Tozerboy

Liliana Cavani directed The Night Porter, which is just weird and bizarre enough to make me think about watching anything thing else she directed. Porter is a twisted S&M tale of a Nazi concentration camp survivor, a yummy Charlotte Rampling, and her former tormentor/SS Officer, Dirk Bogarde after they accidentally meet again in a hotel in Austria. It’s sick film, but somehow compelling too. (I know Linda Mulvey has me figured) So when Steph recommended Ripley’s Game and I found out Cavani Directed it and that John Malkovich was the star, I thought I couldn’t go wrong. Well, I guess that’s what I get for thinking.

It had all of the ingredients of a good film, Malkovich, Ray Winstone, the character and story of Tom Ripley novels, locations (Italy and Germany) and the Director. That should work right? It just didn’t. It had all of the effervescence of Wednesday night movie on Lifetime. It only lacked Meredith Baxter Birney or Mariska Hargitay.

Technically it was a very pedestrian film, the blocking and lighting were average at best. The Acting? Malkovich and Winstone were great, but the rest for the cast, bland and average, really flat. And the Anti-Antagonist (or is it the Polar-Protagonist?) Ripley’s foil, Dougray Scott, was just terrible. Maybe having to act against JM just overwhelmed him.

So why am I writing about it? Initially it was to give Steph a hard time, but that changed. I did a little research into the film and was shocked to see that some critics liked it. Roger Ebert even called it a Great Film. The only thing I can figure is the Chemo-therapy is affecting his brain. Another Reviewer/Idiot, Walter Chaw said, “Veteran cinematographer Alfio Contini shoots the Padua and Vicenza locations with a sun-kissed Roman warmth offsetting the chill wafting from Malkovich’s Ripley.” I wondered if he saw the same film I saw. The best thing I could say about the lighting is that it was even.

And chill wafting from JM is another problem. JM does a great job of delivering his cold blooded lines, but I think he was the wrong actor for the part. He has played to many evil parts, embodied too many villains to play the role convincingly now. Maybe back in his Dangerous Liaisons days he could have pulled it off, but not today. I am no big fan of Matt Damon, but his typical vacant acting style, perfectly captured the sangfroid of Tom Ripley, in The Talented Mr. Ripley. JM is great, but he has too much baggage for this film.

In the end Cavani failed. She was the Director, so it’s her fault. I’ve read there was tension on the set, that she even walked off for a while and JM took over the helm. That doesn’t matter, it’s still her fault. And if I ever catch the Editor Jon Harris, we’re gonna have a talk.