2005 dramaRating: 15/20
Plot: 22-year-old Sebastian, a roofer who owns at least two ladders, finds himself in a financial bind after the owner of the house he's working on dies without paying him a dime. Oh, snap! He accidentally intercepts mail containing an invitation, and the promise of money lures him to take the old man's place. What he stumbles upon is darker and more sinister than he could have possibly imagined.
Don't want to give away too much about this one just in case my reader(s) (Ah, who am I kidding? "Reader" is pretty safe.) decides to check it out. Suffice it to say, this is an extremely moody film packed with crisp tension, impressive acting (especially from the lead), and some very clever and seemingly effortless direction. Stark black and white photography adds to the bleak. Taken as an allegory, this is mighty dour shiznit, pure delightful pessimism, almost like a rabbit punch to the soul. Taken as mindless entertainment, it's still gripping stuff even if you know exactly where it's probably going because you know exactly where it can't go. Like Kafka writing a noir screenplay.
The director (Gela Babluani) is apparently working on an American remake. Brad "Sock It to Me" Pitt is somehow involved. Good night moon!
2 comments:
I'm not going to say that I am sorry that I saw this, just that I probably could have found better uses for my time. A good cautionary tale against messing with other people's mail, I was genuinely shocked to find out what the letter led him into.
I read a few other blogs about this ( sorry, I'm not monogamous )and one speculated that he might of been imagining the train shooting. So the choice is he was either going insane or we have a bummer ending where French surrender monkeys wait for the gunman to get far away before pulling the emergency stop and seeking medical help. Either way, this movie was a slightly intriguing downer. A 13.
We're probably not far off on this one. It's one of those movies where I don't even want to rate it afterwards because I know I'm probably wrong and wouldn't like it nearly as much if I saw it again. In fact, I think I'm going to change my rating to a 15. Nobody will ever know!
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