Ah, Martyrs. I've heard a lot about this film, but was never sure if it was one I was going to see. It has quite a reputation for being a very difficult film to watch because of it's extremely intense scenes of torture... it's rated R-for "disturbing/severe aberrant behavior involving strong bloody violence, torture, child abuse and some nudity." Good thing there's no smoking in it, at least. And honestly, I saw the Unrated version, so whatever. At any rate, it's certainly not a film for the weak of heart - "extreme horror" is an apt description. It is quite disturbing - while it often gets bunched in with a lot of others in the "torture porn" genre, you could debate whether or not it really belongs there. It certainly tries to get a bit headier than your typical "I'm a crazy guy and I love torturing people!," so it's admirable in that respect. Whether it succeeds in getting out of that genre will depend entirely on your interpretation.
The DVD I watched had a nice little introduction to the film from writer-director Pascal Laugier in which he's kind of coyly apologetic about making it. He says "I'm not sure you made the right decision [about watching it]" and "sometimes I hate myself for having done such a flick - sometimes I'm very proud of it. I consider it an act of freedom." Laugier basically implores people to forget about what they've read - to go into it with an open mind and experience it as virginally as possible. He thinks of Martyrs as a strong cinematic experience - and like it or not, you will probably have a strong reaction.
Martyrs is about girl named Lucie who has escaped from a terrible, abusive situation. She was confined and subjected to horrific torture from her captors, but managed to escape and ended up in a state-run facility. She has trouble making friends but manages to be social with Anna, a slightly older girl who also came from an abusive background. 15 years later, still feeling the effects of her captivity, Lucie comes across the man and woman who tortured her as a child. She goes after them for revenge, and once that's done, she calls Anna for help. But what Lucie and Anna uncover at the house is even more disturbing than they could have possibly imagined.
The first thing that comes to mind when I look back on Martyrs is that it is indeed a pretty goddamned brutal and nihilistic film. It's not necessarily torture-porn per se - there are a couple of nasty body-horror moments, but's that not really what the film has on it's mind. It's more bleak in terms of how relentless it is in beating down its characters. There is a sort of philosophy behind it that I won't spoil here - it's not so much violence solely for the sake of violence. But how you feel about the film will hinge on if you're buying into that philosophy or not. If you do, there will be a lot to chew on and a lot ways you could interpret the way things pan out. If not? You'll probably just think they wanted to put a cerebral spin on watching a woman get beat up for a half-an-hour, so you wouldn't feel so bad about it.
And honestly, Martyrs sort of feels like three movies in one - you've got part 1, which is Lucie exacting revenge on her captors. Part 2 is where Lucie and Anna sort of discover the story of what was going on with all of the torture... And part 3? I won't spoil it, but it's definitely the part of the film that gives Martyrs it's reputation for being absolutely brutal. Really, any one of these three parts could probably support a film on their own, and they could feasibly be very different tonally.
Personally, I thought things started off incredibly strong. Mylene Jampanoi has a really striking look and screen presence - she plays the damaged/unhinged adult Lucie very well. She owns this first part of the film, but there is a good mystery here as well. Is this all real or in Lucie's head? And Martyrs is very well shot and just looks good - there is a coldness to the visuals that reflect the film's overall mood and ideologies. Morjana Alaoui is good as Anna too - she ends up getting the brunt of the nasty stuff, so while she doesn't have as much dramatic acting to do, she probably had a more difficult time on set. (Not that it was an easy shoot for either of them. Should you believe wikipedia, Laugier said one of the main difficulties in making the film was "keep[ing] the actresses crying all the time." So it's that kind of movie.)
Ultimately, I felt like things got a little less exciting as things moved on. This probably had a lot to do with my expectations. I had read so much about the "torture porn"-ish aspects of the film that I knew *something* was coming. But the first two-thirds of the film are not really that at all, so it was kind of a surprise to see how Martyrs built up to that "inevitable" conclusion.
So it's a well-made but very unpleasant film. I can't say I totally bought into the underpinnings of what was going on (i.e. why all this was happening) - and even if I did, I can't say that it was resolved in a particularly satisfying manner. But it's been an interesting film to think/read about. I'm hoping to kill some time at work this week on message boards for further insight, so that should be fun.
Oh yeah, and it's French (that seems like something I should mention). If you hate reading subtitles, there's an American remake in the works... some first images were just released so I'd assume it would be released later this year or something? I'll certainly check it out, although I would imagine an American version would have to be pretty seriously neutered. But if they can find an interesting angle (particularly on the philosophical side of things) I think it has the potential to be worthwhile. Trying to top the French version would be a mistake.
It's a tough movie to watch, but it is pretty fascinating. Martyrs is certainly well-made, but I think I'm going to agree with Laugier and paraphrase him... it's the kind of movie I liked, but I kind of feel bad about liking it. If you can get into extreme horror:
I would recommend this film.
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