Ultraviolet - R.J. Anderson

This book is something of a mystery.

It is the story of a girl with extra-ordinary abilities; to see sound as colourful shapes, to attribute meanings and colours to letters and words - synesthesia. Alison wakes up in a hospital after having what appears to be a psychotic episode in which she claimed she had killed someone. as a result of this, she gets sent to a mental institution.

The story is beautifully written. It provides an insight into both the world of a synesthete (which is an actual neurological phenomenon) and that of a person in a mental institution, who may or may not have a mental condition. The feelings of the protagonist are so well described that the reader can very much sympathise with her, even whilst thinking that she may be crazy.

As said in my sister's blog, it certainly is a tale of two halves, and this is where my initial comment comes into play. Although there were many clues and I had already guessed where the story was going, it came as rather a surprise when the book took a somewhat drastic turn from the mental institution when we finally learn what happened. And to be honest, that may not have been a good thing.

The end was somewhat unimpressive compared to the rest of the book. It was almost off topic and rather less life-like than your average person who picked up the book on the blurb alone would have liked. The author obviously wanted it to end like that, but the way it was done was sudden and therefore quite a shock to the system.

Unfortunately, for this lapse and for the ending overall, the score is rather a lot lower than it could have been: 4 out of 10.

Suckerpunch

Suckerpunch is a dark and surreal story about a mental patient and her escape from a sordid institution. The scenes are confused and the mental institute turns into a sort of sex trafficking scheme, without being this explicit. Since it is from the point of view of the girl, the viewer assumes that she really must be crazy. She dreams up her own world inside a world, where she and her friends battle with enemies to find certain artifacts to escape.

The film is odd as it combines sexuality with brutality. As in every man's dream, the girls are scantily clad in leather and school girl-like clothes for the fight scenes. They shoot guns and kill monsters, Nazis, Samurai's, you name it. They scenes were reminiscent of the matrix and 300 in the way that the fight scenes were slowed down to show clearly each punch or clever move. The girls could take hits almost super humanly, and they had skills they could never dream of doing in reality.

As I said before, this film is dark. There is a clear threat to the girls by men, which also implies that this is a film about much more than an accidental murderer. At the beginning, it seems that her step-father is in some way hurtful towards both of the sisters; he locks Babydoll (the main character, whose real name we do not know) in her room and advances towards her little sister in a menacing manner, prompting her to try to shoot him. The man in charge of the institution seems to enjoy making the girls do his bidding. He is cruel, and arranges a deal with Babydoll's stepfather to give her a lobotomy, something that will subdue her entirely. Every enemy that the girls face is either a creature or male.

Some of the scenes, though only suggestive in some places, are very shocking. It has sexual references, knifes, arson, death, destruction and fighting. You may find that this isn't at all your type of thing, and yet this film makes the divide between reality and fantasy so blurred that you are never sure whether these things happen or not. I would like to believe that they didn't, and yet the end of the film suggests otherwise.

The acting in the movie was good. There was a great deal of emotion in everything that happened, leading me to very nearly tear up. Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) and Jamie Chung (Grown Ups) could have done more with their roles, but it was a toss up between Oscar Isaac (Robin Hood, as Prince John) and the doll-like Emily Browning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) as to who won the prize for best acting. I dare say it actually goes to Oscar Isaac, who was totally convincing as the terrifying owner of the institute.

Quite strangely, the film delves into many different genres; fantasy, with dragons and orc-like creatures, war, action, you name it. But the real drama is by far the ones that most stick in your mind. The treatment of these girls clings to you long after you see it. I came out of the cinema with a feeling of defiance, and a message; 'you have all the weapons you need. Now fight.'

This film is probably everything a man could ever want, and yet it cleverly conceals a very female friendly message. It tells women that they have all the weapons they need to get out of situations they don't want to be in. It gives those who are being hurt and are afraid hope and determination. And yet it doesn't fully agree to this. The end is mixed. It ends on a happy note, and yet it doesn't, but you'll have to watch it to know what I mean.

All in all, I would like to point out that this is a very good film. It certainly gave me a lot to think about and to talk about to you all. Based on this and the other points I have made, this film deserves an 8 out of 10, the 2 marks only being taken off of it because of its confused nature.