Chapter 2 – Chap 2

Sorry it’s been a few days. I haven’t been sleeping well, and my head has been killing me. I think it’s a combination of sleep deprivation and stress. Plus, I need to start drinking water again, instead of the IV drip of soda I’ve been surviving on.

At any rate, you don’t care about that. You want to know about the video.

First, let me just say it is a pain in the ass to set up a VCR. Maybe it was just me. If I hadn’t been so curious—and paid five bucks for the rental—I might have said screw it. But once the TV was on the right channel, the cords were in the correct ports, and the stars aligned in the heavens, I managed to start the video.

The screen came up and was initially black, save for the occasional white line that would cut through the image. Ah yes, another thing that you didn’t get with DVDs. It was actually kind of nostalgic to see it.

This went on for almost a full minute, and I thought maybe the video was busted, before a tell-tale rising sound cut through the speakers, followed by a simple logo that appeared on the screen. VIZAMAX, it read, which I’d never heard of, but that wasn’t surprising.

The credits began to roll over the black, listing a handful of unfamiliar people. There was a slow, melancholy soundtrack playing over the credits, heavy on the string instruments. It was kind of weird, but I liked it. Different from what I’m used to.

Suddenly, the music stopped, and black cut to a bright, white room, with a woman sitting in a chair and looking straight into the camera. She was very close, her head taking up almost the entire shot. It startled me, and I actually jumped, even though there were no abrupt or loud sounds, like in your standard, lazy horror movie.

The woman—not the one on the cover, I noted—was smiling. It wasn’t a malicious smile, but something was kind of off about it. Maybe it was her eyes, which were just a tiny bit too wide. In fact, as the seconds rolled by, she didn’t even blink or break her gaze.

My first thought was, that guy at the video place absolutely misjudged me. If he thought this was going to be a gateway into his weird, arthouse films, he was incorrect. Still, curiosity made me continue, and I waited for something to happen, trying to ignore the feeling that she was actually seeing me, not just staring straight ahead.

Suddenly, she started speaking. It was quick, but hard to understand, and I realized by the strange, warped sound of the words that the audio was playing backwards. I have no idea what it said, but it freaked me out. What is it about backwards speech? It just always sounds so wrong, even if the forward words are totally innocuous.

Thankfully, the image cut away, and what seemed to be a standard movie began to play. The camera panned over some beautiful hills, waves crashing against rocks below. I guessed by the film quality that it was made in the early ‘90s, which kind of relieved me. I’d been worried based on the cover that it was an older film. Call me an uncultured swine, but the moment a ‘50s movie comes on, I start to fall asleep.

To give you a play by play of the film would take forever, so let me give you some highlights. For the first half hour, nothing was all that strange about the movie. Not like the weird intro. The story was about a young man who’d wanted to be a violinist. He was a child prodigy with his entire life ahead of him, and he’d lined up an audition to one of the most prestigious orchestras in the world.

However, in a truly jarring scene, he reaches the crescendo of his audition, and the stage lights above him burst and come crashing down. A heavy monstrosity smashes the boy in a spray of gore that was absolutely unfitting of the movie.

From there, it got a little weirder. First, there was about ten full minutes of screaming. The shot sort of drifts up, away from the bloody scene, and unfocuses. It’s like the camera man abandoned his post mid-shot. But you can still hear people freaking out, people shouting for someone to call 911. Suddenly, a sharp sound starts to play, subtle at first, then increasingly loud and ear-splitting. It gets higher and higher until it drowns out the sounds of the chaos. It reached the point of pain as it shot through my ears, and I quickly plugged them, too stunned to do anything else.

Before I could turn the whole thing off, the sound stopped and the scene cut to two people sitting in an ocean view home, drinking coffee or tea or something—some liquid in a mug. I recognized the woman by her bright, red hair. Across from her sat a somber man, who had more drab features. Maybe the guy on the cover, but it was hard to tell.

