelling, violent thrill ride. Both Faddeev and Kuznetsov are physically gifted, imposing, and have a good chemistry as two brutes with opposite beliefs that find a common ground. Co-writer/director Rustam Mosafir has a strong visual flair and the movie looks terrific. Action is extremely well shot with hand-held long takes and great swordfight choreography. I really, really enjoyed this once it got rolling, and quite liked the two leads. I think you will too if a violent historical and fantasy mix is up your alley.

4 OUT OF 5 STARS

 

Aside from playing at Fantasia 2018, this will be released on Blu-ray on August 14th courtesy of 4Digital Entertainment as The Last Warrior!

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CHAINED FOR LIFE

Chained For Life is a meandering movie about making a movie with commentary about the treatment of the disabled within the film industry. This film is billed as a satire, but I think I was missing something. It’d be easy to do so. A pretentious European director who is referred to as Herr Director (Charlie Korsmo) is making a campy throwback about a doctor who can help out “freaks” with surgical procedures (I think). The lead star Mabel (Jess Weixler) becomes fascinated in Rosenthal (Adam Pearson), a disfigured man who she find difficult to get to know for numerous reasons. Meanwhile the cast of “freaks” are making their own film after hours, and news reports and talk of an active, disfigured serial killer in the area appear. The line between fiction and reality — what is behind the scenes, what is Herr Director’s film, what is the “freaks” film, what is a dream/nightmare — blurs more and more.

I wasn’t a big fan of this movie. It was too ethereal to grasp, and too abstract to actually feel anything. Comparisons seem to be drawing towards Eraserhead, thought I think this is a little more obtainable and easy to take than Lynch’s classic. I’ve been in love with Jess Weixler since Teeth, and she’s just as charming as always in a role that was a bit thankless (though that was kind of the point). Adam Pearson is well remembered for me as the disfigured man from Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, a presence that at the time I was certain was the most haunting animatronic I’d ever seen. Pearson suffers from neurofibromatosis, a condition that covers his face in disfiguring tumors. He’s the best part of the movie for me. He’s got a charming personality that he gets to show off here, one which has appeared in numerous BBC documentaries. Finally, although a minor role, this is Charlie Korsmo’s first role in 20 years. You would remember him as the kid from Dick Tracy and Hook. Why he chose Aaron Schimberg’s film as the one to return on is a mystery to me. Perhaps this movie will do it for you, but it left me cold and confused.

2 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS

 

No word on distribution outside of playing Fantasia 2018, but we’ll keep you posted!