Moebius - Lilith Likes to Watch

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Title: Moebius
Year: 2013

Starring: Cho Jae-Hyun, Lee Eun Woo, Young Ju Seo

Director: Kim Ki-Duk

Synopsis: A wife, overwhelmed with hatred for her husband, inflicts an unspeakable wound on their son, as the family heads towards horrific destruction. - Via Letterboxd.com

Lilith's Notes: Happy Father's Day!

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This past weekend was Father's day. Since I have neither a father nor a daddy, I spent it watching a holiday appropriate movie.

Moebius is a story about a family. A family, perhaps, not that different from your own. Father (Played by Cho Jae-Hyun), Mother (Played by Lee Eun Woo ), teenage Son (Played by Young Ju Seo ) and Mistress (Also played by Lee Eun Woo ).

When Father and Mother fight over the fact Father is having an affair, Mother becomes enraged and considers cutting off her husband's wang. She is unable to bring herself to do it. She peeks in on the Son pleasuring himself and I guess she realizes he is no longer her innocent baby boy, or maybe she has a moment of all men are pigs, and she John Wayne Bobett's her son. (look it up, youngins.)

And then she swallows it.

Mother is kicked out of the family home and Father, in a fit of guilt, I assume, chooses to have his manhood amputated. Meanwhile Son comes across the woman with whom his father was having an affair. She propositions him but obviously he cannot do anything.

When the local schoolboys find out Son is without his peter, they ambush him in the streets and try to get a look for themselves. His father comes to the rescue.

Later, Son starts hanging out with a gang and they take turns raping the woman that had an affair with Father. When it's Son's turn, he mimes the action rather than face the shame of being castrated. I flat out assumed he was going to go down on her, because when in doubt, improvise. Instead he just uselessly humps her. I think maybe it was both an attempt to save face and also not to hurt her but by then she was so distraught it didn't matter.

The gang and Son are arrested and Father comes to explain he absolutely couldn't have attacked the woman because he has no shlong. Again, rather than exposing his shame, the son beats up his father.

In an effort to make amends, Father researches organ transplant surgeries and comes across a way to use pain to climax. The idea is to use a rock and exfoliate really, really hard. It's euphoric but leaves a nasty road-rash after. He shows his son how to do it and they can both get their rocks off.

Son is released from prison and goes to Mistress. She stabs him in the shoulder and he uses the knife as a pseudophallus, stroking it and wriggling it around in his back. Mistress takes hold of the knife and they manipulate it while he rubs her and climax together. I'm happy for them.

Father learns of a successful penile transplant and using Father's organ, Son goes under the knife to be once again whole.

It doesn't work right, Son's body doesn't react to stimulus, not even to Mistress. Mother returns and, to everyone's shock and amazement, Son's body reacts to Mother, because it was Father's pipi.

I have questions.

Since Mother and Mistress were played by the same actress, why didn't Son react to Mistress? If Father got aroused at the sight of Mother then why did he cheat?

Yes, the role of the Mistress was originally cast with another woman who dropped out, but if that's the case, rewrite your script. I guess one could infer that Son had that need to be nurtured and cared for like a mother is supposed to provide, but Mother also irrevocably traumatized and mutilated him.

As an art movie, it's mildly interesting. The choice to have no spoken dialogue and instead communicate all story through expression, emotion and context is commendable. It works far better than something trying to be deep and talking in abstract metaphors like We Are The Flesh. It certainly produces a more universal story, free from language barriers and subtitles. The acting is very well done, though, it would have to be to carry a movie like this.

Unfortunately it moves too fast, yet feels like an underbaked version of Anti-Christ.

Never thought I'd say this about a movie with castration and knifesturbation but this was a lot tamer than I expected.

Best Moment: The knifesturbation scene, obviously.


Worst Moment: I don't know, the rocksturbation, maybe? It felt like a scheme 4chan would come up with.

LILITH'S SCORE: 2/5

Until next time, my voracious voyeurs. I’m Lilith, and I’m always watching.