Tag Archives: Mystery

Mystery movies.

Silence, The (2013) [Review]

Director: Baran bo Odar
Writer(s): Baran bo Odar (screenplay), Jan Costin Wagner (novel)
Cast: Ulrich Thomsen, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Katrin Saß, Sebastian Blomberg, and Burghart Klaußner
Rated: Not rated (violence/sexuality)
Sites: IMDb/trailer Official movie site
Notes: Film is distributed by Music Box Films. Original release date: 2010.

aka Das letzte Schweigen

The Silence opens with two men driving in a car on a country road somewhere in Germany. They pass a young girl on her bike who turns down a road partially hidden in a wooded area. The car backs up and proceeds to follow the girl. The driver gets out, approaches the girl, and then viciously attacks her while his passenger waits in the car as it happens. The mood this scene puts you in is the same one that will stay with you throughout the entire duration of the film.

The majority of the film takes place 23 years after the girl vanishes in the opening scene when yet another girl goes missing. What’s interesting about this case is that it happens to be on the anniversary of the old case, and the bike belonging to the most recent missing girl, 13-year-old Sinikka, was found in the very same spot as that of Pia, the original victim. This new string of events cause several characters that have some relation or passion for the case to become invested in finding out who is responsible and finding answers.

There’s a widowed cop determined to fill the void in his life, a recently retired cop similarly doing the same, a successful family man with secrets, and the parents of both missing girls to name a few. All intertwine to form the groundwork of the mystery surrounding the missing girls. As the police follow leads and connections between the original and present cases, Sinikka’s parents struggle to pick up the pieces of what remains of their relationship and our family man Timo (Wotan Wilke Möhring) faces his past and present in the midst of the latest news headlines. Family, workplace, and crime drama all circulate the dark and bleak atmosphere with seamless consistency, which kept me equally interested in each character and his/her conflicts and developments.

Though this is certainly not a feel-good movie, should a story with this sort of subject matter really be anyway? I felt the film really embodied the feeling of loss, small-town tragedy and personal and familial conflicts at different levels quite realistically. This was not a film that set out to be a revenge film, or to find justice of the crime. It’s goal seemed to be to simply explore the effects caused by the tragic events that took place. Most of those effects are bad, and leave us with ill feelings. The film does this eerily well with the perfect musical score, clean yet stark camera shots, and bone-chillingly good acting performances all around. Many will be put off by the less than pleasant-feeling ending, and the overall feeling the film emits but those looking for a more emotive and gripping crime thriller will find much to delve into with The Silence.

Liability, The (2013) [DVD review]

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Director: Craig Viveiros
Writer(s): John Wrathall
Cast: Tim Roth, Peter Mullan, Jack O'Connell, and Talulah Riley
Rated: R (violence/language)
Sites: IMDb/trailer Official movie site
Notes: Film is distributed by Lionsgate

What caught my attention with The Liability was the fact that it stars Tim Roth, who is in my opinion one of the most underrated actors. I’m not as familiar with the rest of the primarily UK-based cast, aside from actress Kierston Wareing, of the incredible Fish Tank (2009). Upon reading the plot, I was intrigued about this film even more: a young man named Adam (Jack O’Connell) joins aging hitman Roy (Roth) after Adam wrecks his stepfather’s car and is forced to repay him by running errands. Adam is enthralled by Roy’s profession, while Roy on the other hand is less expressive about his feelings or anything else for that matter at the start. The trip the two take winds up affecting them in more ways than they knew. The performances by the two leads is excellent, as is their chemistry. The cinematography was reminiscent of Drive at moments, with nice choice of music mixed with stylish imagery. This is the type of hit man flick that I enjoy – it’s not so much heavy on the violence and action, but focuses more on the characters, their inner conflicts and circles around an interesting story that is fairly original for the genre. One thing I couldn’t help but was that the film ended a bit abrupt with a few things that didn’t quite add up. With a story like the one it had, I felt like it could have carried on more and I would have loved to see more. To top that off, Kierston Wareing is unjustly underused here. Those things aside, it’s refreshing to see a hit man movie, or even a crime movie in general, doing something different.

