Directed by Pascal Laugier. With Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Bégin. This is a hard film to watch. Forget the insipid horror remakes which Hollywood is currently churning out. The French are presently pushing the boat way out in regards to horror. It's taken me a few days just to digest the experience this film presents. There are equally brutal films around, but Martyrs, moves beyond obvious shock and nastiness, towards something more disturbing. The first half is basically a home invasion movie, involving a nice middle class family and a shotgun, as an abused girl embarks on an act of deranged revenge. Not much of this first section is really what it seems. Just when you think the story is petering out, and there's no obvious way the narrative can go, the film shifts direction, moving into a strange and in the end, mystical direction. The finale is quite logical, grotesque, and even touchingly beautiful. Martyrs' lasting power is not in its scenes of savage violence, because there are many recent films that do that, but in that the film also leaves you with an unsettling sense of wonder.
Orange and grey is one of my favourite colour combinations. My god, horses are hard to draw, aren't they? I had some trouble with the back legs, but I think it turned out all right.
I'm currently reading Team Of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Inspired by that excellent book, here's a sketch of Abe Lincoln. We could do with more like him.
I once read an interview with Terry Nation, who created the daleks, in which he stated that the inspiration for the daleks came when he saw a woman wearing a hoop dress. The gliding walk struck him as spooky and this thought led on to the creation of the classic monster.
It certainly ought to be possible to make this dress. The hat might be a problem though.
British Artist Darryl Cunningham is a cartoonist. He is the writer and artist on Supercrash (aka The Age Of Selfishness), Psychiatric Tales, Science Tales, and Uncle Bob Adventures.
I'm always available for commissions.
Email: darryltoon(at)gmail.com
Read all about me in this interview.
So Long, and thanks for all the fish…
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Richard has already taken his final bow on the blog (see here), and now
it’s my turn. Truth be told I have been putting this off all week, and here
I am ...
The BSB Q&A: Barnaby Richards
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The BSB Q&A is a continuing series of interviews with the people who make
the books that we publish at Blank Slate, delving into some of the creative
myste...
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