I Just Watched "Stoker"

I recently watched Stoker for the first time.

I was excited about the 2013 film as soon as I saw the cover. I mean, the colors, the tree branches around the title, the font, and the main character, India's odd expression...Also, the cover stated that the film had been directed by Park Chan-wook, the director of Oldboy. This was such good news that I was excited to see it!
So I had a movie night with my roommate and felt permanently changed by a flick they said depicted how "Everybody's crazy"...at least on screen.

What I really want to share with you is that it's so well made, with beautiful, clean shots, lovely visuals, with lots of green and yellow and Evelyn (Nicole Kidman)'s ginger hair, India's saddle shoes, which I take as a play at innocence and her recently deceased father. I liked what I saw as some amusing shots of Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode)'s waistline, clothed by a polo shirt, slacks and a belt, and I had room to believe that I was seeing a sexualization of Charlie, the new man sleeping with India's mother. Of course, I later learned that I was also seeing a warning that the man knew how to get violent with a belt.

 I never looked at Charlie as a charming character, though he was described as such on the back of the DVD case, but he he had his intriguing characteristics, coming across as an attractive, nonthreatening gent while India is going down into the basement, making one of the lamps swing dramatically, warning us of the upcoming crazy. I thought those basement shots were so fun, inspiring me to wonder what was next. In the fight for my attention, they beat out the white gift boxes with yellow ribbon. They rank with the moment when India changed from saddle shoes to high heels and above Charlie's tense interactions with his own niece.

Did I mention loving this movie? Because it would be accurate to say so. I am utterly charmed by its artistry. The color palette, the lighting, angles and shapes of peoples' bodies in a number of different points of view, the different light fixtures, landscapes, use of natural light, India's shoes and tension staring, piano, belts...
Awesome.
I'm now craving my own copy.