In the loop: Gareth Tunley's compelling puzzler, THE GHOUL, arrives on Blu-ray/DVD

A knockout -- even if it may leave you more puzzled going out than you were going in -- THE GHOUL, a movie written and directed by Gareth Tunley so consistently genre-jumping that it's probably sui generis, proves a kind of enigmatic mystery-thriller with over/undertones of everything from the occult to a master class in psychology. Think Repulsion meets... oh, hell, comparisons are pretty useless here. Just watch and wonder. And enjoy. Whatever your opinion at film's end, you'll be hooked throughout and thoroughly enjoying yourself, TrustMovies suspects.

The name most bandied about in the film's advertising is that of Ben Wheatley, who acted as executive producer. And why not -- since his is the most famous of anyone connected with the movie? Yet this is quite unfair, as the movie is better than literally anything Mr. Wheatley has so far accomplished. If any justice remains in the movie world, we shall be hearing from Mr. Tunley (shown at left) again and again.

What this filmmaker has done is to give us the movie equivalent of a Möbius strip or an M.C. Escher drawing. And yet The Ghoul is no mere stunt (or if it is, it's one of the better stunts in film history). It is also a living breathing, beautifully conceived, executed, written, directed and acted tale of... what?

That is the question that will dog you as you watch. The possible answers are plenteous, with character dissolution and/or the take-over of one person's mind and actions by another the most prominent. Our leading man, Chris, played by the unforgettable Tom Meeten (shown above and below) is the film's central character, and he is on-screen for practically the entire movie. Mr. Meeten possesses a face and a body that manage to be, by turns, dowdy, handsome, plain, sexy, riven, graceful, graceless, and always compelling.

The movie is Chris's journey, and Meeten makes it -- thanks to camerawork (Benjamin Pritchard) that consistently finds the right subject and view and editing (which seems to be divided amongst several folk) that couples all this with precision and speed -- something from which you cannot avert your gaze. As writer and director, the filmmaker provides smart detail after detail in the foreground, background, and via the strange and varied cast of supporting characters that makes that journey utterly riveting.

The plot make perfect sense. For awhile. From the opening scene, in which we learn of a bizarre double murder to the penultimate one that provides a kind of climax that explains (and yet maybe doesn't) all that has gone before, Mr. Tunley is able in something like 85 minutes to bring us full circle and yet keep us going even farther (afield).

Along the way we meet a would-be girlfriend (Alice Lowe, two photos up), a bizarre best friend (James Eyers, above), a therapy companion (Rufus Jones, below, right), and especially a couple of very strange but interesting therapists (beautifully brought to life by Niamh Cusack and Geoffrey McGivern) who, together, bring the movie its most unsettling blend of kind, charming compassion and utter manipulation.

There is even an oddball character (Paul Kaye, below) whose entire job in the movie, it seems, is simply to tell a most interesting and funny shaggy-dog story. What drives the film forward (and may simultaneously drive you nuts) is how believable everything seems. Until it is clear that -- yes? no! -- something quite else is wrong here. Still, we and Chris persevere until we've reached... ummm, you'll see. What you'll make of it all is up for grabs.

On the Blu-ray disc's Special Features is a delightful short film featuring the director and much of his cast -- all of who, it tuns out, are comedians known for their character-driven, stand-up comedy routines. Considering that The Ghoul may be one of the most dour, dark creations ever to hit video, this seems particularly intriguing. It's like that clown who so wants to play Hamlet (and then does it damned well) -- times ten.

From Arrow Video and released here in the USA via MVD Entertainment, The Ghoul arrived on Blu-ray (in a fine transfer) and DVD last week, and is available now for purchase and/or (I hope) rental. For folk who demand something different, compelling and lots of fun, this one's a don't-miss deal.

In YALOM'S CURE, Sabine Gisiger (barely) explores one of the world's most famous living psychotherapists and authors

More, I suspect, for the already converted than for someone like me (and maybe you), who, prior to viewing the new documentary, YALOM'S CURE, knew little or nothing about its subject: an evidently famous and much-loved author, psychotherapist and scholar named Irvin D. Yalom. The fact that Dr. Yalom, is considered to be one of the most influential living psychotherapists was enough for me to climb on board. I am not sorry that I did because now I know more than I knew going into this 74-minute movie.

The subject of the doc does indeed seem like a pretty nice guy: pleasant, intelligent and with a sense of humor, a loving wife and a bunch of good-looking kids and grandkids. Otherwise, though, we really learn damned little about his practice and theories, which I rather thought would be the goal here. Far be it from me to tell the filmmaker Sabine Gisiger, shown above, how to make her movie, but I can't help thinking she made it for folk like herself who already know and love the work and ideas of Dr. Yalom (shown on poster, top, and in all the shots below).

