Monday, January 23, 2006

Great Political Thriller

by Fernando Meirelles

John LeCarre is a great writer who manages to create well-drawn characters and sets them within intricate plots. The combination of LeCarre’s novel with Fernando Meirelles of City of God works surprisingly well. Visually the film is amazing with the look of the film shifting dramatically depending on the time and emotional state of the characters. While a film that mixes pop and politics can tend to be a bit preachy, I didn’t mind it at all as the film constantly keeps you a bit off-balance with the characters and the audience trying to understand how their lives intersect with the events that are larger than themselves. Ralph Fiennes perfectly pitches his character as does Rachel Weisz. They are in love, but it’s a complicated relationship that isn’t all perfect and wonderful, which is the spirit all through the film and it is that element of realism that makes the whole thing work so well.


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