Unknown (2011)
Jaume Collet-Serra
English
Jaume Collet-Serra’s Unknown (2011) is the kind of movie that typifies straightforward PG-13 Hollywood thriller – star-driven, homogenized visuals with a strong primary color scheme (with a dominance of metallic blue, as usual), elaborate set pieces that could be moved around within the film, a pulsating score that vies with the boisterous sound design, with allegros of action separated by adagios of emotion, unapologetic about its generic nature with a plot detailed enough to claim seriousness and sketchy enough to avoid offending anyone and, of course, the solitary cuss word. Liam Neeson, who looks aptly like an ex-secret agent coming out of retirement, with his haggard appearance, wrinkled skin and receding hairline, is an American professor whose identity is stolen during his trip to a bio-conference in Berlin. With the rug of reality pulled off his feet, he must find a way to get back into the original social order with the help of a gorgeous working class sidekick (Diane Kruger), who knows all the seedy localities in the city, and an ex-Stasi officer (Bruno Ganz, also serving as the home star), who believes that Germans are very forgetful about history. Unknown channels wrong-man thrillers such as North by Northwest (1959), as well as Polanski’s Frantic (1988), but strips them of their psychosexual dimension, presenting a work that is solely concerned with mechanics of the genre and craft of the profession (the central car chase is sort of inspired, with its heady interleaving of vertical, horizontal and deep-space movements). The bunch of passages that pique your interest (the ostentatious scene at the museum, the confrontation between Langella and Ganz, both of whose best-known roles are infamous historical characters) are also the ones entirely superfluous.
June 6, 2011 at 8:18 am
“Unknown channels wrong-man thrillers such as North by Northwest (1959), as well as Polanski’s Frantic (1988), but strips them of their psychosexual dimension, presenting a work that is solely concerned with mechanics of the genre and craft of the profession (the central car chase is sort of inspired, with its heady interleaving of vertical, horizontal and deep-space movements).”
Interesting perceptions Srikanth! The film split the critics down the middle stateside, and I was only tempted to see it for Bruno Ganz’s performance. Not exactly a flattering review, but as always presented with minimum damage, typical for its gentleman critic. Woudl you say the action interest is in any way like BULLITT?
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June 6, 2011 at 9:13 am
Thank you, Sam. I didn’t remove sting intentionally or something, just that the film came across as rather bland.
I haven’t seen BULLITT, but Ganz’s smurf-y performance – more like guest appearance – is one of the delicious things about the films.
Cheers!
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June 11, 2011 at 11:23 am
JAFB,
I’m always willing to give action films even if only for one good scene : “the central car chase is sort of inspired, with its heady interleaving of vertical, horizontal and deep-space movements”. That’s enough for me to be interested.
Because action scenes, as you say, can sometimes be interchangeable or just taken out completely without effecting the central story, there is always the possibility of a poor film suddenly having a gem in it, a stand-alone wow.
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June 12, 2011 at 9:23 am
True Stephen. I’m finding that this is often the case off late. Most films seem to rely on these very scenes wholly as well (like how old studio films used to have “good scenes”) They’re lucky if succeeds.
Cheers!
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June 11, 2011 at 3:49 pm
I meant to say “I’m always willing to give action films A GO even…”
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June 11, 2011 at 7:42 pm
Great to read your overall positive response to the film Srikanth, as I’ve plans to watch Shaitan tomorrow. Its always nice to see dark, edgy films being made in Bollywood once in a while, otherwise known for their run-of-the-mill song-and-dance melodramas.
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June 11, 2011 at 7:45 pm
Apologies for posting my response to your review of Shaitan here. I’ve re-posted it at the appropriate place. :)
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June 12, 2011 at 9:23 am
No problem!
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