It’s so rare these days to be surprised when viewing a new film. This jaded film buff has seen it all and I lost that sense of wide-eyed wonder at watching a film a long time ago.
Then along comes a film like Mandy and I feel reinvigorated once again. This film is pure cinema.
I don’t even know where to start in writing about it, or what words to use. I could use words like “amazing” or “brilliant” but I’ve used those words on other films I’ve seen this year and they just don’t seem enough in describing this film. It feels like all the other new films I’ve seen recently are suddenly cowering in the shadow of the shining piece of cinematic art that this film represents. Thinking about it over the last few days I think what makes this film exceptional is the way it hits you on some kind of primal, atavistic, and unconscious level. THAT’S why I can’t get the images out of my head. Rational thought and criticism becomes irrelevant.
It reminds me of the power of cinema at its best, where watching a film is an experience where you lose yourself and all awareness of even being inside a cinema. A multi-sensory, immersive overload that leaves you reeling.
In years to come I’ll be able to say “I was there”, at a sold-out HOME cinema in Manchester with the volume turned up to 11 and a dazzling array of images passing before my eyes. Yes it was hallucinatory, yes it was psychedelic, yes it was violent, but it was more than that, it was beautiful, deranged, intense, exciting, visionary, sad and even funny. It contains the greatest Nicolas Cage performance that I’ve seen for a long time. But let’s not forget Andrea Riseborough’s performance too. And the use of colour was astonishing, the whole film looked as if it had been filtered through some drug-induced haze.
I’ve deliberately not said much about the plot because I want people to discover it for themselves. Let’s just say it’s a revenge horror film.
I think people will be picking apart the symbolism and meaning in this film for a long time to come. There’s the occult aspect, of course (why else was the tv channel tuned to 13?) You’ve got pyramids, mythology, tigers, scythes, and just what does Mandy’s scar represent? I can see myself re-visiting this film again and again. Thank you Mr Cosmatos, for showing me why I love cinema.
And all it comes down to, in the end, is a man’s love for a woman. What could be simpler, or more profound, than that?