2009 romantic mystery
Rating: 15/20
Plot: A retired lawyer decides to write a book about a rape and murder case from his younger days.
The camera captures a glowing soccer stadium in the center of a dark night. We zoom toward the stadium, as if the camera is in a helicopter or something before diving toward the field. We hear an announcer announcing that so-and-so is driving past so-and-so and passing to so-and-so, and I was already impressed that the announcer's words managed to match what was happening on the field. At least as far as I could tell. I don't know a damn thing about soccer. Then, we float just over the heads of these soccer players and into a raucous crowd. Suddenly, we're right next to our protagonist and his alcoholic little buddy, and I'm already impressed. I know there had to have been digital effects involved in getting us from this blimp view of a stadium to these characters, but any transitions were seamless, and it looked like a single shot to me. But it wasn't done. The camera follows the two characters as they look for somebody, find him as implausible as that seems, and then chase him around. The camera follows the entire time, still in that unbroken long take. A stunt! It's probably a five-to-six minute long take that is easily the highlight of a film that really does have a lot of great moments.
An opening scene, for example, takes an almost avant-garde approach as it shows us an encounter on a train station. It reminded me of a music video from the 80s that I can't quite place, and although there wasn't any context at all for these characters, you knew exactly what was up with their situation. Later, that scene is recalled in a flashback and becomes profound in that sort of way that movie cliches can overcome their overuse and still manage to be profound.
This was gripping even when it was illogical. I liked what the movie was about more than I liked its narrative. What it's about is passion, obsession, and inability to let go of the past, and the way it does that--by intertwining an unrequited romance with a violent criminal act and its subsequent investigation--enhances both parts of the story.
Other than that impressive long take, my favorite part of his is probably where the protagonist and his alcoholic friend go out to do some investigating and abruptly turn the movie into a bumbling buddy cop movie.
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