Vinyan DVD Review
Vinyan DVD Review
A child is lost in a Thai tsunami and his parents are looking for him… but should he be found?
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English actor Rufus Sewell is probably best-known for his starring turn in the sci-fi noir film Dark City, but he can also be seen every week on TV in his quirky crime drama "Eleventh Hour" as the grieving, answer-seeking Dr. Jacob Hood. The actor's definitely got some range, but he excels at playing moody, burdened, and generally upset characters who are on a mission to solve a personal mystery.
In Vinyan, there is little deviation from what Sewell's known for, though if you want to split hairs, it's really his wife (played by Emmanuelle Beart) who is hell-bent on finding out the truth about what happened to their missing son, Joshua (played by the director's own youngster, Borhan Du Welz).
Belgian director Fabrice du Welz was much-lauded for his 2004 horror, Calvaire, and so anticipation for Vinyan has been high. I didn't see Calvaire. I rather wish I hadn't seen Vinyan.
Hate to be so harsh, but Vinyan was a complete bore. The story begins with vacationing British husband and French wife Paul and Janet stuck in Thailand, mourning the loss of their little boy in a catastrophic tsunami that swept the locality, leaving some waterlogged bodies behind… and some swept out to sea. Little Joshua was never found, and all hope was lost until one day Janet happens to catch documentary news footage of destitute, displaced children living in a remote village — and she sees a little white boy wearing a Manchester United jersey. She is convinced it's their son and convinces Paul that they must try and find him.
Of course this is Southeast Asia, and Western laws do not apply. Paul and Janet don't bother to contact the British Consulate, but instead hire a seedy Burmese pimp and all-around gangster to help them locate their boy. Shown in the worst possible light, the Thai guides lie, cheat, steal and endanger the lives of the couple as they lead them across dangerous waters and deeper and deeper into the dense island jungles.
There are some effective moments depicting the terror and vulnerability of a genteel but completely raw and desperate husband and wife willing to do anything it takes to find their missing child, but the point is belabored over and over again in a series of events that are beyond routine. Heavy-handed and tedious, the story really only shows a glimmer of Cannibal Holocaust (a movie I didn't like very much, either) horror at the very end: but by then, the viewer is so desensitized to the situation, it barely raises an eyebrow.
At least the film is well-acted all-around, and the cinematography — all shot on the fly and on location in the "heart of darkness" which ranges from the city red light districts to the filthy brown river waters, to the remote and dense jungles — is stunning and accomplished.
More interesting than the film itself, actually, is the Making-of featurette on the DVD. For those who'd like to see just how "anti-Hollywood" Vinyan is, it's a rare look inside the world of urgent, arty movie-making.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson