Stoker

Stoker is a 2013 American psychological thriller directed by South Korean  filmmaker Park Chan-wook. It is a twisted tale of three individuals from an enigmatic family. The two main characters are connected by predesposition towards psychotic traits. The story captures the chaos that ensues when these two finally meet each other after years.

'India Stoker' is the female protagonist. She is a teenager but shares no characteristic that would brand her as one. The movie starts with India’s father’s funeral. While India keeps a placid expression with undertones of melancholy, her mother is quite indifferent, not quite what one would expect of a new widow.

During the funeral we see a silhouette of a man standing far away from the proceedings. The pastor is talking about the untimely death of India’s father and exactly at this point, the camera cuts and we, along with India see the dark figure of the man, clearly symbolizing something ominous.

One of the key features of this film is symbolism. We see two personalities colliding through subtle monikers. Even when the other character isn’t physically present in the scene.

Later we are introduced to the silhouette figure as Uncle Charlie, brother of the deceased. India’ first conversation with him takes place on a staircase. He is above it while she is sitting on the bottom-most stair. Charlie within few seconds of assessing the situation picks up the fact that she is unnerved.

He says ‘Do you know why you feel at a disadvantage right now?’ India replies by saying that it is because of the fact that a few minutes ago she did not even know about the existence of this particular family member. He grins and says ‘No, it’s because you are standing below me’

This staircase in the film becomes a climax point between the relationship between these two characters as this is where both their secrets come undone and they meet each other as equals.

One of most engaging scene of the movie was 'The Piano Duet'. India was playing the piano and suddenly Charlie joins her. From the way the piano notes change from something cheerful to downright chaotic clearly express the working India’s mind at that moment. As sudden as he had joined her in playing the instrument, he stops abruptly while India is still playing the remnant notes, as if she is in a trance and can't stop.This scene is beneficial in showing how India has lost control and how now he was in lead of their future. Near the end Uncle Charlie’s psychotic personality is revealed and India begrudgingly realizes that she might be similar to her Uncle in many unfortunate odd ways.

I saw the movie first and maybe that is why, while reading the script I could make connection and understand the situations. If drastic add-ons of symbols and complex situations were not added by Park Chan-wook , the director, there wouldn’t have been a perfect adaption of a complex net of psychological drama that went on in this Movie.

What really compels me to mark this film as a masterpiece is the fact that the screenplay is extremely fluid, we hear the narrators voice guide us through it. Watching the screenplay unfold like a short novella on the screen is a quite rare experience.

Though the script was brilliantly written, had it not been in the hands of a visionary director it could have been a disaster. Thankyou Park Chan-wook !