Written and Directed by Michael DiPaolo.
A killer is born when the dark side of Investigative Reporter Mary Selby (Molly Jackson) is unleashed after being kidnapped and indoctrinated by a serial killer. After wanting to get inside the mind of the serial killer murdering prostitutes in the LA meatpacking district, Mary is contacted by the killer and stalked until she is eventually abducted. Once she is back in normal life, she finds it impossible to rejoin normal society and
embarks on a self-destructive quest for redemption.
Michael DiPaolo has more right to dip into this genre than most of the scribes out there. Whilst working for the District Attorney's office, he had to video tape over 2000 confessions of violent crimes, more than most cops will ever get involved in. 'Transgression' is a subversive and bleak, character driven psychological study
inspired by those confessions.
The word 'transgression' is interesting because to transgress means to go beyond set limits or cross or go over a boundary, but a 'transgression' is an infringement or violation of a law, command or duty. This film takes it to mean the violation of a law that is moral, psychological and spiritual. The Killer seeks to punish society for crimes that were committed against him by society, by killing these women, in turn violating our laws. When he abducts Mary he is also violating her privacy, forcing her to submit to his will, releasing her from normal moral constraints and mores until she is left drifting in a spiritual vacuum. When she is on death row for murder thinking back on the story, she is looking back on that crossing of boundaries that led her to this end point in her life. She remarks upon how after her abduction she not only wants to penetrate the bodies of men (causing one argument when she tries to analy penetrate her boyfriend with her fingers) but she also wants to penetrate their minds in an effort to share the pain she is unable to express, normally placated by drinking.
The film is a complex montage of emotionally demanding scenes contrasted with violent/blasphemous imagery, often compounded with excellent sound design. It is not shocking for one scene's particular imagery, but rather the bleak and erotic perversion that the killer's mark leaves on the screen. When he tortures his victims in his private 'Theatre Of Pain', you don't really see much of anything, but the sound of screaming while the masked figure waves a sharp knife, taunting the victims, is enough to do the job. When a catholic priest gives the sacrament, it is intercut with a killer, eating and drinking human flesh/blood, which would be enough reason to prevent the film being screened in most cinemas around the world.
The story is fairly simple and a little slow, but it is well acted, with sterling performances by the whole cast, including Julio Rodriguez (Ron) and Mark St Camille (The killer). The surreal nature of the imagery and fragmented narrative will put off the average no brain TV audience, but fans of alternative cinema will love it for it's realism and bleakness.
Transgression
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