They started talking, and I pieced together that the boy who’d died was her son. I thought maybe the man was the father, but he seemed awfully caught up in discussing legal crap. He keeps telling her to sign the paperwork, and she stops responding, just drinking her tea. This goes on for a while, then she tells the man to leave.

The next scene is the woman in her son’s room, touching his things. She sits on his bed and pulls out his violin, which was apparently spared in the accident somehow. She runs her fingers over it, then cradles it in her arms. She stares down at it, then begins rocking it like it’s a child.

I’ll admit, that part actually kind of made me tear up. There was so much grief in the scene, and it was like she was trying to capture her son by tenderly holding the thing he cherished most. Somewhere along the lines, I’d gotten really caught up in the whole affair.

From that point, the story moves on like your standard drama. The woman decides to start playing the violin, in honor of her son. She pours everything she has into becoming as good as she can be, which puts a strain on her job and the relationships around her.

Then near the end, the film suddenly cuts to a grainy, dark scene. The woman is standing there, with the violin, and the audio is poor. I can make out her saying, “Why are you doing this?”

The next few things said seem to be spoken by a man, or men, but it’s too muffled to understand. Finally, I heard, “Just keep going.”

The woman begins playing the violin, but it’s shaky and off-key, like she’s never actually played one. After a few seconds, it stops abruptly, and the screen cuts to black.

When the image returns, there’s a man sitting in a white room. He looks like a motivational speaker or something, and he’s got one of those soothing, persuasive kind of voices.

“Do you feel like you’ve given up in life?” he asks, looking directly at the camera. “We all have dreams that never come to fruition. It hurts when we accept what we’ll never have.”

He leans in, intent. “Of course, there are times when it’s better that our dreams don’t come true. What would you say if your dreams came true tomorrow? Would you go through the door? It’s too late to back out now. What would you choose? Would you go back to the way it was before? Would you apologize for what you’ve started?”

His tone has gotten increasingly harsh, but suddenly he stops and smiles again. “Unfortunately, some things can’t be undone. How have your dreams been lately?”

It cuts back to the narrative with the woman, and she’s onstage, playing in front of a massive audience. She’s absolutely amazing. The crowd is enraptured. As she reaches the end of her amazing performance, she looks up at the lights, as if looking to her son in heaven.

The crowd cheers, the lights start to dim, and the woman collapses. The violin slides from her hand as she gazes straight up at the ceiling. A smile crosses her lips, contentment and peace, then her eyes drift shut.

It fades to black, and some words appear: “We are not our dreams, but vessels from which they are born. Was it worth it, Amelia? Was it worth everything you lost? Are you satisfied now? Look what you’ve done.”

It cuts out again, then the credits roll.

Honestly, it’s only a few credits before it’s just a blank screen with strange, dark violin music playing.

I listened all the way to the end, until the video cut out and automatically began to rewind.

First thought? Why the hell did that guy think I would enjoy such a weird, creepy, convoluted film? There was a story, but it was disjointed and full of odd moments that didn’t fit at all. It was morbid as hell, and there was no true resolution. Plus, I couldn’t shake the weird feeling that they were all watching me. All of that camera-facing was unnerving.

But it’s kind of funny. Like a half an hour later, I was thinking about it again, and I realized it wasn’t all bad. In fact, I started to appreciate some of the allegories that were woven into the narrative, even if it was presented in an odd way. The more I considered it, the more I realized that the film wasn’t as random as I thought. It was still weird as hell, don’t get me wrong. But maybe that old guy at the video store wasn’t so off after all.

I tried to find info about the video online, but of course, nothing came up. I checked with my friends to see if any of them had gotten back to me, and they were quiet. Actually, they haven’t said much recently. I need to prod them some more.

Anyway, after seeing the first movie, I’m actually pretty curious as to what Mr. Greenway has in mind next. I’ll head out again this evening, then I’ll update after I watch whatever rentals I come home with.

Thanks for your interest, guys! With my friends being so quiet right now, I felt kind of alone. It’s nice to have some people to take on these mini-adventures with me. Even if they’re just internet strangers. I’ll post again soon!