Saturday 17 May 2014

MAY 17, 2014



SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF (2012) Directed by Mike Figgis. **

A film within a film. A scriptwriter is creating a scenario which may or may not be about how he did or did not murder his wife fifteen years before. A French girl disappears after a party at his house and is found dead in a nearby canal. Her twin sister turns up for the funeral and becomes a house guest. The story never quite goes the way you expect it and the search for the murderer (who may be the writer or the sister) is discarded along the way (think L'AVVENTURA). I was ready to give up after twenty minutes as the construction of the movie seemed to me laborious and pretentious in the extreme. So why did I stick with it?  Well, I'm not a huge fan of Mike Figgis's films (except maybe for LIEBESTRAUM) but he is one of the true mavericks of what is left of the British film industry and without doubt a serious film-maker prepared to try innovative ideas. So I stayed with it and was sort of glad I did. I can't say I was entirely happy with the experience but no doubt it was intriguing and sometimes you've just got to trust the director - even if you don't quite see it.

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