Villains We Love: Romeo is Bleeding
Filed under: Fandom, Trailers and Clips
I cannot possibly think of villains without thinking of Lena Olin's Mona Demarkov. While the trailer for Romeo is Bleeding suggests that the film is nothing more than a ridiculous camp fest, her portrayal of the sadistic Russian hitwoman is mesmerizing and scary. With ease, she oozes every aspect of evil.
She can be the stoic, gravelly voiced baddie who bides her time, waiting for the perfect moment -- her eyes not missing a thing. She can be the seductress, using her beauty to easily prey on Jack's (Gary Oldman) continually wandering eye. She can be the villain who never gets killed -- not swayed by a shot to the arm, or other wounds that challenge her. But her most memorable evil -- her most villainous aspect -- is her adoration of real, intimate, bodily violence. She's not some bad gal with firepower. Her violence is within her, her weapons being the things lying around, or her own body. And she loves to give pain. She doesn't just smile -- violence makes her happy.
Take the scene after the jump (strong language warning!): She starts to choke Jack, and as he struggles for air, she laughs -- not just a giggle, but an eruption of pure, seemingly sexual, delight -- the throaty laugh, eyes closed, back arched. When Jack finally breaks free, her panting body looks post-coital, not post-choking. He hurts her. She keeps fighting. She chokes him with her legs, and then frees herself. It's almost absurd, but not in the carefully crafted fictional way -- it seems just crazy enough to be true, like Peter Medak pulled a real villain off the streets to play Mona. In one package, she's the femme fatale and the tough-as-nails baddie.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-20-2009 @ 8:57PM
mezzaninex said...
I adore this movie, I have it on DVD, but it seems like most people have forgotten or never heard of it. It's such a shame, cuz not only is Lena great, but Gary Oldman was awesome as well.
Reply
10-20-2009 @ 9:41PM
NP said...
This is one of my favorite movies. Lena Olin's performance is AMAZING.
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10-20-2009 @ 10:05PM
Rementis said...
A classic, more people should see it.
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10-20-2009 @ 10:08PM
ivybelle1 said...
Lena Olin is the ultimate bad-a$$ in this film. She was nominated for Best Action Sequence at the MTV movie awards that year! I hated the ending though, she should have gotten away, a la The Last Seduction.
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10-21-2009 @ 12:39AM
reisezubehor said...
Great post. It is amazing and This is a very inspiring movie! This is my favourite movie.
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10-21-2009 @ 2:38AM
kayryn said...
Lena's performance was something out of this world. You couldn't look away. But the character's name was Mona Demarkov.
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10-21-2009 @ 10:54AM
Petro1734 said...
Hell yes ! Some Romeo Is Bleeding Love ! This movie was badass !
Reply
10-21-2009 @ 8:14PM
Andy said...
Another awesome choice.
Sinister!
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