Remarks about 'Scream'

 

Another way to look at the 'Scream' series, another angle of analysis.

The usual critique of that film -and its subsequent saga- is that it's a parody of slasher movies where the genre is being played for laughs thanks to the self-knowing references to relevant movies.

In fact, my contention is: its premise is not the subverting of the horror genre ...it is the very fanatical attachment to horror movies that some youngster characters take too far (this is particularly true of 'Scream 5' where the writers drop the pretence altogether and explicitly offer this rationale as the central explanation). In other words, 'Scream''s central theme is not violence, it is not about serial killers - it is about transposing into real life -or at least fictional real life in imaginary Woodsboro- cultural constructs (namely horror movie tropes, but also online sensationalism (in was it 'Scream 2'...?)).

All of the clever intertextual references are not the proverbial cherry on the cake - they are the very foundation upon which the series rests.

The deranged killers base their crimes on horror movie edicts (this is their prime motive); the smart-arse self-knowing characters who comment the events make no mistake as to what kind of logic is being enforced as they continually replace them within the framework of horror movies (thereby removing themselves from reality to take a *cool* place within the realm of cultural commentary); and we get our enjoyment from assessing how the movie departs from conventional slashers and pokes fun at them

and that's a bit of a problem.

That's a bit of a problem insofar as the movie instrumentalises violence, it turns what is after all human suffering into a pretext for clever p*st-m*dernism play. (Granted, this is the case for countless other books, plays, and movies – but we are currently discussing 'Scream'.) Seen in this light, we are not far away from the Tarantino world, where violence is a mere pretext for looking *cool* and selling retro soundtracks.

What 'Scream' also does is: it's having its cake and eating it. I mentioned the fact that it pokes fun at slasher conventions, but it does so all the while proceeding as a slasher of its own (see also 'Natural Born Killers', “Man Bites Dog', 'Funny Games' etc, where this duality has also been questioned, alleged, pointed out, denounced – you take your pick).

Just for the fun of it, here is a modest proposal.

Right from the start (the original film), and in a further twist of the screw (since 'Scream' is itself parody), the screenwriters introduced the existence of a parody doppelganger : the 'Stab' movie. The logical “meta” development would be to develop and increasingly feature that cinematic double to the point where it parasites the Woodsboro/'Scream' universe (cf. the footnotes in 'Infinite Jest', 'The Marabou Stork Nightmares' -or 'Pale Fire' in its own way- gradually taking over the main text) and inspires further murders, this time trapping its characters into a head-spinning mindfuck obsession with their very own cinematic (that is to say, 'Stab'-related) representation. How meta can you go!!

Addendum / Correction. Within the 'Scream' cannon, 'Scream 3' is worth mentioning. That time, the initial motive was not the enforcement of horror movie logic by American fanboys – but a direct denunciation of 'couch casting'. When you bear in mind that the movie got produced by none other than Harvey Weinstein, that's quite startling.

a quick review of 'The Tragedy of Macbeth' (sure to be amended and edited later)

 

re. The Coen's 'Macbeth' (for the 1st time, there's only bro directing): first of all, the art direction (photo and set) is sensational (see my take on screengrabs below and on my instgrm page). Contrary to what some critics wrote, it is not a noir film ...but a white one. Characters emerge out of, and fade into, an omnipresent spectral white mist that works wonders in the chosen -not entirely, as a matter of fact- black-and-white monochrome colour scheme which brings to mind the likes of Welles's 'Othello', 'Night of the Hunter', Kurosawa, de Chirico paintings, early Borowczyk ('Goto Ile d'Amour' and 'Blanche'), 'Caligari', the video for 'Every Breath You Take', Scola's 'A Special Day' and so on. ( + Bauhaus 'Fade to White' and my very own 'Whiteout' film scenario available at Am*zon in the '54+1 Stories' compilation available here: The Rise Of The Shadows - 54+1 stories: Synopsis 1996-2006 - Kindle edition by Thivend, Loig. Humor & Entertainment Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. )

Text-wise, it felt like the screenwriters got rid of pretty much the entire middle part of the play, jumping from the premise and first act (your man gets the crown and instantly goes mad, as does his wife) to the final showdown (the wronged Royal descendants come back to defeat him -the end) and it... works. It doesn't fly in all diegetic and literary directions but instead doubles down on the paranoid retribution instantly affecting the curses couple. And it goes fast too (compared to the standard 3+ hour duration on stage).

This being said, the writers make sure to leave the scene with the hungover doorman telling his ribald jokes. We have to wonder why. … Well, the noted inclusion of his speech about drink related male impotence and despair has got to have substance, relevance, importance ...especially when the issue of parenthood (see what I have done here?) is crucial to the plot. Fancy that, lifelong warrior Macbeth and his ruthless wife are childless!

Now for the acting. Getting Denzel Washington to take on the part was an audacious move. As I saw it, Washington plays Macbeth as an already defeated, worn out bruiser who never really seems particularly bothered about getting to the throne in the first place. The prophecy falls upon him, and his wife adds to the pressure. The actress-and-I-said-actress who plays the « three weird sisters » is terrific: seriously unnerving, what with her arachnoid postures and white ash covered face pinpricked with malevolent black eyes like the proverbial pissholes in the snow (man-with-the-phone-at-the-party in 'Lost Highway' anyone?).

But the best character / figure / acting performance for me has to be the skinny bearded narrator who appears at regular intervals to deliver tragic news, a sexually ambiguous figure whose allegiance is never really clear (word in your ear though: he is not exactly a nice guy). This creature moves about, ever so slightly swinging his hips, in a vaguely bird-like tight fit black tunic that screams 'hip', 'Japanese' and 'get me post-modern chic on the line' - kudos also due to the costume department. The way I saw it, he displaces Macbeth as the central character, depriving him of prominence and narrative drive, seamlessly fitting inside the Coens universe instead (remember their narrator in 'Lebowski' or the book-ending of 'No Country for Old Men'). On this subject, let us bear in mind the title: 'The Tragedy of Macbeth'. In this here version, Macbeth is at best a mere protagonist, an anti-hero caught up in an ever worsening chain of events that buoys him about – in other words, a typical Coen figure. He even disappears before the end, like the cowboy of 'No Country'.

In summation, terrific work from the Coen bro ...but then has he/they ever set a foot wrong! (Haven't seen 'A Serious Man' yet though – heard some less than flattering comments about it). De la belle ouvrage and no mistake.