I know it’s going to sound very cliche for me to say this, but I felt like I was high on drugs when I was watching “Mandy.” Heck, I can only imagine how this movie would be like if I actually was watching it high on drugs.
This movie is balls to the walls insane. I don’t mean “insane” in the sense that you are constantly shown a bunch of crazy stuff; although crazy stuff are present, but insane in the sense that this movie challenges us to accept it as it is, in terms of film-making, and it terms of the narrative. Unconventional story telling this is. Mainstream audience pleasing movie this is not. It’s easy to accuse Director Panos Cosmatos for over-indulging himself with this film, because he clearly had some ambitious ideas that he had to put on screen, and I guess screw you if you don’t like it.
Now the main thing that I think this movie will get praised for is the visual style. Unfortunately I would say that this is likely going to be one of the elements that people will criticize it for as well. From the title cards, the color palette, the long lingering scenes, the flow of the story, the inspirations from heavy metal cover albums, to the fact that there are hand drawn animated bits, it’s going to be hard to argue that you aren’t watching some visionary work. Those long lingering scenes though, can really linger way too long at times. Plus the flow of the story could probably require some more editing, as the pacing and transitions can be completely off.
The cinematography for this film is amazing, especially considering how dark the whole thing is. “Dark” in the sense that the majority of the scenes are set in darkness, not necessarily that the subject matter is dark; although that can be true too. The musical score is also spectacular, and absolutely compliments the film in the best possible way. This is also one of the very last scores composed by the now late Johann Johannsson. Combine the look and sound of the movie, and we’ve got ourselves the perfect unnerving and uncomfortable tone and feel to the whole thing. It was hard not to be completely sucked in to the world that was presented here.
As for the story itself, while I liked some of the gonzo and trashy ideas that it offers to us, it’s not exactly cohesively told, nor is it brilliant either. There’s definitely several thought provoking things to chew on though, but I sometimes felt like the movie was either being pretentious, or it just thinks that it’s smarter than it really is. It’s all over the place too in terms of plot pay offs, and it only made me feel like I just need a little bit more than what was given. I’m not even asking for direct obvious answers to certain plot points, but I am referring to certain scenes that just felt unfulfilling, as if they were just teasing us of something that could have been better.
Of course many people will watch this for “crazy” Nicolas Cage, and sure he does indeed bring in some acting that absolutely swings for the fences. Here’s the thing though... Linus Roache absolutely outshines Cage here. Wow was his over-the-top performance as Jeremiah Sand just brilliant, and it’s worth watching this movie just to see what he does with the role. As for the title character and the rest of the actresses however, let’s just say that the setting for this story takes place in the early 1980s, and the writing for the female characters here could probably have been from that era as well.
While I’m not all-in with “Mandy,” I do admire the film-making of it. Many will call it too artsy for their taste, and I wouldn’t blame them. I myself found some of it to be rather boring to watch, and grew impatient with it at times. Then there were scenes that I found highly engaging, and smiled at some of the over-the-top elements that I can’t believe they actually put in the movie. Needless to say, this isn’t for everyone, but it definitely is quite the experience. Of course your mileage may vary.
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