Why else would she consistently skim the surface of everything -- life, work, family, ideas and practice -- reducing much of this to those typical "sound bites" we're now so used to hearing via television news. The film's subtitle -- A Guide to Life, Love and Happiness-- sounds like the latest in self-help books, but fortunately the movie proves a bit more than that. Yalom wants us to think more about ourselves and our existence. Bit since most of us are already too narcissistic, how about going a little deeper and more specifically into that, please?

Yalom's "cure" would seem to consist of exploring one's regrets in life as a way of coming to terms with one's death (this is told us at the beginning and repeated at the end, so I guess it's important). We are also shown that the good doctor laid the groundwork for the "group therapy" idea that became famous in the late 1960s and 70s and we even see old films clips of one of these groups in action. (I can vouch for the effectiveness of this kind of therapy, having been a member of one of those groups at Roosevelt Hospital, New York City, back in the late 60s.)

Yalom evidently loves to go deep-sea diving so we spend some time underwater with him and his family. In terms of his personal life, he appears to have had one strong and loving and relatively honest marriage over his entire life, though all of his four children have been divorced (a fact that has led to a certain amount of guilt for some of them). That's his wife, above, center, and one of his sons, at left. We also learn of his parents' history and something of the personalities of his mom and dad.

We get snippets of ideas from, I suspect, some of his famous books, too -- the idea of "falling in love" as against the more productive idea of "standing in love." OK: that's cute. But how about going a tad deeper? Perhaps these 74 minutes are meant to encourage us to purchase one of Yalom's books in order to learn more.

I certainly agree with his "take" on Freudian therapy as being unproductive for him personally and possibly for many other patients. (The idea of simply sitting and listening and not interacting with a patient seemed anathema to Yalom at the time of his own Freudian therapy, and evidently it still is.) But by the end of this short film, I had the feeling that I'd simply bounced around the subject and his ideas without ever being able to really engage with them. Still, at least I now know something about the man, his life and work. In fact, I think that I'd entrust my own psychotherapy to the guy. But this movie about him ought to have been better.

Yalom's Cure, from First Run Features, opens theatrically in Los Angeles this Friday, at Laemmle's Music Hall 3 in Beverly Hills. Elsewhere? Nothing appears to be scheduled as yet, but First Run always seems to release its movies onto DVD and video eventually, so please stand by....

Worthwhile streaming: Arnaud Desplechin's JIMMY P. tackles psychology and healing

Something different (as well as his second film in the English language) from French filmmaker Arnaud Desplechin is his (along with co-writers Kent Jones and Julie Peyr) adaptation of ethnologist/ psychoanalyst Georges Devereux's book, Reality and Dream: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian. The subtitle of the book is also the subtitle of this movie -- JIMMY P. -- and I'm wondering if it perhaps turned audiences off a bit, making them imagine they'd be getting something too dry and academic. (Even TrustMovies, as much as he'd wanted to see the film, managed to wait a month or three after it became available on Netflix streaming before he dived in.) He should not have worried, and neither should you. This is one remarkable, and remarkably vital and enjoyable movie.

Two hours long and without a boring moment, Desplechin, shown at left, gets just about everything right -- from the wonderful 1950s feel (including sets, costumes, cars and attitudes) to the unshowy but spectacularly good performances from the entire cast, especially his two lead actors, Benicio Del Toro and Mathieu Amalric. And while the story is indeed all about the psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, though it is intelligent and real as it shows us the act of therapy from doctor to patient, with emphasis on the importance of dreams, it is not in the least dry or academic. "You are there," as the saying goes, right in the dense and emotional middle of this act of healing.

Yet the movie is nothing like one prolonged therapy-fest. Instead, Desplechin weaves Jimmy P.'s history of love and wartime and reservation life into the whole, and Del Toro uses all his skills to bring to life (and not a little sorrow) this grand character descended from an Indian chief. (That's Misty Upham with Del Toro in the photo above.)

The filmmaker also gives the therapist his due, as we learn of Devereux's own past -- and more. When the major love of his life (very well played by Gina McKee, above, right) -- married to a friend of his, it would seem -- comes to the Midwest for a visit, we spend a good deal of time with the pair.

In the supporting cast are a number of fine actors -- from Larry Pine (above, right, as Karl Menninger) to A Martinez (as another therapy patient) -- mostly playing doctors or Indians. Because there are no false steps (that I could see, at least), this is a movie you can easily relax into, enjoy and learn from.

In fact, it's among the most edifying films of the past several years. It makes us grateful for the visionaries of psychology and therapy, as well providing us with a bracing reminder of our own native Americans. Without ever once bringing up overtly the plight of our Indians, the movie allows us to see in sustained fashion their strength and endurance and what we have still to learn and gain from them -- as well as what we must give them back to make them whole again.

Jimmy P. can be streamed now via Netflix (and elsewhere, I suspect). It's a film that intelligent audiences, as well as movie buffs, will want to see.