Headhunters (2012)

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Director: Morten Tyldum
Writer(s): Lars Gudmestad, Ulf Ryberg, and Jo Nesbø (novel)
Cast: Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Eivind Sander
Rated: R (gory violence, nudity)
Sites: IMDb/trailer Official movie site
Notes: Official Facebook

aka Hodejegerne

I have always had a big interest in Scandinavian films. I don’t often come across them in my neck of the woods, but almost always I end up loving their films. Once I saw the trailer for the Norwegian film Headhunters, based on the novel by the increasingly popular author Jo Nesbø, I just had a feeling I would love it.

The film is introduced by its main character, Roger Brown (Askel Hennie), who gives us the insight into his life. One the outside, the relatively short man has a glamorous life complete with a fancy house, nice car, expensive suits, and a gorgeous wife (a breakout performance by newbie Synnøve Macody Lund). As they usually are, things are different behind the scenes for Roger. Aside from some issues with his marriage, Roger happens to also have the secret of being an art thief when he’s not doing his day job as a corporate headhunter.

Roger’s wife, Diana, happens to own an art gallery. As fate would have it, an acquaintance of Diana’s, Clas Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) tells her about a very rare painting he is in the possession of. Upon hearing of this, Roger decides this is his next mark. Roger, along with his accomplice Ove (Eivind Sander) coordinate the heist. The situation turns out to be more than what Roger bargained for when its discovered Clas is a former mercenary and a big wig of a tech company that makes GPS tracking devices.

The film’s sly sense of humor and charismatic lead immediately drew me into the picture, but I have to say once the action of the plot kicked in, I couldn’t turn away. I honestly didn’t expect the action the film had, and the several twists and turns it took. The movie just doesn’t let up, but it’s far more than just being about the action. The storyline is clever and exciting and the film does a great job of building on the characters and making us feel something for them.

Headhunters is yet another example of how the Scandinavians are doing something so right that Hollywood can’t seem to grasp. The movie was an exciting thriller while also having a well thought out plot and well written characters. What I really appreciated was the amount of dark humor the film had, which wasn’t arbitrarily added in, it naturally added some comic relief without being turning the film into a farce. There’s also the drama between the characters, especially Roger and Diana, that felt genuine and again built on our feelings towards the characters.

This film is likely my favorite of the year. It had it all: crime, action, plot twists, and the pacing was perfect. The film looks great and has a cool style to it, but it manages to pull of being a stylish flick without showboating or coming off as being full of itself. Headhunters is certainly a serious film, but it’s intelligent way of combining the many aforementioned traits keep it quite entertaining.

Prometheus (2012)

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Director: Ridley Scott
Writer(s): Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof, based on elements created by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Logan Marshall-Green, and Idris Elba
Rated: R (violence, some language)
Sites: IMDb/trailer Official movie site

Prometheus was one of my most anticipated films of the year. The mysterious Ridley Scott project showed promise of being a modern sci-fi masterpiece while at the same time building off of the world created by a classic sci-fi masterpiece (Alien). Now, I won’t go on pretending to be an Alien expert, it’s been years since I’ve seen the original film and science fiction isn’t my typical go-to genre. However, I love a creative and imaginative sci-fi flick when I do watch them, and Prometheus seemed like it had everything I was looking for.

Perhaps more importantly than the overall look and concept of the film, the initial reports of the film’s cast had me intrigued long before I saw any images from the film itself. Noomi Rapace quickly became my favorite actress from her demanding performance in the Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and sequels. I’ve since sought out all her other work I could obtain in the States, and was only more in love. Her exposure in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was only a teaser for her U.S. film debut, the true test was her leading role as Elizabeth Shaw in the futuristic epic.

Aside from Noomi, the rest of the cast would leave movie fans dying with excitement. The powerful Michael Fassbender and the always amazing Charlize Theron, along with a promising supporting cast offered much to look forward to. Needless to say, the film set its expectations fairly high, which usually always ends up in fan disappointment. But hype aside, I can honestly say I loved this film. I actually felt that my relative unfamiliarity with the Alien franchise gave me some benefit in enjoying the film, as I didn’t put pressure on the film to live up to anything else. I took it in for what it was, and I think that’s always the best thing to do when watching any movie.

Aesthetically the world in the film is stunning. The barren wasteland of the far away planet our group of discoverers arrive on has a decrepit yet mystifying beauty to it. The space scenes are gorgeous as well, which are prime examples of how modern effects can be used efficiently. Then there are the “Engineers,” who are crafted with such beauty and eeriness. Every aspect of the film visually was spot on, which one can greatly appreciate when watching the Blu-ray. Visually speaking, the film is a work of art.

