An unraviking psychological tension with a clear form but killed again in the end
‘La Furía de Dios,’ is Netflix’s newest Argentinian movie which falters between being a sordid story of revenge enacted on someone and being a more gripping psychological thriller. The thought for either of the two doesn’t seem as something which would be difficult for the audience to comprehend, but the practical application seems to be missing. Such a weak point, where the swings of tone and direction get lesser in the second that is more or less, pinning the concrete idea of where ‘The Wrath of God’ dwells underneath the darkness. Once that happens, it feels like the narration has started getting better and once again becoming more engaging. Still, one can judge overall execution as uninspiring.
‘The Wrath of God’ tells us a story about Kloster, who is a novelist in his prime, and occurred through Luciana, though unknowingly, one of his ex-assistants. She quits Kloster’s job after he kissed her, while she did not want to be kissed at all. He totally gets it all wrong, and she proceeds against him with a lawsuit for sexual harrasment. Mercedes, Kloster’s spouse has also spent considerable time in the institution, after her injury which put an end to her career. Their daughter Pauli also has her share of problems and experiences issues of compatibility with Mercedes.
One day, she finds Luciana’s letter of complaint in the letterbox. It is a letter filled with sensation for her as she had not heard about it before. She kills Pauli in the bathtub and then she kills herself. Esteban, a journalist and a jealous writing competitor of Kloster, tries to understand the basis of Luciana’s accusation regarding Kloster systematically eliminating designated members of her family as a revenge tactic.
The fact that the film is not linear means that there are two time frames present, one concerning the course of events occurring roughly twelve years ago, while the other is in the current time. To ensure a smooth flow of the narrative, the first stage events are leading to the second stage armed with the fact that the two stages start and end at the same events.
The film ‘The Wrath of God’ takes a long time to reach the point. But at that point, you still do not have the answers as a viewer. The particularity of its conclusion brings to the fore the urge to scrutinize the narrative from one’s own ethical and intellectual perspectives. Sometimes, director Sebastian Schindel seems ready to reveal some of the main secrets of the plot to the audience. We do get close to knowing what, in fact, is wrong through Esteban or through off-focus shots. But as the stop nears, they seem to retreat further away from any semblance of resolution. Consciously or not, Schindel is really a voice of Luciana in the eyes of the audience. Neither of the two searches in the light, for their answers are mere chances in the current ring.
If there is one word that would sum up ‘The Wrath of God’s diabolical torment’ it is probably the word ‘Ambiguity’. For the kind of things which happen in its story, none of the welcome menace and bite is quite unexpected. Schindel has a few cards up his sleeve. We cannot help but praise him for showing the courage to disregard the walks of established genre to attain the same ends. Such disdain for banal conventions is how Kloster perceives his connections with God and his destiny. A key component of the build-up and tension over here is a dearth of information. When most of violent acts that are presumed to take place do, the camera turns away from the action. This decision raises the ludic interest of the audience in order to sharpen their imaginations.
Simultaneously, it also situates Schindel as a man who shuns the aesthetic of brutality which makes for thrilling popcorn movies. The main idea of the movie has to do with the struggle between divine justice and vengeance. The former is as clean, absolute and makes up the harm done. The latter, however, is a personal affair, nasty and excessive. Kloster’s persistent allusions to a lex talionis, to Luciana, and to us an eye for an eye, seem playful in their teasing. It is perhaps the story that benefits from his alteration of biblical stories through the lens of reality.
Even with the leverage and efficient tools at his disposal, Schindel manages to write the stories just like any episode of a television soap. The lack expertise and the undone work in the final product leave the impact of the execution unsatisfactory. The impact is to some extent muted because of the absence of adventurous spirit.
It brings back memories of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s movie The Truth (2019). Looking at the two recordings, we can observe the same story elements that tell how two different authors make out of these authors. ‘The Wrath of God’ leans over its more verbal aspects of its self-proclaimed altruistic film philosophy, and therefore the end result is always slightly disappointing. However, the processing of its concepts is undoubtedly original and will come across as appealing.
For More Movies Visit Putlocker.