In Hell

This movie cannot be rated by the VD Rating system.

In Hell leaves one shell shocked and without any notion how to proceed. There is nothing that can be labeled “fantasy” about this film; it is all unmitigated reality. To call this film dark doesn’t begin to do it justice--it’s brutal, violent, and vicious. It’s a beautiful movie. Unforgiving, well acted, and violence that is portrayed not gratuitously but realistically, however, watching this movie is in no way an enjoyable experience.

This film offers a scathing critique of power structures and abuses inherent therein. We cannot offer an exposure category because while JCVD is arguably at his best acting wise (we would even say on par with JCVD) the human body is shown as a thing of weakness and bestiality in parts. Those that refuse to wield their bodies as weapons are brutalized and those that chose to fight lose their humanity.

For the same reason we cannot offer a boot to face category because the violence is in no way glorified. Violence in this film serves as a marker of evil; it is the beastial side of people that serves no purpose but to destroy others as opposed to the typical JCVD movie where physical prowess is his identity. In this movie, him achieving peak physical perfection is the beginning of his loss of humanity. Pacifism is the only way to maintain human identity.

In fact, it is only when the prisoners stop fighting each other and the guards that their humanity is revealed and an aspect of society that most would like to ignore is revealed: triumph and power does not have to be related to destruction and debasement. Nobility does not have to come from dominance. The prisoners are at their most human when not fighting. The assumption that ultimately everything comes down to who can kill the other person is totally annihilated in this movie because the prison guards think they have assured victory when they release the crazy giant on JCVD, but they neglected to realize that even someone so insane is still human. JCVD ultimately triumphs not by physical defeat, but by human interaction.

The effect of others would be an insulting category to pursue because this movie isn’t about how others reflect on us, but instead on how we use others to lie to ourselves. By othering those we destroy we convince ourselves of our civilization instead of recognizing the horrors that we are perpetuating.

Then there was the man known only as 451. He is the avenging angel of this film, the moral center. The first introduction to his character is him writing his observations of the prison; he is the narrator of the film, a part of it but removed from it. He is also one of the most violent characters, but unlike the others his violence is committed for no reason other than his own moral code--a code that is revealed to be the viewer’s code by the end. Without this realization he is just a brutal killer, but once it becomes apparent that he murders others not for pleasure, sport, or power, but to punish and avenge those that have been destroyed the judgment that seemed to come so easily on his character is challenged. Can it ever be good to kill evil? Pacifism provides power to the powerless, but it is the violence of 451 reveals the necessity for justice and brings the evil to the surface and deals with it.

This movie is incredibly paradoxical. Violence is awful, but sometimes necessary--one could even say right. Power corrupts absolutely, but powerlessness can destroy humanity. JCVD refuses to fight, but still stands up to be hit again. This movie is about that “last inch;” our integrity, the one thing no one can take from us without our willingness to gift it. We cannot always stop the brutalization of our bodies by others, but we can chose not to be destroyed by it. The characterization of the prisoners reveals the facets of their identity in a subtle, powerful way. JCVD’s attack on a rapist reveals he is not a man to accept the abuse of others. The revelation of 451 as a young boy, reading in class and then sexually abused by his professor offers explanation for his situation and dimension to his pursuit of justice. The movie doesn’t deal in archetypes and stock characters, but instead shows that each individual is responsible for their identity and integrity.

This is not a movie about heroes, anti-heroes, or villains; this is a movie about men and how beautiful and horrible being a man can be.

At the end of it all, though, this was still a JCVD movie. Despite the horror, the disturbing images, and the commentary on humanity we were able to find relief in one small truth:

If you marry JCVD you will die.