Netflix has two means of recommending movies: one is to take a film and lump it into every possible conceivable genre (quirky visually-striking intellectual thrillers anyone?) and insist that I must watch this movie because I love this genre that was clearly generated by Netflix solely to bully me into watching this movie. For me, this movie is Santa Sangre. Netflix has wanted me to watch Sante Sangre for what seems like years. I did, and we'll discuss that later.
The other way Netflix recommends movies is to very rarely bring a film up, as if to say "oh. also this movie exists. I dunno. No one has watched it yet, but you know. It could be ok. You're probably not interested anyway as all you ever talk about is how much you want to see Santa Sangre."
Strigoi is one of the latter films, and precisely because Netflix's recommendation was so non-committal, I watched it.
I love this movie. It is the only vampire movie I think I've ever really loved.** It's what I want vampire movies to be, and it's precisely what they never are. Twilight would have us believe that vampires tell us about ourselves, about our desires and about what it means to belong to a community. Twilight sits on a throne of lies. Strigoi does those things, and it does so well. It's funny, it's incredibly sad, it is without a doubt the only time I have ever seen a vampire drink another's blood, and I felt it achieved something emotional and true.
This movie is touching and distressing and if I were to write a full list of adjectives to accurately describe it I would sound like Netflix.
Which leads me to question: What if Netflix is an entity so advanced in its knowledge of one area of information that it is an intelligence unto itself, and because of its incredibly nuanced love for film, can never be understood by others?
What if Netflix is the singularity, and the singularity is simply an awkward movie nerd?
Recommended genres for me today:
- Visually-striking Chinese Kung Fu Movies
- Gritty Crime Movies Based on a Book
- Independent Road Trip Dramas
- Quirky Buddy TV Comedies
These recommendations don't sound like they come from a computer. They sound a lot like the people I used to work with at the video store, talking to someone about something they just returned: a movie they grabbed off the new releases rack without much thought for its book adaptation or the cinematography of the fight scenes.
I don't remember the genre Netflix used to recommend Strigoi to me, but I'd like to think that my max-star rating has prompted Netflix to design a whole new genre of recommendations for me. Something about Soviet Russia that isn't set in Russia. Something about communities and the social devastation of a million quiet betrayals. Something about the impact of land ownership wars that are waged entirely in paperwork, without any family ever moving from their land, without anyone ever really knowing who truly owns what. Something about coming home to find your grandfather has been drinking your blood and living with him anyway.
**EDIT: There is one other vampire movie I love, and I also compared it to Twilight, which is horrifying.
[photo: Thomas Wolfe was wrong: you can go home again, and when you do, you'll finally achieve all that you couldn't face in med school.]
8 comments:
Some things Netflix is currently recommending for me:
- Cerebral Independent Movies about Marriage
- Imaginative Suspenseful Sci-Fi & Fantasy
- Foreign Horror Movies Featuring a Strong Female Lead
- Classic Goofy Movies from the 1940s
- Understated Foreign Gay & Lesbian Movies
These are all based on my "taste preferences" but my taste preferences are all selected one at a time. That is, I never said that I like "goofy movies from the 40s" (although I do); I said yes to "goofy" and "1940s." In this case it works pretty well--I am interested in seeing what Marx Bros movies are available for streaming. But in other cases, this would not necessarily work. I mean, I'm more likely to watch a goofy lesbian movie than an understated foreign lesbian movie. For what it's worth.
For me it put King of the Hill under "witty tv comedies," so I feel like Netflix and I are fighting.
Is it insane that I want to watch all of Cheers and then all of Frasier?
I'd like to hear more about Santa Sangre (I tried to watch El Topo once, and... oy). Also, I'm down to watch all the Foreign Horror Movies Featuring a Strong Female Lead. ALL OF THEM.
I really need to review Santa Sangre. Soon we'll ahve a living room with a tv. Marathon?!
Yes please.
The Evil Twin 2008
Sector 7 2011
We Are the Night 2010
Mutants 2009
The Nameless 1999
Dream Home 2010
YOGA: The Movie 2009
Arang 2006
Goth 2008
The Turn of the Screw 1992
The Night of the Hunted 1980
The Curse of February 29th 2006
The Perfume of the Lady in Black 1974
Tales from the Dead 2008
Carved: The Slit Mouthed Woman 2007
The Ghost 2004
Dark Forest of Death 2006
Seven Days to Live 2000
Ab-Normal Beauty 2004
The Pack 2010
Loner 2008
Red Riding Hood 2003
I am pants-wettingly terrified by the mere title of "Carved: The Slit Mouthed Woman" and I can't even rationally explain why. In other words, I must see it.
Also, that's a huge list. We might need to plan for two marathons.
Also I should have mentioned that I'd happily sit through every single episode of Cheers. I don't know about Frasier, though.
Lydia - THANK YOU for doing the thinking work on this. I'm very happy to host a marathon (or series fo marathons) of all of those.
The slit mouthed woman looks so distressing.
Cheers!
Post a Comment