Blue Ruin

I'm probably no longer allergic to these slow movies. Lately, there have been quite a few of them, as if the independent production has found its own mainstream. Violence, but no classic gangs, everything very realistic, occasionally some blood, naturalism, but not over the top, yet dirty and visually disgusting. All of this at a more than calm pace. It just seems all the same to me and these movies don't give me anything. (23.06.2014)

Objectively, I have almost nothing to reproach this indie revenge thriller, it’s a solid movie with fantastic cinematography and a captivating melancholic atmosphere. But it was too slow for me, which says something, because in general I have nothing against slow films. The Battery without charm. (26.04.2014)

An intense feeling of unease from start to finish and long after the film has ended. Blue Ruin (a more fitting title might be “I Piss on Your Grave”) works flawlessly as a pure, visceral revenge movie (probably without “rape”, but that’s not entirely clear). Saulnier restricts the not very communicative narrative’s scope of awareness to what the protagonist perceives and feels. The soundtrack disturbingly mixes subjective auditory perceptions with the actual sounds of the setting, so we are never sure if a real threat is approaching or if Dwight is just humming in his head. The realistic details (pulling out an arrow, turning off the water and switching off the light, stress-induced vomiting) also play a significant part in the emotional absorption, making us aware that the rules in this world are quite similar to those in our world (which may sound like a banality, but it is definitely not an established standard in American genre films). Only the characters here act with animal instinct according to the elementary evolutionary model of “kill or be killed”. Like good old cowboy movies, where there was no room for drawn-out consideration and speeches, where the conflict between civilisation and wilderness (here directly embodied in the main protagonist, standing on the boundary of these two spaces) was also an eternal issue to be confronted, and where guns were also the most popular fetishistic object. One might have reservations about the overly fleeting indication of motivations, but the minimum amount of information about who and what so badly messed Dwight up contributes to disturbing doubts about whether his actions are justified. The film does not provide an answer. It just thoroughly unsettles us and leaves us to somehow come to terms with all of the conflicting ideas in our own heads. For me, this is a clear sign of a high-quality thriller. I’m looking forward to Green Room. 80% (03.07.2016)