These new releases from Tartan Asia Extreme don’t skimp on the extreme. Underage prostitution, paedophilia, suicide, murder — and that’s just Samaritan Girl. The tabloids would have a field day.
But it is not the transgressive nature of the material that is the problem. Even though Kim “3 Iron” Ki-Duk’s Samaritan Girl develops into a more typically complex work than the outline might suggest, it never overcomes the unbelievability of the characters’ actions. Three Extremes, a portmanteau horror, is similarly disappointing. Park “Oldboy” Chan-Wook’s Cut lacks the elan of his best work; Takashi “Audition” Miike’s Box, while stylish, is too artful for its deconstructed narrative to make sense; and Fruit Chan’s Dumplings, the most successful segment, is rendered redundant by a superior, feature-length version (released separately). In this, Chan’s skilful handling and Christopher Doyle’s consummate cinematography turn a revolting premise into a satire on the lengths to which people will go to keep looking young. Limited extras consist of trailers, making-of docs for Three Extremes and an interview with Bai Ling for Dumplings. JP
Tartan, 18, 97/121/91 mins; £19.99 each
Pierrepoint
Film Three stars
No extras
Adrian Shergold’s film traces the story of Britain’s last hangman, Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall). Bound by family tradition — “It’s just in me” — Pierrepoint longs for a modest private life, but finds himself a celebrity when he executes 200 Nazi war criminals. The recurring question is: is his calling brutal or honourable? The beautiful central character study is not backed up by a strong plot, however, and although the film covers 22 years, it seems no more than six months pass. Production values are little better than you’d expect from The Bill. Worth seeing as a slice of history, and for that nauseous feeling that you are putting the convict’s head through the noose. DP
Lions Gate, 15, 90 mins; £19.99
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Lemming
Film Three stars
Extras Three stars
This watchable, creepy art-house thriller never quite lives up to the eerie expectations established in its first 40 minutes. Alain (Laurent Lucas) and Bénédicte (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a good-looking young couple who have recently moved to southwest France, invite his boss (André Dussollier) and the boss’s troubled wife (Charlotte Rampling) to dinner, with disastrous consequences. Dominik Moll, whose last film was the unsettling, ironically titled Harry, He’s Here to Help, builds a brilliantly taut atmosphere, but he and his co-writer, Gilles Marchand, falter by steering into the realms of the supernatural. The debt to Hitchcock — Rebecca, The Birds, Vertigo — is heavy. Still, there are worse people to be in debt to. The highlight of the cover-all-bases extras is an interview with Moll, who speaks excellent English. PN
Artificial Eye, 15, 124 mins; £19.99
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Film Three stars
Extras Three stars
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There has been a recent spate of music documentaries — Dig!, the Ramones, Metallica — but this is probably the most disturbing. Daniel Johnston is a manic-depressive, deeply religious cult singer-songwriter and visual artist, for whom the devil is a constant presence.
He reached his peak of fame when Kurt Cobain repeatedly wore a Daniel Johnston T-shirt. On the evidence of this film, his songwriting is clearly extraordinary, though his live performances come across as scarily odd. The lasting impression is of the way the single-mindedness of a creative artist can blend into the strange self-absorption of mental illness. This clear-eyed film presents him as talented and tragic, but not especially nice. And he is certainly not without insight into his own situation or keen ambition. As a friend says: “In terms of creating a legend, he has done everything right.” There are two good featurettes in the extras. AC
Tartan, 15, 110 mins; £19.99