Vinyan - Review
Review by Jack Foley
VINYAN is the second film this year to deal with a couple’s descent into madness following the death of their child.
Unlike Anti-Christ, however, there are no scenes of genital mutilation. But the themes and, in particular, the journey of its central female characters possess plenty of similarities.
Fabrice du Welz’s movie is set in the aftermath of the 2005 Thai tsunami as married couple Jeanne (Emmanuelle Beart) and Paul Belhmer (Rufus Sewell) struggle to cope with the loss of their son.
Clinging to the remotest hope that he is still alive (as his body was never recovered), Jeanne convinces herself that the boy was kidnapped by traffickers in the chaos that followed the catastrophe and, upon seeing what she thinks is her son on a video taken in the jungle, persuades Paul to accompany her on a rescue mission.
Bribing the sinister Mr Gao to take them by boat to the pirate-infested jungles of the Thai/Burmese border, the traumatized couple subsequently embark on a quest that plunges them ever deeper into an alien universe into a supernatural realm where the dead are never truly dead.
Having made a name for himself with debut movie Calvaire, Belgian director du Welz again serves notice that he’s not afraid to wrong-foot viewers and take them where they least expect.
Hence, what starts out as an intriguing missing persons drama set against the context of a devastating real-life event, slowly becomes something much more sinister and taxing.
It’s also more psychological than horror fans might expect, even though the final sequences in the depths of the jungle aren’t for the faint-hearted.
But like Anti-Christ, the couple at the centre of the story struggle to hold our sympathy. Beart, in particular, is an annoying presence to be around, even early on. While the decision-making by both of the couple are hard to justify… and feel contrived for the film’s later benefit.
The descent into the supernatural realm, while deeply unsettling, is also less than satisfying, with creepy children once again being used to heighten the horror effect.
The ending, meanwhile, is pretty repellent, even by modern horror standards.
That said, du Welz does achieve what he set out to in haunting the audience and allowing his film to linger, while his use of location is exemplary… even if his handling of actors is not.
For curiosity value alone, Vinyan isn’t without merit. But it’ll doubtless annoy and frustrate more viewers than it’ll impress.
Certificate: 18
Running time: 90mins
UK Release Date: October 2, 2009