A lot of people call this a feminist revenge movie. There are elements of that such as a woman taking her power back and putting us in the mindset of how women are objectified in an urban setting. This movie is more like a descent into madness using murder to cope with trauma. At a certain point much like Death Wish the revenge becomes depersonalized and more like an addiction used to cope with trauma and loss. I associate this with the urban grit and grime movies made in 70s and 80s New York, a setting and location that I love. Zoe Lund gives one of the best performances of a mute character in any movie.
The movie starts with Thana (Zoe Lund) at work. She works as a seamstress. Early on we see an example of how her boss is a bit creepy as he pats her on the head. This is the first time he shows that he feels he is above her. The women then all leave work and start getting catcalled on the street. A man breaks into Thana's apartment, but before she even goes up there she is raped by a man wearing a mask. She is unable to scream because she is mute. When she gets back to her apartment she is attacked by a robber. The robber then rapes her after finding out she is mute because she can't tell him where her money is. Thana is able to reach for a paper weight and smack him in the face, then bludgeons him to death with an iron. She starts cutting apart his body and putting the body parts in trash bags. Thana goes to work the next day but has a PTSD attack when her boss tears a garment off of a mannequin.
Thana later drops a bag of body parts near a fence and a man we had seen catcalling women on the street picks it up and goes after her. Thana runs until she is in a blocked alley and shoots the man with her rapist's pistol when he comes at her. This starts the trend of all the men she kills in this movie being ones that are either taking advantage of women or treating them actually like how she treats her dead rapist: meat. Thana starts going out every night, dressing in more uninhibited clothing and wearing lipstick and makeup. She goes around killing pimps, photographers, sheiks, and other random gang members trying to corner her. She is eventually asked by her boss to a Halloween party where things reach a breaking point for Thana.
Spoiler Section
What I love about analyzing this movie is finding the line between feminist revenge fantasy and vigilante. When Thana kills that first man chasing after her we don't know if he is intending to her harm. Yet his catcalling and calling women "cunt" on the street justify his death. I do like that similar to Charles Bronson in Death Wish she gets sick after her first kill, showing humanity. Every person she kills is someone who either preys on women or takes advantage of them. In Thana's case as her boss even talks about at some point, her affliction actually makes her an easier target. She learns to not only dress to back her power, becoming a woman "who looks like she is asking for it," as victim blamers would say. Her use of subtle gestures, nods, and just the look in her eyes at times, because she can't talk is enough of an invitation for these men. While every man she kills could be ones that deserve to die, that changes one night. She stalks a random man who is just making out with his girlfriend on a street corner and in a good suspense scene he gets into his apartment before she can shoot him. There is another man who vents to her and she only decides to shoot him when he says he strangled his wife's cat after he found she was cheating on him. When she goes to shoot him the gun is empty and he takes it and kills himself, taking the away the satisfaction from her. Things reach a breaking point at the party where Thana starts seeing every man as the same as her rapist and starts shooting many random people before one of her friends from work stabs her from behind.
Some of Thana's changing looks throughout the movie
Instead of a happy ending we get a character consumed and addicted to vengeance getting killed by the people she viewed as allies. Thana starts skipping her job everyday and only going out at night, again the type of behavior of someone who can't cope with trauma. That is ultimately one of the two things this movie is about trauma and when does the revenge to cope with it go too far?
There are many different filmmaking decisions I love here. Obviously the late 70s and early 80s New York location shooting is something I love. I love seeing all the buildings, real businesses, extras, and that whole graffiti laden grit and grime setting. There are some magnificent shots throughout. I love how the drain of guts, really disgusting by the way, is crossfading with the face of her rapist. I love some of the close up shots of Zoe Lund's eyes, particularly when the photographer puts his hand on her shoulder and asks her to come to his place. I love how her expression there goes from timid and afraid to confirming. Her performance is all in the eyes. I love that shot of the gang members cornering her in that circle. The saxophone and jazz music by Joe Delia, particularly during the Halloween party is great.
Speaking of the Halloween party I love how that takes a page from Thriller: A Cruel Picture. The long take slow motion, with the gunshots, and blood squibs and the slowly exploding squibs is just incredible. In those shots I even like the objects clattering and crashing. Even the way Thana dresses is inspired by that movie to me. Thana goes from dressing real homely, to dressing red and black after her first kill and finally black all over for most of the movie. That is similar to the character in Thriller dressing first in yellow, then red, and then black.
Ferrara also does even more things I like. He shows the tenant horror and drama just like he did in Driller Killer. Thana's landlord is constantly up in her business. Always asking her why she is going out, who her friends are, wondering why she starts dressing and looking differently, and even going into her room. Just like how Driller Killer showed tenant living as an artist in New York City, this shows the horror and everyday life of a woman. Catcalled, harassed by photographers, pimps, and bosses that try to take advantage of you. It proves that there are those type of men everywhere that only want to objectify women. By not showing Zoe Lund naked, that makes this less of exploitation movie and really more of a vigilante rape and revenge movie.
Rating: 9.5/10
Trivia: The gun used by Thana (Zoe Lund) is actually a nine millimeter caliber pistol and not .45 caliber. Abel Ferrara played the first rapist in the mask.
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