moebiusWhen I look back on TIFF 2013, there are a lot of films that I will remember clearly for many different reasons. There is one film though, that I will remember more than any other.

NOTE: While I won’t be giving away the whole plot of the film here, even its set-up is pretty disturbing including elements of a highly graphic violent and sexual nature.

From here on out, consider yourself warned.

MOEBIUS is the story of one dysfunctional family. The wife (there are no character names) knows that her husband is cheating on her, and indeed we see a call from the mistress come in, and a struggle over the cell phone ensue. Fed up of her husband’s philandering ways, she snaps. One night, she comes at him with a knife, intent on castrating him once and for all.

He successfully fights her off and locks the bedroom door to keep her out. However, the wife ultimately gets her revenge in a most unexpected way; she castrates their son instead.

After she runs off, the husband takes his son to the hospital, but there’s only so much that can be done. His son is condemned to a life where every physical act below the belt is about to get very humiliating, and it soon affects his interactions with other boys, and other girls.

There is a lot more to MOEBIUS, and much of it makes this film even more shocking. I dare not reveal them here, since I think anyone interested in this film should see it as cold as they can.

Besides its shock value, one of the things that makes MOEBIUS such a compelling watch is the way that it tells every bit of its story without one word of dialogue. Director Kim Ki-Duk is able to get his characters to convey everything with the looks they exchange, their body language, and occasionally with some crazy Google searches. It’s masterful, really, since it allows this foreign-language film to become truly transcendent.

It’s like THE ARTIST, but with castration.

A good question would be why I decided to watch something so truly fucked-up (there is no other way to describe this film. What’s more, I was even warned about its insanity the night before my screening came up. I do remember that someone pointed me towards it, and without reading too much about the synopsis, I decided to pick it up. Once in it, I was aghast with its shock value and dark humour, and as such I just couldn’t look away. Strangely, it all actually turned funny in places – not all of it mind you, as there are some truly heinous events that take place before the credits roll.

Still, through much of it, all we could do was laugh and shake our heads.

MOEBIUS is a cinematic litmus test of the highest order. It’s an unforgettable film, but if you plan on watching it, consider yourself warned.