MaD Movies
若然你在剛過去的週末也有到藝術中心參加MaD Movies的話，你就會知道MaD 2011已經展開！錯過了這次MaD Movies MaDees，也可看看我們的筆記：
1月15日
《黑水熱》《目眩神迷》《不好意思》
導演：Cyrus Frisch
若主流娛樂總是讓觀眾安坐沙發中享受的話，這三套電影所做的正正相反。導演在荷蘭出了名瘋狂，電影在當地放映時，觀眾往往會中途離場。
為甚麼？就《黑水熱》而言，一字記之曰：悶，刻意的悶。Cyrus直言：「我故意讓電影頭二十分鐘的節奏如此緩慢(99.5%的鏡頭都長好幾分鐘)。就好像在說，『撐不住的話就離開吧』。但若你留下來，後來的就會好一點。」當你通過了耐力測試，故事節奏開始加快，一趟可怕的旅程就要展開。眼見路上的士兵持槍直指著一個人的腦袋，甚至是自己的女朋友被強姦，主角卻視若無睹。但到最後，主角見到一群皮黃骨瘦的非洲貧民在沙漠上嚎啕，終於不能自己地陷入崩潰。作為觀眾，心裡大概也不會比主角好受。
Cyrus的電影常常挑起巨大反應，甚至可說是具挑釁性的。導演自己最喜歡的作品《不好意思》就常常讓觀眾怒沖沖的離場。片子，你會見到：不能控制自己的酒鬼尿濕褲子，隱君子為自己注射上電，甚至有人(他們是有血有肉的人，不是在演戲的演員！) 對著鏡頭直呼「停啊，Cyrus，停呀！」電影對片中人的操縱激怒了好些人。Cyrus拍這片子是要批判時興的真人show。對他而言，觀眾的憤怒正正代表了電影的成功。問題是到底這些被激怒了的觀眾會不會多走一步，認識到影片以外令他們生氣的真正原因。
就今次的香港首映而言，觀眾的反應可算正面。沒有觀眾中途離場，從觀眾在演後座談會中的討論可見他們都能明白電影的用心。
「如果我真是個壞人，那我的電影就不會有任何趣味可言。」Cyrus的電影非常殘酷地表現了他在這個無情世界之中的迷惘。被問及《黑水熱》的靈感來源，他坦白地承認每當他在電視上看到飢民慘況時，他都會轉台不看，眼不見為淨。若這個被電影雜誌Filmmaker稱為壞孩子的導演提出這些棘手又令人尷尬的問題，那是因為他想要點出其中不妥的地方。
從電影中，可以知道Cyrus對社會問題甚為關注，但關注無助於消滅問題，Cyrus始終沒有救過一條人命。1月23日，Cyrus將會來到MaD 2011現場，分享他的迷惘和他的 “創不同” 願望。
想知道更多有關Cyrus的東西，請看http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/issues/fall2006/reports/passion_frisch.php
Or – for those who watched our warm-up screenings at the Hong Kong Arts Centre this weekend – MaD 2011 has already started. If you have missed them, here’s a recap:
15 January
Blackwater Fever, Dazzle and Forgive Me by Cyrus Frisch
If mainstream entertainment tends to keep the audience stuck in the couch, these three films by the reputed wildman of Dutch cinema are the exact opposite. When these were shown in Holland, people walked out from the cinema.
Reasons? For Blackwater Fever, it’s boredom — yet intended. “The first 20 minutes is deliberately slow [which means, for example, a 99.5% constant scene dragging on for a few minutes]. It’s like ‘go away, if you can’t stand it.’ But if you stay, it gets better,” said Cyrus of the film. For those who passed the patience test, the narrative speeds up and gets more and more intense. Tension is built as the audience witnesses the film’s progressive violence, from a soldier pointing a gun at a man’s head to the rape of the protagonist’s own girlfriend. As the protagonist can’t help breaking down at the end upon the sight of emaciated Africans wailing in a desert, the audience possibly feels the same.
Cyrus’s films provoke reactions, and they are provocative. The director’s favourite film, Forgive Me, usually makes people walk out in anger. There are scenes of a collapsed drunkard wetting his pants, a drug addict needling herself, and these real people yelling at the camera “Stop, Cyrus, stop!” Those who were angry detested the film’s manipulation. Cyrus, who made the film to critique reality shows, considers their fury a success. The question is whether the infuriated would go one step further and recognize the object of their fury beyond the film.
The answer to this question is “yes” for the film’s Hong Kong debut. Indeed, the walk-out that frequented the film’s Dutch screenings did not happened. In the post-screening discussion with the director, the audience’s thoughtful participation showed they got the point.
“If I am a really bad person, these movies will not be interesting.” Cyrus’s films ruthlessly tell his frustration of a ruthless world. When the audience asked about the inspiration for Blackwater Fever, Cyrus confessed he felt bad when he switched channels whenever he saw the plight of the hunger-struck on TV. If the enfant terrible, as Cyrus is called by Filmmaker magazine, asks awkward questions, it is because he wants to point out what is not quite right.
No matter how much he cares, Cyrus has nonetheless never saved a life. Cyrus will talk about his frustration, and his wish to make a difference, on 23 January at MaD.
Want to know more about Cyrus? Check this out: http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/issues/fall2006/reports/passion_frisch.php
