International Competition review - THE INSEMINATOR by BUI KIM QUY

After stirring quite a controversy in the international film festival scene since its premiere in BUSAN last year and its subsequent ban in its home country of VIETNAM, THE INSEMINATOR by BUI KIM QUY screened in the -- section of the 15th T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival.

 

THE INSEMINATOR has picked up some degree of publicity due to its disturbing nature, and for being banned in its home country VIETNAM after its screening at BUSAN last year. This is because of its dealings with such dark themes as incestuous undertones and a leading character with mental disabilities. 

 

Nevertheless, anyone looking for the immediacy and tastelessness of exploitation should walk away disappointed. BUI KIM QUY tells the story of a family of three living in isolation in the deep and dark Vietnamese forest - a father, his beautiful daughter and his mentally challenged son. The father is haunted by supernatural visions that convince him a horrific fate awaits him. He is equally as strongly obsessed by his feeling that his adolescent son must impregnate a woman to preserve "the family seed". His son is quite obviously incapable of following his instructions of going to the love market and literally kidnap a woman and rape her, not so much due to conflict of morals but rather for his debilitating condition. 

 

Thus, as the film progresses, fuelled by its tension that is born out of a mixture of dangerous superstition and earthly frustration, the story becomes stranger and stranger as the family's balance is dismantled and THE INSEMINATOR becomes darker and stranger.

 

The atmosphere of the film is quite engulfing, with its slow and yet consistent tempo as well as its quietness, enhanced by a dialogue restricted to bare minimum. This is an excellent approach with which filmmaker BUI KIM QUY allows for the mysterious psychological conflict of the characters to arise. 

Such intricate psychological examination is remarkable, because despite the surreal developments, it feels rather genuine, untouched by a common manipulative use of the music that itself allows a closer and more interactive inspection of the character's inner conflict. THE INSEMINATOR is also a film of visual richness. This is not only due to the mysterious and sinister breathtaking beauty of its setting, that has inspired countless great films in the past, but also due to the film's very nature that blends the fine line between reality and fantasy - such as the poster image of the film that sees the daughter bathing in a pond surrounded by floating blood painted baby dolls. 

Furthermore, BUI KIM QUY embraces experimentation with the medium, and the most representative example is the use of occasional black screen, which leaves the viewers in a pitch dark screening room, listening to the meticulous creepy and mysterious sounds that symbolise the fears and anxieties felt by the father whenever a certain bell chimes. 

One must not forget to praise the trio of actors, all amazing in their respective and radically different roles. LE VIET SON as the boy is completely convincing in the always delicate role of the mentally challenged kid, to the point where we don't necessarily feel sympathetic towards him, but rather empathetic. NGUYEN THI THU TRANG takes on the quiet role of the only female in the film with great finesse in a daring and often physical performance. NGUYEN TYRUNG KIEN as the father is very charismatic, and his almost schizophrenic on screen behavior has him abruptly shift from the role of a caring father to that of a psychotic man capable of doing just about anything due to ignorance, fear and a crippling sense of guilt.