But of course a film has to be more than eye candy. So does it truly deliver? The story for me was very interesting. Many questions are asked, and just as many left unanswered. Perhaps this is what frustrated some moviegoers, but that’s something I can really appreciate about a film. Our main characters, doctors Shaw (Rapace) and Holloway (Marshall-Green) lead the voyage on which they seek answers to the origins of life. We’re presented with images of ancient beings throughout the film, and our characters experience several events that only build up the questions and complexity in an otherwise straight-forward plot.

One of the potential pitfalls the film fell victim was its urge to cut to the chase. After watching the Blu-ray, I dove into some of the special features. The commentary on several deleted scenes revealed while certain scenes were cut. These cut scenes added more dimension to the characters, made them seem more real and made us feel more connected to them. They were cut more or less to save time. This is the one aspect I felt held the film down. The mentally intriguing story, astounding visuals and superb cast were the building blocks for a truly amazing film. This is one of those films that could easily be near 3 hours long, and I wouldn’t complain (such as with the Harry Potter films). That extra time dedicated to building on the characters gives the film that humanity that makes it more of an emotional experience than a titillating thrill ride.

Putting that one aspect aside, this film was fantastic. Whenever a film comes with a huge hype surrounding it, it’s bound to let many down. It’s tough to avoid the advertisements, articles and gossip about blockbusters like this, but the effort to do so pays off in terms of enjoying the movie. I loved Prometheus, and it really left me wanting more. I just hope for a possible extended, uncut version, and potentially even better, a sequel that can be as good as the original while making up for what this film left out.

Tall Man, The (2012)

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Director/writer: Pascal Laugier
Cast: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, and William B. Davis
Rated: R (language, some violence)
IMDb/trailer | Official movie site

I knew very little going into The Tall Man, other than it did not have anything to do with Phantasm and that it starred Jessica Biel. To my surprise I discovered the film was written and directed by Pascal Laugier, writer/director of the 2008 film Martyrs. Anyone who’s seen Martyrs knows how much of a disturbing and unforgettable film it is, so I instantly had a strong curiosity about The Tall Man based on that fact.

The film takes place in a small rural town in Washington state, a place where children are known to go missing and never return. There is a fable of “The Tall Man” that is both feared and joked about amongst the townsfolk. We’re quickly introduced to Julia (Jessica Biel), a nurse who lives in the shadow of her late husband. We find that she has a young son of her own, David (Jakob Davies) and lives with a housekeeper/babysitter. All seems normal, well aside from the mysterious kidnappings, that is until David is taken from Julia’s home in the middle of the night by a dark hooded figure.

Julia refuses to give up in getting David back as well as hunting down the person who took him. Biel’s fierce performance offers some cringe-worthy scenes, most of which involving her enduring physical pain and intense determination. She stops at nothing while on the kidnapper’s trail, even if she has to hang off the back of a speeding truck. But once we think we know where the film is going, things start getting really strange and the questions start building up.

The townspeople start acting as if they all know something that we don’t. Is there a conspiracy amongst them? Is Julia really who we think she is? Is there really a Tall man? The questions drove me insane, in a good way. While Julia continues to look for David, the townspeople band together with an agenda of their own. At this point many might devise their explanations of the twist, but think again. As more information is revealed, ironically the more questions began rising again.

The movie could have easily fell into the trap of a predictable “twist” ending that’s been done and done again. This would have been the “safe” choice. But The Tall Man kept me guessing all the way through till the end. Whenever I thought I knew what was happening, I constantly found myself saying “something’s going on here” and I’d pose more questions. I guess the mainstream is afraid of movies like this, movies that have the potential of confusing the viewer. I personally love when a movie can keep you guessing and play out in an intelligent and thought-provoking manner rather than a quasi-clever twist that satisfies the audience.

On top of the brilliant story, the film is paced well and looks good on top of it. The bleak, run-down and raddled small town is nicely shown through the use of dull colors and tired pale-faced characters. What’s more impressive than the overall feel and cinematography of the film is Jessica Biel’s performance. I never had a strong opinion on her as an actress, but here she gives an incredible performance both physically and emotionally. We can’t tell whether she’s the good guy or the bad guy sometimes. There’s one particular scene where she has a dialog with a mother of the town; the scene alone should gain her an Oscar nod. I was really surprised and blown away by this film and am yet again perplexed as to why masterpieces like this go straight to video.