性感野兽

第八届黑眼圈电影节在这个特殊的年景比较早的开幕了，第一观影日为我们带来的是英国导演乔纳森.•格雷泽的《性感野兽》。 片子一开始很有地中海风情的，非常适合我们这个在暑期开幕的非主流电影节的时间节点，作为开场小菜，就凭片头和开始一段基本完成了他作为开幕影片的作用。 开头儿的地中海风情再加上这个片名，我以为这片子要走热带风情性感大趴体的路线（这也是我们特别期待看到的）。不过后面情节显然也证明了黑眼圈电影节选片的调性注定不会那么可爱的乏味。感情这片子是一反高潮的非主流黑帮片，片名“性感野兽”断句儿不是你想当然的“性感的野兽”，而是“性感和野兽”，或者是“一点儿也不性感倒霉催的曾经的野兽”。 片子用大篇幅描写了搪瓷盆洗手的前江洋大盗怎么憋憋屈屈的又被拉下水的故事。黑帮传话人本•金斯利表演奔放，令人印象深刻。故事刻意把怎么被拉下水作为重点的安排也很有意思，紧张感制造的不错，让我想起了福尔摩斯探案集中的《四签名》。两个女演员风韵犹存，也是片中亮色。不过总体来讲要是推荐的话我更推荐格雷泽的另一个片子《重生》。 开胃小菜表现尚可，清凉爽口为后面的片子打打底也挺好。拍黄瓜怎么就不能当头盘儿上，毕竟人家可没搁芝麻酱，而是点了几滴芥末油儿给你端上来的……

2020.7.15

Title: Sexy Beast

Year: 2000

Country: UK, Spain

Language: English, Spanish

Genre: Crime, Thriller

Director: Jonathan Glazer

Writers:

Louis Mellis

David Scinto

Music: Roque Baños

Cinematography: Ivan Bird

Cast:

Ray Winstone

Ben Kingsley

Ian McShane

Amanda Redman

Cavan Kendall

James Fox

Julianne White

Álvaro Monje

Rating: 7.4/10

Let’s assume you are a casting director, there are two roles: one is Gal, a retired safe-cracker enjoying the life of Riley in a beatific villa in Spain with his wife and friends; and the other is his former criminal associate Don Logan, a browbeating, invective-pelting psychopath who wills to recruit him to a new job and will not take no for answer. Then you are given two candidates: Mr. Gandhi himself, Sir. Ben Kingsley and a bovver heavy Ray Winstone, the choice is rather self-evident.

However, that is not the case for UK scenester Jonathan Glazer when he begins to work on his feature film debut SEXY BEAST, who does the obverse, fingers Mr. Winstone for the hapless Gal and Mr. Kingsley for the rivetingly menacing Don Logan, a delectable volte-face rewardingly earns him an Oscar nomination, meantime, Winstone also magnificently brings about an incarnation very different from his usual image, a rough diamond type, graced by the lovey-dovey intimacy between him and his wife DeeDee Dove (Redman), an erstwhile porn star.

It is a taut iteration in the UK gangster genre, the story is nothing too sparkling, it is Glazer's swift and impressive execution takes the full credit. The harbinger arrives in its opening, a boulder falls right in into the swimming pool of Gal’s villa (which betrays a sloppy CGI burnished effort), while he is sunbathing under the blistering heat, this portends an impending threat which will disrupt the placidity and imperil those who cannot get away, Don Logan is coming to visit, and he will not be in a pleasant mood if he knows that Gal determines to decline his very generous offer. So sparks fly, but not without a droll war of (swearing) words and things will inevitably get physical, Kingsley’s intimidating presence deviously pays off the looming dread simply elicited by the mention of his name, and after an ironical turn of events, he does manage to press-gang Gal into partaking in the action however reluctant he is, to break into a bank vault via water pressure, The suspense isn’t swelling during the action, but after, when the head of the criminals, Teddy Bass (McShane, another great villain, less showier but infallibly lethal), a character turns out to be far more ruthless than Don Logan, bluffly tells Gal that “he knows what they did in Spain” and promises he will come to visit in the due future. Well, why there isn’t a sequel to this?

Parlaying his reputation as an eclectic music video director into this breakout debut, Glazer has concocted up a stunning-looking fare seeped with robust characterization, pulsating rhythm of montage, scintillating chromatic disposition and optimal pop taste, ultimately transmogrified it into a beguiling conglomerate ofromanticism, perversity absurdity and bloody gallows humor like an arch cautionary take:there is no easy way of going straight, so think twice before you get your feet wet!

ps. accompany pieces: Glazer’s UNDER THE SKIN (2013, 8.2/10); Guy Ritchie’s LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (1998, 7.9/10), SNATCH (2000, 7.1/10).