Wingrave (2004) — Triskaidekafiles

WINGRAVE

WRITER: Ahmed Khalifa

DIRECTOR: Ahmed Khalifa

STARRING: Ashraf Hamdi as Henry Wingrave

Diana Brauch as Jane Jackson

Karim Hegazy as Carl Wise

QUICK CUT: A man tries to help a woman reconcile with her brother.

THE MORGUE

Henry Wingrave - A parapsychologist haunted by mistakes from his past, but willing to go to great lengths to help others.

Jane - A woman seeking answers for her brother’s death, and why he seems to not be at rest.

Carl - Jane’s friend who was also close with his brother, and is just there for moral support.

TRISK ANALYSIS: Welcome back, Triskelions! I know there's usually a Halloween centric review around this time, but I am forgoing that, slightly, but have no fear, something more of the season is coming for the 1st. I originally had something wildly different planned, but decided to use a movie I already had, and it gave me the opportunity to juggle a few things around. I decided to save the more Halloween-esque movie for the first, to put it closer to the holiday. Which brings us to THIS movie; Wingrave.

This movie is a bit of an anthology, and I know, I already did one of those this year. However, this movie is a bit different, and you'll get why calling it a real anthology is bit of a stretch. Anyways, let's get into this.

We are quickly introduced to Henry Wingrave, a parapsychologist, who says most people don't understand what he does, because it can't be explained. It has to be experienced.

No one can be told what parapsychology is, they have to see it for themselves.

This leads us into the first segment, "Seance", which is now suddenly in black and white, so I guess that's the style of the movie now.

We get introduced to Jane Jackson, and we are not so much introduced to her by someone saying her name, or having it come up in conversation, but instead, a text card pops up to tell us her name

I mean, I guess? That sure is one way to convey information, by just giving it a title card.

Another text card pops up saying "someone is at the door". Are you telling US? Or are you telling HER? Because it could go either way. Still, it should be obvious someone is at the door, by having someone go and opening it, but fine, whatever, I guess we're doing this.

Jane opens the door and lets in her friend Carl, who sits down and starts speaking. But do we get to hear him speak? NO! His dialogue comes up on another text card, like this is a damned silent movie all of a sudden!

They discuss if anyone knows about tonight, and no, it's just them and the medium who knows. Well, it's easy to keep a secret if no one speaks.

That's when Wingrave arrives, with a text card all his own, even though we have already had introductions. Oh, I have really made a CHOICE with this week's movie.

Wingrave asks what Jackson wants him to do, and oh, I have a few suggestions of what you can do...

The two people question Wingrave's qualifications and experience, but they are reassured that his experience may be limited, but he has read a lot of books! Oh great, he "did his own research".

Jane explains she lost her brother, and wants to contact him, but she doesn't get into too much detail as to why, beyond having a sense that he is not resting peacefully.

They set up candles for the seance, and Wingrave explains that a lot of what happens will depend on their state of mind. Next, they will know a presence is near, as the candles will go out as he draws closer.

Also of note is, they will only try twice, after that, it is a sign he does not wish to communicate, and to continue is either folly, or will aggravate the spirits.

Wingrave asks to see a picture of the brother, and there is absolutely a missing title card because Jane suddenly says "Bryan", and just before you can see Wingrave speak, clearly asking what his name was, but there is no text on the screen. Look, if you're going this all in on the silent movie vibe, and you FORGET text cards, one of the prime signatures of the style, you've done messed up. And you could almost ALMOST excuse this one, since the line is so obvious, but it is not the only time this happens.

Suddenly, things are in colour, although it's a bit hard to tell. The apartment is so sparsely decorated, that even when the colour is returned to the film, it looks almost monochromatic.

That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight, losing my religion.

Also, I'll give the movie this; making the decision to make the real world black and white, and the spirit realm in colour, is an interesting design choice, and I dig it. But oh, we'll come back to this.

In the corner, a spectral figure appears, that only Carl sees, but then just as quickly disappears. This disrupts the seance, with Wingrave bringing up the whole state of mind thing. They press Carl for what he saw, and he only says he saw it before, at another seance with another medium.

Winrgave wants to call off the session, worried that the mood and thoughts and energy might conjure up something dark and unexpected. But Jane is insistent.

Did you not hear the words I am not speaking??

But, the medium agrees, and the seance continues, with Carl standing off to the side. Things still don't go well, and Wingrave presses Jane for answers.

Her brother died suddenly, and she's started having dreams of him, standing with his back to her, and she wants to know why he is upset with her.

I do also give credit for having Wingrave acknowledge this is likely just guilt, the pain of a recent loss, and she will heal in time. More psychics should do that.

If you continue this seance, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. And for the rest of your life.

