we saw sydney pollack’s new film, the interpreter last night.
the tagline: “the truth needs no translation.”
apparently the truth does need better direction. or writing. or something.
it’s a little frustrating because you watch the movie, and you can see that all the requisite parts are there to make it an interesting, and even possibly gripping movie. the set-up with political intrigue. the little bits of suspense, the car chases, and the misdirections of who’s a good guy and who’s a bad guy.
unfortunately, it just doesn’t fit together convincingly. worse yet, it’s not clear how to fix this film. oh sure, you can say, “if only nicole kidman had a robotic monkey sidekick,” but that’s not the answer to every film. oddly enough it gives you more appreciation for good screenwriting and/or direction, because obviously it’s not done quite right here.
quibbles:
1. with a zillion dollar budget and getting to film on the actual grounds and building of the UN, why does EVERY SINGLE PICTURE in the film look incredibly fake? every photo in the movie looks like a bad photoshop hack job. nicole kidman’s head pasted onto bodies at awkward angles, and entire shots where it looks like everyone is clip art and pasted in, without regard to proper lighting and perspective. you’d think they could hire some guy on fark and get better results than this.
2. speaking of which, what did they do to nicole in the first place? her eyebrows in this movie are not only severely styled, but don’t match her hair, distressingly so. in fact, the whole film makes her look strange and less attractive for no good reason. perhaps it’s the desire for naturalistic lighting and therefore less makeup than normal, but it’s a pity. i still don’t understand why directors want to cast the most beautiful actresses and then make them look bad.
3. if you’re a director and you cast yourself in a prominent but minor part for no apparent reason at all, is this just reckless egotism? pollack has been doing this for years, but that doesn’t make it right.
4. watching the scenes where sean and nicole are trying to develop a personal bond is like watching a large machine where you can hear gears gnashing and grinding inside destroying itself, yet moving forward despite itself.
minor/major spoilers:
4. at least nicole and sean didn’t kiss.
5. and we all know it would have been a better film if nicole had shot the guy, and sean had to shoot nicole. bang! bang!
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