Fear X

I have a strong belief that for every person, there is that "one" film. One to define your personality and you understand thoroughly that this film is indeed a visualization of your characteristics. Sort of like soul mates, except not as homosexual. For me, that film is Fear X. Don't let the title deceive you like it has hundreds of thousands of people. Fear X to me, is pure ripened sadness, billowing from every molecule existing on each frame.

John Turturro plays a lonely security guard who is past the point of insanity. After his loving wife is killed in a random incident, Turturro pours over surveillance tapes trying to piece together the events. The striking determination is enough to get under your skin and grasp your arteries. While mainly being a film about redemption, it has a potent mixture of hyper-voyeurism.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a Danish director who filmed Fear X after writing some ideas for television shows and directing gangster films. Fear X is the box office flop that was beat out by the latest Scary Movie spoof. Due to the huge failure of getting any revenue, Refn's company Jang Go Star went bankrupt, killing all chances for another decent film. Fear X is prone to negative remarks from critics but it is all up to you. Perhaps in another life, I might even mock this film.

On a personal note, I might add that Fear X had a bizarre effect on me. When i first found the film, It was at a video store, lying in a box for unloved DVD's without cases. I promptly took it home to leave it sit in a binder until i finally decided to watch it due to a friends recommendation. Within the first 15 minutes i was sobbing hysterically. Unbeknownst to me, this desperate feeling of paranoia would only increase, granting the film Fear X the title of a personal emotional roller coaster.

David Lynch's biggest success, Blue Velvet, is known for it's keen and vibrant uses of the color Blue and how it manages to cause the normally "cool" color to leave a stain on you. Fear X has a very similar effect, but with the color Red. While red normally has a warm feeling, even being related to blood, it lacks all these happy sensations. Refn's use of red causes your eyes to glaze over leaving you with the utmost urgency to finish this film and "get the hell out of there"


Several features of the film really make it stand out. One being that the film was shot in chronological order, as in, the beginning was shot first and the ending was filmed last, and two being the ending. Rather than having an ending that features a plausible outcome, the director decides to go with an entirely open ending, allowing whatever you're mind has built up to create a whole world involving the situations and characters. Fear X isn't perfect, nor is it an auteur's work, but it is a masterpiece of blistering emotions. What else would you expect from a screenplay penned by Hubert Selby Jr.?

-mAQ