The attempt fails, and we see one last shot of Jane, in colour, and that would SEEM to indicate the spirit realm, but I get the sense that it's not, just the woman thinking wistfully of her brother. So, breaking the style guide already set forth, in the story’s final moments.

But, that is the anticlimactic end to that, and the movie continues on into a brief interlude, that returns both colour and dialouge to the story, as Wingrave narrates a bit.

Then it's on to the second story, The Presence. And this section is entirely in colour, and characters are speaking normally. I swear, this movie's biggest problem is just...being inconsistent. Every section is a different style, and they contradict each other.

ANYways, this segment still has text cards, but they read like sections of a novel, setting the place, describing that a friend of Henry's senses a dark presence in their new home, so he offers to spend the night and investigate.

Wingrave spends a lot of time wandering around the room, looking at stuff, and narrating to the audience as he tries to determine what the disturbance is. In fact, this will be most of this entire section. Just...wandering and looking at stuff.

They keep whatever passes for the plot moving by having occasional screams or cries as Wingrave investigates. And by "investigate" I mean, "sits around and writes a lot"

None of this is making sense to Wingrave, since he can sense the presence, and that blood was spilled here, but the place feels too new.

He gets a message that sounds like, to me, Wingrave himself describing choking someone. He keeps trying to reach out, and get answers, trying to get the spirits to write answers to questions he asks.

Wingrave writes out, asking, Have you been wronged? Murdered? Violence been inflicted upon you? Do you seek justice? You might be entitled to a huge cash settlement!

The camera cuts away so we don't see someone writing, in red ink, "YES VIOLNC" and I guess ghosts have trouble spelling.

I've seen a lot of "one man show' style movies, and this segment is just not working, since it is one guy, not talking, and just sitting while his voiceover goes. There's so nothing to it.

Wingrave demands the spirits show him their names, actually speaking a line of dialogue, and the spirits start choking him. Maybe that's why the movie is largely silent, ghosts choke people when they speak.

They write something on the paper that I can't figure out, and Wingrave burns the page before he gets choked to death, because I guess that did something?

He then sees written on another piece of paper, "Owen James", and uh, that's the name of the gu who did the sound design for the movie? Odd choice, that.

It turns out the house was the site of a murder suicide, and because it was home, a place where love meant death, things were too strong, and the spirits were never going to leave. So, we have anticlimactic, and bleak. Nice.

There is another brief interlude, but it's just more of Wingrave sitting around.

Next, is "Abode", but oh, this one gets even more complex, as I'll get into. It starts with more text, "Now it is time for me to tell you a story about masks, and death, and madness". So wait, the first segment was all dialogue driven text. The second one had text that was third person describing things, and now this text sounds like it's written by Henry? PLEASE pick a style and stick to it!

And as if that wasn't enough, this is "Abode - Chapter I: The Message

Actual footage of Henry recording his voiceovers.

It starts with Henry listening to a tape, and hearing a voice saying "I don't want to be alone" over and over, but then he catches another message, almost inaudible, in the same voice, "Bryan must leave".

Ad hey, we already know a Bryan, don't we? Yep, that's right, this is acutlaly a continuation of the first story! And you wanna know what's frustrating? This one has a different story structure, is in colour, and there are voices. So it COMPLETELY ignors the style of the other half. I could forgive mixing things up between segments, but if this is the other half of the first, then this just complicates matters.

Tecnically these are bookends, but that doesn't work, because they are so stylistically different, AND there's only the three stories. This is like an anthology sandwich.

Wingrave gets the idea to rerecord the message, and half of it won't record, so he knows that's the voice of a dead person, because dead voices only record once. Yeah, sure, okay.

He finally realises it's Jane, and rushes off, sure that she is in danger, since that was the voice of a dead person.

Wingrave returns to Jane's apartment and finds the door open, and the text boxes tell us he could immediately feel "the soundlessness of the place, the silence was deafening". WELL WHO'S FAULT IS THAT??

Jane is on the floor, and Carl is sitting on the couch, in shock, and says he had to hit her, and then the movie just...

WHY are we now doing text over the live action?? This movie is SO INCONSISTENT.

Carl explains he hadn't heard from Jane in several days, and when he came to check on her, she was screaming and hysterical, and tried to strangle him. So that's why Carl had to hit her, and make her stop.

Jane comes to, and Henry keeps her calm, but she doesn't remember anything, and has no ready answers for anyone's questions.

Wingrave goes to leave, but then things start getting weird, as Jane passes out yet again, saying she could see "Him".

So thus begins "Chatper II - Jane's Secret". These separations are just getting complicated and unwanted. This could have been a straightforward enough story, but again, the style is just so all over, and overshadowing the actual story.

Carl wants to take Jane to a hospital, but Wingrave insists on checking her over first, fearing this may be superantural. And if he doesn't rule that out, there's nothing the doctors can do for her anyways.

