Internal uneasiness.
A sense of oppression, restlessness… I will use a
detail to explain. Usually, when I’m watching a movie, sitting in front of my
PC, I receive some phone messages, I read them, sometimes I check the movie’s
remaining time, what time is it… but in this case, I just forgot about the
outside world. I was on tenterhooks, attentive, missing nothing.
The film narrates the story of a family of two parents
and a child, who go to spend a few days in their country house (and, let me
add, what a house!). They will notice some weird behaviors on their neighbors
when they arrive (pay attention to that, as it will be brilliantly explained
towards the end), later to receive some… unpleasant visitors.
I will tell no more, I can tell no more. Haneke will
make sure the rest flows perfectly. I have to thank Maremoto for the
recommendation, for both the movie itself, and the director (“The White Ribbon”
will be next). I was surprised by the most repeated shots from this director.
Apparently simple, usually very long, but spitting out a great result,
especially during the tense moments. Also the long silences, the usual lack of
sound track, all adding up to the sense of realism.
About the cast, another detail. The original movie was
shot in Austria (Michael Haneke is Austrian, although born in Münich), while
the American remake came up in 2007, 10 year after its homonymous. I put my
hands on both versions, and realize that both are exact, every single shot.
Hence my choice to watch the American version (of course, in my opinion) was
good, so that I could enjoy Tim Roth, Naomi Watts and Michael Pitt.
I wasn’t so gripped by the first of them as I would
have expected (as I already worship him after “Lie to me”). Naomi, who I
haven’t seen in many movies, pleasantly surprised me, transmitting every
feeling I talk about at the beginning of this critic. But the final blow comes
from an amazing Michael Pitt. After trying to accomplish the perfect crime with
Ryan Gosling in “Murder by numbers”, he shows how perfect he is for this kind
of role (this ain’t that much of a compliment, is it?). The so natural behavior
as they take hold of their “games”, smiles that get lost between evil and
innocent (although there’s really nothing of the latter), his conversations,
almost soliloquys with the family… From my point of view, he becomes a crucial
part to stick it all together. I will still be curious to know if that same
character, on its original version, would instill the same in me as Mike did
(so casual).
About an ending hard to come up with, two last scenes
as good as the rest, before leaving us to finally breathe ‘easy’?
PD. Two more details as a gift. Paul’s name switching
towards his task partner. The usage of the TV remote.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- XiàLéi
Main cast: Tim Roth (George), Naomi Watts (Ann), Devon Gearhart (Georgie), Michael Pitt (Paul), Brady Corbet (Peter).
FilmAffinity's rating: 6.1 (7.3 for the original version)
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