When you hear talk of hits at the cinema this summer, it's all Batman this and Iron Man that. Chances are, nobody's going to mention a thriller that's two years old, stars nobody famous and is in a different language. And yet, 'Tell No One' has already played at my local arthouse, and is - get this! - coming back due to popular demand. On a more national scale, even the Hollywood Reporter has called the film a word-of-mouth hit. For a foreign film to push close to $4m in domestic box office with barely any advertising is pretty spectacular.
And so it should be, because 'Tell No One' is fantastic. The plot follows a solid, old-fashioned arc: man hears his wife scream, goes to investigate, gets knocked unconscious and when he comes around, she's dead. Eight years later, he's not really moved on, and finds himself the prime suspect of (possibly serial) murder. It turns into a French 'The Fugitive' as the mild mannered doctor tries to prove his innocence, whilst being chased most of the time, with only one cop who believes in his innocence. Also, his wife might actually be alive, I should probably mention that.
The plot is dense, too dense, and there are plenty of "wait, what?" moments, and there is a clunky big exposition/explanation scene at the end. Yet none of this gets in the way of the film being incredibly tense and watchable. And the scene where the doctor is running down the street with an adorable huge, shaggy dog, while 'With or Without You' plays is disarmingly cute. Contrast this with the incredible footchase scene across one of Paris' busiest streets, or the very intense scene of a woman getting beaten. It's a heavy film but incredibly rewarding.
The characterization is really intricate and well thought out, with even minor roles being well thought out, like the neighbourhood tough guy who helps the doctor when he's on the run, or the terrifying torture specialist who knows pressure points and inflicts max damage. Francois Cluzet is great (and Cesar-winning) as the doctor, pulling off young Dustin Hoffman looks with genuine anger and confusion at being wrongly accused. Marie-Josee Cruze, not content with being in this year's other amazing French film, does well as the enigmatic is-she-isn't-she wife. And Kristin Scott-Thomas has a nice turn as the doc's confidante.
The film is still playing at cinemas in the U.S. though it may be hard to find. It's expected on DVD in November here, but I do believe it's out in Europe already. Check it out, make it an even bigger hit.
The dog will piss on your career
That's not me, it's Marlon Brando!
I was in a bad mood for much of this past week. It was my birthday last weekend and as someone to whom friendship means an awful lot, I was really saddened that only ONE of my close friends bothered to give me a call. Don't get me wrong, I spent most of the day with my family and core gang of law schoolers, so I wasn't exactly sitting at home moping. But having spent four years establishing a pretty tight network of friends at college, and then being forgotten by just about all of them certainly stung, especially since I'm always the loser that calls to wish everyone on their birthdays.
Then the weekend came by and I did two things which really cheered me up. Firstly, we hired a room at a karaoke bar for two hours, drank a whole of soju and sang like mothers. My particular moments of glory? Gangster's Paradise, Cum on Feel the Noize, 2+2=5 (bad idea, it's fucked up my throat), and our rousing finale, Gay Bar. [Incidentally, they had 'Monday Morning 5:19' by Rialto as a programmed song there - how weird is that?]
More importantly, on Sunday, I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a film which was pretty much sensational and left me floored and dizzy. Not literally, of course, that would be bad. For a film about a man with "locked-in syndrome", a form of complete bodily paralysis, it wasn't ever depressing, but instead had an incredible sense of beauty, optimism, hope and love. Not getting some phone calls suddenly didn't matter one bit. There was no sugar coating anything, from the early shot of an eye getting stitched shut, to the wrenching scene later on when the main character's elderly father talks to his son over the phone, it was intense. But incredibly there are some moments that are actually pretty funny. Schnabel's background as an artist came through with his presentation, which was dazzling, disorienting (especially the first scene) and featured some gorgeous angles, colours and close-ups. The score didn't get in the way, and even the brief appearance of Lenny Kravitz didn't tarnish anything. If I'm struggling to get this across coherently, it's really because I can't.
No film has moved me this much all year. It's made me think of 'Blindblindblind', the final song on the new record from A Silver Mt. Zion. The song ends with a huge singalong of the phrase "Some! Hearts! Are! True!" over and over again, and it's a work of real purity, honesty and beauty that in my mind, makes it a good companion piece for the year's most powerful film. Go and see 'Diving Bell' today.
[download A Silver Mt. Zion - BlindBlindBlind (live)]
