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NEW GERMAN FILMS IN CANNES 2012
WEDNESDAY, 23 MAY ……………………………....................
09:30 h Matthias Glasner
GNADE MERCY 132 min
…………………………....................… 13:30 h
Arcades 3 Roland Reber
Killing Them Softly Reviewed by Mark Adams
A deliciously stylish hard-boiled crime drama, the violent and bleakly funny Killing Them Softly is a grimly nihilistic film that revels in its harsh and brutal urban landscape. Writer/director Andrew Dominik makes great use of the
widescreen format and fills his film with visual quirks to sit alongside the smartly written dialogue, and working again with Brad Pitt (the pair made 2007’s The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford) has come up with a perti- nent crime film that reflects the tough times facing the US. Based on George V Higgins’ 2002 Boston-set crime novel
Cogan’s Trade, Dominik has used the core story of an enforcer who is called in by the mob to take care of business, but set it against the backdrop of a country in the midst of the 2008 presidential election. In the background during scenes of gunplay and tough conversations between men-of- violence, there are extracts of politicians debating the future of the US… but as Brad Pitt’s leather-jacketed enforcer Jackie Cogan points out when demanding his payment: “America isn’t a country — it’s a business”. But while Dominik uses the ambient sound — via radio
and television — of political preaching to help define the backdrop, he is at his best when filming the glistening wet streets of a partially derelict city. Using a series of stylish cin- ematic flourishes, the resulting film is a dark parable as well as being a seriously impressive old-fashioned crime film. Two petty thieves Frankie and Russell — played respec-
tively with real relish by Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendel- sohn — are recruited to knock off a poker game run by Markie Trattman (Liotta). A mob linkman (a wonderfully pragmatic performance by Richard Jenkins) brings in enforcer Jackie Cogan who is asked to sort out two thieves, the man who hired them and Markie Trattman. Cogan negotiates to bring in Micky (an excellent Gan-
dolfini), another hitman, but is bemused and disappointed to find Mickey has lost his edge and is more interested in marti- nis and hookers. Eventually Jackie has to take responsibility — he favours killing from a distance as he dislikes the emo- tional impact of close-up murder — and sets about his task. There are a tremendous series of set-piece moments —
ranging from a super slo-mo close-up of Jackie’s firing auto- matic in the rain, and Russell drifting in-and-out of a drug-induced haze as he tries to explain where he has been — as Dominik crafts a memorable crime film, with Pitt reinforc- ing his acting reputation as a commanding screen presence.
SCREEN SCORE ★★★★
GERMAN PAVILION · #124 · INTERNATIONAL VILLAGE phone +33-(0)4-92590180 · fax +33-(0)4-92590181
COMPETITION
US. 2012. 104mins Director/screenplay Andrew Dominik Production companies The Weinstein Company, Plan BEntertainment, ChockstonePictures, AnnapurnaProductions, 1984 Films International sales Inferno,
www.inferno-
entertainment.com Producers Dede Gardner, BradPitt,Paula Mae Schwartz, Steve Schwartz Executive producers Marc Butan, MeganEllison, Bill Johnson, Anthony Katagas, Jim Seibel, Adi Shankar, Spencer Silna, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein Cinematography Greig Fraser Editor Curtiss Clayton Production designer PatriciaNorris Main cast BradPitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Vincent Curatola, Ray Liotta, Sam Shepard
DIE WAHRHEIT DER LÜGE THE TRUTH OF LIE 98 min
…………………………....................… 16:00 h
Riviera 3 Friederike Jehn
DRAUSSEN IST SOMMER SUMMER OUTSIDE
93 min …………………………....................… 17:30 h
Arcades 3 NEXT GENERATION
SHORT TIGER 2012 96 min
private screening Riviera 3
May 23, 2012 Screen International at Cannes 9 n
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