I’m ready to blow off some steam at the end of two long weeks of work - so what should I review today? How about something gory, intentionally bad and yet incredibly enjoyable?
(As always: remember, my blog, my opinion!)
“Repo! The Genetic Opera” is a 2008 release that made a stage performance a cult film of a weird hybrid sci-fi gothic opera genre. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, “Repo!” explores a sci-fi year 2056 where a future epidemic of organ failures led to the creation of GeneCo; they’ll happily sell organs to patients, even offering assisted payment plans. Soon the company campaigned hard enough to make surgery fashionable. They even market an addictive painkiller to cope with the invasive procedures.
The catch? GeneCo owner Rotti Largo (played by Paul Sorvino) and his three children gain enough power to lobby for a law that makes repossessing organs legal. If payments are missed for any reason, the product is reposed by a Repo Man working for Rotti Largo, owner of GeneCo.
One of his Repo Men, played by Anthony Stewart Head, has a daughter named Shilo, played by Alexa Vega. Ill with a blood disease, he tells her he is a doctor and is working on a cure for her, keeping her locked in the house as he murders and repossess’ organs for Largo.
Like any teenager, Shilo finds ways out of her mansion – and once outside she not only meets Largo, plotting the future of his company, but her idol, singer Blind Mag (played by Sarah Brightman) and a drug distributor merely known as Graverobber (played by Terrance Zdunich); Graverobber is actually the narrator for this tale, while Blind Mag is a singer working for Rotti Largo against her will.
The rest of the film explores the past of the older characters and the journey Shiloh takes to find her freedom. Murder is revealed, contracts are broken, drug addiction is shoved in the audience’s face, and death is commonplace in this future drama.
Almost the entire movie is narrated by song – combining opera with metal and rock. Each actor brings a vocal talent to the screen – even the whiney-voiced Vega somehow reveals plenty about her character. Luckily, the rest of the cast is anything but annoying when they sing. Sarah Brightman shares a beautiful opera song about a caged bird (in Italian, but that’s what it’s about), for example. These songs manage to be fairly powerful and entertaining – and in the case of “Zydrate Anatomy,” catchy as Hell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG2u-wSvOZ8
By the way, if you didn’t guess from that clip (sadly it won’t embed into the post, so please click it), the character of Graverobber became very popular very quickly – his voice is downright sexy and his dark, charming persona gives him a bad boy edge among fans.
(And yes, that is Paris Hilton singing, too. I have no comment.)
The film combines live action with some comic strips that Terrence Zdunich drew himself; since the film didn’t have enough budget to do make-up and make the characters younger, the strategy became explaining the past with comics and using live action to tell the present time story. Every shot is filled with shadows and blue hue. I know it’s because of the budget, yet in some ways, it works; things are very dark in this future. And bloody. Yeah, this isn’t for your children.
So what remains to be said? Again, it’s important to remember: this is a cult film. It isn’t going to be considered a classic on any level, and cinematically, it’s not that good. It is, however, very enjoyable. It’s cliché and yet humorous, dark and yet laughable.
P.S. Do not confuse this with a recent rip-off called “Repo Men.” For more reading about these two films as a comparative topic, go to http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=14300
