A Venture to MovieStop and Initial Impressions of Martyrs

So, let us begin with a short story concerning how I stumbled across this particular film. Here in Wilmington, it would seem that decent DVD selections are available at only two places, one being Barnes & Noble and the other being MovieStop. Generally speaking, I frequent the former to purchase films from the Criterion Collection, browse sections containing DVDs that are $14.99 and under, and to use the occasional coupon that nets me an extra 15% off of an item (which is in addition to a 10% discount thanks to a $25 annual membership). I visit the latter to kill lots of time, pick up new releases that a more mainstream store such as Best Buy does not carry, and to scrutinize the "Foreign Film" section in hopes of finding something new, interesting, or both.

Since I did not have a nifty extra-15%-off coupon for Barnes & Noble, the next Criterion I plan to purchase is not due out until November 3rd (which is Wim Wenders' masterpiece: Wings of Desire), and MovieStop is less than half a mile from my apartment, I decided to browse there. Right away, I snatched up a copy of iMurders and the new 2-disc edition of Taskahi Miike's Audition (mostly for the insert containing a brief article by Tom Mes). Then, while browsing the "Foreign Film" section in hopes of finding Election, Triad Election, and/or Exiled (all films by Johnnie To), I came across a film called Martyrs that caught my eye. After my hopes of an evening filled with Johnnie To were shot to hell (thanks to only Triad Election being in stock, which is the sequel to Election), I decided to go with this bizarre-yet-intriguing French film.

The following will contain spoilers for the film, but most of the details spoiled have very little to do with the overall plot, and the few details that do are not necessarily significant.

The film begins simple enough, with the viewer being filled in on the story of a young girl named Lucie who it is revealed has been subjected to rather sadistic torture, but ultimately escaped her captors. There are a few scenes that follow this revelation in which Lucie is shown befriending another little girl, Anna. Finally, a rather unsettling scene in which Lucie is attacked by some deranged-looking girl results in a fade-to-black and a transition to "15 years later."

Here is where things start getting even more bizarre. My initial assumption was that the little girl, Lucie, was killed. Thus, I was pondering where the hell this film might be going now. A family is introduced consisting of a mother, father, and two children (a boy and a girl) who appear to be roughly the same age. While quarreling over breakfast, someone arrives at the door. Little does one expect that this individual is wielding a shotgun, which is put to violent use as the entire family is slaughtered. It is revealed that the bringer of death is none other than Lucie, who is seeking vengeance on the people she believes held her captive (the mother and the father). After dispatching of the family, the deranged-looking girl from her childhood pops up again and tries to kill her. Have I stopped making sense yet?

After eluding the deranged-looking girl (who, though it is not explicitly revealed until much later, is obviously a hallucination), Lucie makes a call to Anna, who has been patiently waiting in a vehicle by a pay phone. Anna, who thinks Lucie might have killed the wrong people, rushes to the scene. The film progresses with Lucie freaking out about the creepy girl who is trying to kill her and Anna trying to dispose of the bodies. While carrying out this task, Anna discovers that the mother of the family is actually still alive. Anna tries to save her, still convinced that Lucie has killed the wrong people, but Lucie intervenes and brutally finishes the job. Lucie then goes on a tirade, smashing things throughout the house, leaving Anna cowering in a corner. Then, Lucie slits her own wrists and bangs her head against a wall (which is being done, in her mind, by the deranged-looking girl; the reason Lucie is experiencing this hallucination is revealed here).

Okay, now Lucie is dead. Anna covers Lucie's body and then gets some much-needed rest. Shortly after waking, she discovers that there is a secret basement in the house and ventures down into it. As it turns out, Lucie certainly killed the right people. While in the basement, Anna discovers someone is actually alive down there - the deranged-looking girl! Except, this time, she is not a hallucination. Anna frees her and tries to help her for a while. The girl eventually winds up freaking out and trying to slice the skin off her arm and scratch her face on a wall (because she believed she has cockroaches crawling all over her body - a tidbit that is revealed a little later). Her scratching is interrupted, however, by a bullet through the head. A group dressed in black storms the scene and takes hold of Anna, dragging her down the basement and chaining her up just as Lucie had been in the beginning of the film. I know what you are thinking: "What. The. Hell." So was I.

Now we finally discover what exactly is going on. As it turns out, Lucie was being tortured in order to become a "Martyr" or "Witness." The cult behind this operation is trying to discover whether or not there is an afterlife, which they are convinced can be revealed by basically whittling the mind of an individual down to practically nothing. Thus, Anna is now subjected to this torture in hopes that she will become a "Martyr" and be able to tell the leader of the cult (known only as Mademoiselle) what the afterlife - if there is one - is like . I will disclose no more and end my summary of the plot here, so as not to completely ruin the film (besides, I seriously doubt this is making much sense).

I have to be honest: this film baffled me. It is ridiculously violent (most certainly not for the faint of heart), and the narrative can be hard to makes sense of and/or follow. However, it was exceptionally well-conceived. The acting is superb, it is shot beautifully, and the underlying theme concerning the existence/details of an afterlife is something truly intriguing. More than just mindless "torture porn," this is a film that is aimed to make you think (and believe me, you will). If you are able to make it through the grotesque violence to the provocation of thought that comes at the end, then I believe there is something truly worthwhile to see.