Thursday, December 4, 2014

Big Bad Wolves, Revenge, Torture, and Pedophiles from Israel

Be warned....this movie will have you squirming.  Be warned....you will turn your head or cover your eyes.  Be warned....this film might reveal parts of yourself that you preferred to remain hidden.  From Israel (filmed in Tel Aviv), we have 2013's "Big Bad Wolves."  "Big Bad Wolves" dwells in discomfort, and after it ends, a really long shower will be desired.  Great acting, music, and direction all contribute to this brutal crime drama which remains a mystery until just prior to the final credits.
Several children have been abducted, raped, tortured, and decapitated.  Dror (Rotem Keinan), a school teacher, emerges as the only suspect.  The most recent girl was found tied to a chair, with her head missing.  Tel Aviv detectives find Dror and bring him to an abandoned warehouse for torturous interrogation.  No luck.  The detectives are ordered to release him, and Micki (Lior Ashkenazi) is thrown out of homicide for this indiscretion.  Meanwhile, Yoram (Dov Glickman) starts hunting Dror, as his daughter was the headless girl.  Micki, coincidentally, also starts tailing Dror.  In a crazy scene, both men make a move on Dror and end up partners in a fiendish plot.  Yoram wants to know where his daughter's head is buried, and Micki wants a full confession.  Both these men have abandoned the legal system and intend a more primal justice.   
Tied to a chair in a basement turned torture chamber, Dror insists he's innocent.  Neither Micki or Yoram believe him....but are they wrong?  In a very slow and methodical manner, these men torture Dror, as the dead girls were tortured.  As painful and excruciating an experience it is, Dror pleads that he is innocent.  In the quirkiest scene in cinema this year, Yoram's dad pays a surprise visit.  At first shocked at what he finds, he then asks to join the festivities.  Yoram is perplexed that his dad wants to join in and even more so when his dad actually suggests more effective manners of torture.  Uh oh...Micki begins to doubt that they are torturing the right man.  Fear not, dad breaks out the blowtorch (pictured below) and what comes out of Dror's mouth is astonishing. 
Yes...the mystery is revealed...but at what cost?  Is Dror the killer? What is the torture doing to the person-hood of the torturers?  Most importantly....what deep dark evil recesses of your own consciousness are you visiting while viewing this film?  Beautifully shot in Israel, this is a must see for those of you that like the dark and ominous.  Available on Netflix, and containing torture scenes that surpass the ones in "Marathon Man," this film is most unsettling.  


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