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Rudya_Raskolnikov
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Reviews
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Faithful adaptation of the novel
I studied Jim Thompson's original 1950s novel of the same name at university about ten years ago and I thought it was fantastic, the best novel in the whole of the American Noir module I was taking.
Two or three years ago I was therefore excited to hear that the novel was being adapted (again) into a Hollywood film, with a great director and cast.
However, on the film's release, I avoided it, such was the furore over the film's depiction of violence against women. Yes, there was violence in the book, but the disgust of film critics whose opinion I tend to respect (Kermode in the UK in particular) and the fairly low IMDb score made me give it a miss.
However I finally caught it last night and was fairly impressed - I'd give it a solid '7' out of 10. I was particularly impressed with how they captured the small American town feeling of the time, the mannerisms, dialect, costumes, props etc and I was also surprised at how faithful it was to the novel - it's been a long time since I read it, but I can't think of any *major* differences.
My one quibble is that when I was reading the novel, I had always imagined Lou Ford as being more a bear of a man, like a big bozo (in outward appearance anyway). I can't remember if it actually says he has a large build in the text, but that's what I thought. Therefore to my mind, Casey Affleck, though a great actor, was somewhat miscast here. I think if a larger actor had been cast some of the violence problems would have been solved - particularly in the scene where *Spoilers* Lou is punching the prostitute, Joyce. He has to hit her repeatedly in the face, again and again and again and again, because he's not a particularly big or powerful man. But (if memory serves) in the book, because Lou is so large, he doesn't have to hit her so many times, and the camera wouldn't have had to linger over this problematic and controversial scene (that I thought was somewhat unnecessary).
Anyhow, apart from that, I did think it was a good film that will linger with you long after you watch it - in both a good and a bad way!
Ils (2006)
Much more than a simple horror film!
This is the first review of a film I've ever written, and this is after years of using IMDb, but I felt compelled to write one for 'Ils' ('Them') after watching it last night.
*SPOILERS* I thought that 'Ils' was much more than just a horror film, but a subtle yet stinging indictment of the yuppie culture exploiting poorer cultures in the world today.
Romania, and the Bucharest area in particular, has many hundreds if not thousands of orphaned "street children" living in the sewers. It's no coincidence that the two deaths at the beginning of the film are of a spoiled brat and wealthy mother driving an expensive vehicle. See also the French teacher living with her writer lover in a huge house in a land that isn't theirs. The house is far too big for their needs. Also, at the end of the film there's the powerful image of the girl trying to reach out to her "own kind" as the expensive cars whiz past, oblivious to her plight at the turnpike. There are most likely many more subtle examples you could draw on, but I'm trying to keep this as short as I can! Although the film claims to be based on true events, it most likely isn't. Nevertheless, people in poverty and wealthy people are living worlds apart but geographically close in almost every part of the world today.
Finally, it wouldn't be fair to finish without mentioning the fact that for all the social commentary at the heart of the film, 'Ils' is still a great exercise in suspense and tension being built up over and hour or so. The run time is just right, it doesn't need to be any longer to achieve its emotional impact. As I watched the film I thought it was pretty good but not great. It was only later that night after I watched it that it began to truly resonate with me (home alone!), and I'm sure this film will resonate with anyone who has experienced any kind of anti social behaviour too, either by inflicting it or being a victim of it. 9/10