Wingrave fears something is trying to take over her mind, and Carl seems troubled. The medium asks what it is, and suddenly NOW THERE IS DIALOGUE. See previous complaints about consistency! I am BEGGING this movie…

But..it's only Carl who has actual audible dialogue, having a conversation with text cards. *sobs* Why is this movie doing this to me? This is DIRE.

We learn that Jane's family has a history of mental illness, but Wingrave doesn't feel like that is the root cause at work here.

Carl asks what they can do, and Wingrave says he can make sure, as Carl asks how, he loses his ability to be heard, and his dialogue returns to being given through text on the screen.

Wingrave says he can perform an 'extraction' to try and remove the possessing entity, but it is not without dangers.

So this leads to "CHAPTER III - The Extraction", naturally, and some text explaining what's going to happen and...NOW there are random numbers in the corner of the screen?? I can't even theorise what is going on anymore.

Henry sits down, and basically shouts (in text) at Jane to wake up, and she at least acknowledges him, as the medium tries to lure her back to the waking world.

Oh she is gonna wake up with such a crick in her neck.

Wingrave pulls out a pendant, telling her to concentrate on it, and through it, he can use it to lure her back to her body, and excise the thing inside her.

The dark entity blocks Wingrave from her body in the spirit realm, which is now in black and white, further breaking the established style, and Wingrave can't see it's face.

Which wraps up that section of this chapter of this segment and it's on to "CHAPTER IV - The Unmasking". The final section has more parts than the entire movie.

The medium says he saw the entity's face, and suddenly pounces Carl, who was coming closer with a needle, and the attack causes dialogue to actually be heard. At least there's that.

Carl was the one who broke Jane's mind, and after Wingrave knocks her out, we get the whole story; Carl is Jane's half brother, and inherited schizophrenia from his mother. He held a grudge against his father's 'real' family, and was trying to ruin them.

She finally asks what Wingrave did, and he explains that her fears took shape, and he drove them into Carl's mind. Do you want a tulpa? Because this is how you get a tulpa.

And to wrap up the plot, he asks her about the message she left, and it seems she sleepwalks when she's troubled, so she must have somehow sleptwalked all the way to Wingrave's house to leave the recording, and because she was asleep, a state between life and death, is why some of the message was recorded as a dead voice.

...I GUESS.

The movie comes to an end with one last interlude with Wingrave trying to do a seance on his own to contact someone, but when he does, she is filled with anger and looks nothing like her, so he blows out the candles and ends the movie, reciting his own advice about moving on, and ignoring it, to try one last time...

TRISK ASSESSMENT

Video: It’s fine, it looks fine.

Audio: WHAT AUDIO?! Cough. It’s also fine. The music isn’t bad. And when people do speak, I can at least hear them.

Sound Bite: “No sign of ectoplasm. Only ordinary dust."

Body Count: It has been a LONG time since we had a “no one dies” movie, hasn’t it? There’s no body count, no best corpse, no effects to comment on, not even any sex appeal.

Drink Up! Every time the movie starts a new section

Movie Review: Aaaauugh. Okay, okay, before I get too into this, I want to point out that this is the first full length horror movie in English to come out of Egypt. That is worth noting, giving them props for the achievment, and I don’t want to dunk on the movie TOO hard because of that. THAT SAID…this movie s a mess. I genuinely think it would have been a stronger film if it had just been the one story, about Jane’s issues. Maybe have Wingrave on another case in the middle, or have parallel cases, or something. But trying to make this an anthology feels really pointless, especially when SO MUCH of the movie is a single story, kinda. I’ve already ranted about the stylistic choices endlessly. I get wanting to be experimental, but it’s too much. You can try a few things, but when you oversaturate the story, even in the name of being artisitc, it gets to be too much, especially if you begin to contradict yourself. Knowing this was made by Egyptians, I did question that maybe it was all in text, because they couldn’t speak good English, except we DO hear enough of the cast speak, to knock that theory down. Also, it feels kinda like cheating to claim to be the first English language film from Egypt, and then do 90% of your dialogue through text cards?? And yet, would it have been as memorable a movie, if it had been a typical English spoken film? I mean, I’m sitting here talking about it, even if it’s negative, right? Still, for a first go, it’s shot well enough, I DO like some of the stylistic choices, just not that it wanted to do EVERYTHING. And the acting isn’t bad, when they’re allowed to speak. Some of the plot logic is a little dodgy, and other things needed to be better explained, and the commentary track did clarify things a bit, and make me appreciate the film a little more, but you shouldn’t have to listen to a commentary track to understand a movie. Two out of five text cards.

Entertainment Value: I dunno what to tell ya. This is only entertaining in the sense of staring in befuddlement for 90 minutes going, “What is happening??” One out of five candles