Krazy Kino Adaptations

This week saw two classic features as part of our afternoon Kino series, both of which noted for their fantastical and surrealistic nature. Our series started off with the sensational Korean slowboiler Oldboy, about a man imprisoned in an apartment building for fifteen years without any apparent meaning. On the surface, this felt like a modern retelling of Franz Kafka's The Trial, but in reverse, with Oh Dae Su filling in for Josef K as Everyman. Whereas The Trial starts with the accumulation of evidence, as K tries to find out the nature of his crimes and moving towards his eventual judgement, Oldboy begins with the judgement, leaving Oh Dae Su to find out the nature of his crime upon his release. Of course, his investigation would not be complete with a swearing of revenge for his imprisonment and vengeance for his murdered wife, and missing daughter. Along the way, the increasingly byzantine plot touches on other favoured Kafka themes, such as incest and the nature of memory and language, display with generous portions of the grotesque.

Combining similar themes of sex and violence, David Lynch's Wild at Heart proved to be a surprisingly endearing love story, built around the mediveal notion of l'amour fou. Featuring a stunning performance from Willem DaFoe, Wild at Heart follows the story of Sailor and Lula, played by Nicholas Cage and Laura Dern, as they must overcome both the law and Lula's mother. During their cross-country flight from various hitmen employed by her mom, the two encounter a myriad of twisted, smalltown characters, such as DaFoe and Isabella Rossellini, who alternately attempt to befriend and betray them.