Be prepared to both jump and cry if you choose to go to see Sydney Pollack’s latest masterpiece The Interpreter. This is a very clever film although you may feel like you have watched it before.

The basic story is familiar, involving an assassination plot, secret service, plenty of possible bad guys and a damsel in distress! It follows the key to a good suspense thriller, being a back to front film, instead of growing, the plot is unravelled along the way. This means the characters really have time to develop, which is quite rare in a thriller. Usually this aspect is rushed, yet this film seems to flow very smoothly.

To be able to appreciate the clever script, the detail of the mise en scene and, of course, the amazing directing you have to watch and listen very carefully, so make sure you are fully awake when you go see this. If you are into your paralanguage analysis then this is the film for you, as the two leading characters study faces and voices respectively.

Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman play the two main characters. Kidman in my opinion is a blank canvas, she can play any role and you don’t associate her with her previous characters. Pollack, yet again, works with her amazingly (as he did in Birthday Girl and Cold Mountain). Penn also gives one of his best performances, although I do feel that he was better in the recent Assassination of Richard Nixon. Maybe this is due to having a broader character to play with whereas in the Interpreter is all about Kidman. However they worked very well together, there is an undercurrent of chemistry between them that yet again shows the near perfection of this film for its type.

This film allows you to become part of the investigating team, it doesn’t give too much away and although you can work it out, it is still very gripping. Definitely one to watch.

More film reviews on LeftLion

Comment (0)

Send to friend

Print

Add to Facebook