 14 Nov 2006 @ 19:22, by Tom Bombadil
In colloquial speech, "limbo *" is any status where a person or project is held up, and nothing can be done until another action happens.
**** Spoiler warning: Some elements of plot and/or ending details follow****
I believe the movie deserves far better reviews than it received. Besides its undeniable qualities---visually, it’s an art director’s dream; the special effects are astounding (they will especially please fans of the video games on which the movie was based)---the story is cleverly written and its chilling conclusion contains a message that is both timeless and very close to the times we live in, perhaps, even, too close to home in view of the wave of religious fanaticism, both at home and abroad, that the world has been experiencing and the rise of far-right groups which characteristically embrace state churches, and harshly retributive justice.
While supposedly the followers of a spiritual movement based on love and compassion ("hate the sin, not the sinner,") Christobella (Alice Krige) and her people manifest nothing of that love or compassion in their behavior.
The true villains of Silent Hill do not wield 20" long swords like the famous triangle-hatcheted masked nemesis/Pyramid Head *;
prayer beads are their weapons. The bible-thumpers believe they thwart heresy by implementing a strict staleness, ergo quickly
pass judgment on newcomers who disrupt their little circle.
----Chris Nelson and Kris Kobayashi-Nelson, Dreamlogic.net
"They thought they knew how to cast out evil,
but you should be careful how you fight evil.
Your weapons can turn back on you."
As it is, Christobella and her cult stand as an ultimate embodiment of delusional fanaticism (there is, at some point in the movie, a fitting allusion to "The Scarlet Letter"), and it is a fitting irony that some of the scriptures displayed in the town of Silent Hill and in the church as a measurement of their judgment, also stand as the curse of Silent Hill, as a judgment rendered upon them.
Now, the dream of this life must end.
And so, too, must the dreamers within it.
For over 30 years, they've lied to their own souls...
But now is the end of days.
I am the reaper."
As the story culminates into a dark tale of retribution (no talk of redemption, here), the ending comes to a chilly and disturbing climax, and with it, also, perhaps a warning…
"Alessa, what have you become?"
That, too, is close to home, close to the self-perpetuating cycles of violence (the visible violence, and the hidden violence) that ravage the planet and the never ending spiraling maelstrom of suffering, fear, anger and retribution that grows in and out of it all.
"When you're hurt and scared for so long,
your fear and pain turn to hate, and the hate
starts to change the world."
|
|
