 |
| Home · Reviews · Interviews · Contests · Forums · Video Player |
  
|
by Jim Pappas Published: January 20, 2005
 Harry Cain (John Turturo) seeks the reason behind his wife's murder in "Fear X." Long on creepiness but short on running time (at 91 minutes), "Fear X" is a thinking person's thriller. Starring John Turturro as Harry Cain, a security guard whose life has been taken over by the need to answer one single and profound (to him) question, the film moves slowly and deliberately towards a challenging and somewhat confusing climax that leaves room for debate as to what it is the story is actually telling us. Director Nicolas Winding Refn borrows from both David Lynch, and of all people, Stanley Kubrick, in "Fear X.." The Kubrick influence is most likely provided by Mr. K's longtime collaborator and now the cinematographer on this film, Larry Smith ("Barry Lyndon," "The Shining"), and it is the Kubrick influence that leaves us asking ourselves what we believe we should know is true. Cain works at a mall in Wisconsin and his wife had been shot and killed in the parking structure there. His life at that point became an endless and relentless search for clues about the unknown assailant, with the most important question being why she was killed. She wasn't robbed or assaulted in any way, just shot to death. The police investigation revealed few clues as to the killer's identity, even though they had a surveillance tape of the actual shooting. So, Harry collects as many photographs and video tapes of people in the mall as he can, in the hope of maybe identifying the murderer, and every night he studies the tapes and photos hoping for some kind of breakthrough. Eventually his search takes him to Montana where the climax of the movie takes place. All of the locations used in the film are actually located outside of the U.S., with Denmark and the Winnipeg, Canada area being the principal shooting sites for the film. The movie is credited as being a joint Denmark/UK co-production, but I'm not clear as to how much of the film, if any, was shot in England. Most of the actors are Americans, and the movie is in English (it is Winding Refn's first English language film). Winding Refn is Danish, although he did spend 10 years living in New York between the ages of 8 and 18. The idea for the story was Winding Refn's, and he enlisted the help of Hubert Selby Jr. in writing the screenplay. James Remar plays Peter, a Montana cop, and his wife, Kate, is portrayed by Canadian actress Deborah Kara Unger ("The Game," "The Salton Sea"). It is a photograph of her that Cain finds in a house across the street from his that leads him to Montana and his answers. Director Winding Refn shows some real chops with this film. For example, his use of facial expressions on his actors is inspired, and there is real meaning in them. We all know that all too often close-ups of faces in films are just pointless, but not so in "Fear X." The musical score, understated and subtle, is undeniably effective and Winding Refn's decision to hire Brian Eno was a very smart move on his part. J. Peter Schwalm also contributes to the score, and the collaboration between he and Eno works very well indeed. "Fear X" will undoubtedly slip by unnoticed by most, but it is a worthy effort and something that creates a real sense of discomfort and unease. There are many questions I have after seeing it, and they are the kinds of questions I like to ask about a film because there is way too much fluff out there. It was good to see something that challenged me. This doesn't mean the film is anywhere close to being a true work of genius, but it is the kind of movie a thinking audience will be able to bite into with some satisfaction. It opens on January 28th in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I don't know about the distribution plans after that, but if you get a chance to see it where you live, please do so. The film is being released now, in 2005, for the first time in the U.S., but was actually completed and released in Europe in 2003. Overall Rating B+ |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 1997-2013 Burlee LLC. All rights reserved. | Reprints | Privacy Policy | Disclosure | About Us/Contact Us | RSS Feed |
