Pontypool reviews
Review by on 21 Sep 2009
Through lazy reliance on artificial communication, from Hallmark
greetings to txt msgs, the population of Pontypool, Ontario has become
vulnerable to a new virus. DJ Grant Mazzy tries to nudge the sleepy
people awake with coarse language, but the listeners are already
corrupting themselves in a bloodier manner via viral Valentine
babytalk. PONTYPOOL’s shuffling infected are “Conversationalists” who
prefer tongues to brains. Instead of the mall, they are drawn to the
GP practice and to the church, those places where one seeks verbal
placebo in times of 21st century stress and hypochondria.
The Conversationalists can only echo and repeat, ultimately fixating
on infected words. As the danger lies in the act of comprehension,
repetition is one way of sterilising the infection. Mazzy quotes
Roland Barthes, reminding us that words really can be dangerous.
Through repetition and mass hysteria, rumour and myth can become fact.
It’s not only the act of putting caption to image – in Newport, less
than ten miles from our own Pontypool in South Wales, vandals painted
“paedo” on the house of a paediatrician. A simple phonetic twist can
cause just as much trouble as a paparazzi scandal.
PONTYPOOL is a claustrophobic, clever, funny film that feels
unfinished and will leave you with questions - could notepads and
Franglais really be loopholes? But the Canadian ham acting of Stephen
McHattie, the concept of language as bioterrorism, and the simple
thrill of a new monster should all appeal, and provoke some healthy
pub table debate – followed by Conversationalist babble.
ROSY HUNT
Through lazy reliance on artificial communication, from Hallmarkgreetings to txt msgs, the population of Pontypool, Ontario has become
vulnerable to a new virus. DJ Grant Mazzy tries to nudge the sleepy
people awake with coarse language, but the listeners are already
corrupting themselves in a bloodier manner via viral Valentine
babytalk. PONTYPOOL’s shuffling infected are “Conversationalists” who
prefer tongues to brains. Instead of the mall, they are drawn to the
GP practice and to the church, those places where one seeks verbal
placebo in times of 21st century stress and hypochondria.
The Conversationalists can only echo and repeat, ultimately fixating
on infected words. As the danger lies in the act of comprehension,
repetition is one way of sterilising the infection. Mazzy quotes
Roland Barthes, reminding us that words really can be dangerous.
Through repetition and mass hysteria, rumour and myth can become fact.
It’s not only the act of putting caption to image – in Newport, less
than ten miles from our own Pontypool in South Wales, vandals painted
“paedo” on the house of a paediatrician. A simple phonetic twist can
cause just as much trouble as a paparazzi scandal.
PONTYPOOL is a claustrophobic, clever, funny film that feels
unfinished and will leave you with questions - could notepads and
Franglais really be loopholes? But the Canadian ham acting of Stephen
McHattie, the concept of language as bioterrorism, and the simple
thrill of a new monster should all appeal, and provoke some healthy
pub table debate – followed by Conversationalist babble.
ROSY HUNT
Review by on 19 Sep 2009
Pontypool is a work of utter genius. It's set in a tiny local radio station in the tiny Canadian town of Pontypool. Something odd starts to happen and the radio station staff are left holed in, reporting on a disaster they don't fully understand. The cause is a virus which is transmitted by words, and which turns its hosts into zombie-like creatures who latch onto anything they hear said. Despite being 'safely' holed-up, the characters are still in danger because the virus can be spread by a conversation, a phone call, a radio broadcast. The writing and acting are superb; half the characters are never seen on screen, the rest are confined to the three rooms of the studio for the whole film, and we do not see a 'zombie' until at least half-way through, and yet the suspense and atmosphere generated are incredible. Every line and every action leaves the watcher wondering whether the characters are still well or whether the virus has finally claimed them too. Add to this an unobtrusive touch of humour, both black and straight, and this is the best film I have seen in a very long time.
Pontypool is a work of utter genius. It's set in a tiny local radio station in the tiny Canadian town of Pontypool. Something odd starts to happen and the radio station staff are left holed in, reporting on a disaster they don't fully understand. The cause is a virus which is transmitted by words, and which turns its hosts into zombie-like creatures who latch onto anything they hear said. Despite being 'safely' holed-up, the characters are still in danger because the virus can be spread by a conversation, a phone call, a radio broadcast. The writing and acting are superb; half the characters are never seen on screen, the rest are confined to the three rooms of the studio for the whole film, and we do not see a 'zombie' until at least half-way through, and yet the suspense and atmosphere generated are incredible. Every line and every action leaves the watcher wondering whether the characters are still well or whether the virus has finally claimed them too. Add to this an unobtrusive touch of humour, both black and straight, and this is the best film I have seen in a very long time.
Review by on 19 Sep 2009
28 yawns later.
This film stands as a shining example of how, back in the day, the high cost and skill required to shoot on film tended to weed out a lot of weak talent and made it compulsory that filmmakers were at least competent in basic film grammar. Today anyone who has used a digital slr can produce an acceptable (but bland) image from an HD motion picture camera. This is what has happened here. Yet it is not just the visualisation, but the entire conception of this film which is lame. It relies solely on tacky synthesised bass sounds to cue the frights and has nausiating characters and dialogue. Oh and it's a bad film. Avoid!
28 yawns later.This film stands as a shining example of how, back in the day, the high cost and skill required to shoot on film tended to weed out a lot of weak talent and made it compulsory that filmmakers were at least competent in basic film grammar. Today anyone who has used a digital slr can produce an acceptable (but bland) image from an HD motion picture camera. This is what has happened here. Yet it is not just the visualisation, but the entire conception of this film which is lame. It relies solely on tacky synthesised bass sounds to cue the frights and has nausiating characters and dialogue. Oh and it's a bad film. Avoid!
Film details
Pontypool
MAIN FEATURES
Actor: Stephen McHattie
Actor: Georgina Reilly
Director: Bruce McDonald
Actor: Lisa Houle
Actor: Georgina Reilly
Director: Bruce McDonald
Actor: Lisa Houle
Canada, 2008.
96 mins. English and French with English subtitles.
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