Today is the newest Polanski film, The Ghost and tomorrow is one of his earliest films, Repulsion; due to the serendipity of LoveFilm sending me two of his films at the same time.
If you don't know The Ghost is a political thriller about a ghost-writer working on the autobiography of a world leader who's maybe guilty for covering up perhaps war crimes for the so-called good of the world. Written by Robert Harris based on his own book, it's very well realised political thriller. The premise is fascinating- if you find out things you don't like, is it better to be quiet or tell all and at what cost do you set out to tell the truth?
But that said The Ghost is just an imminently likable entertaining film about intrigue. It's unexpectedly wry too, with the writer's cheeky literary agent and the former PM who is constantly calling people, 'man'.
The acting is hit and miss- Ewan MacGregor is quite forgettable as the ghostwriter. Maybe that's the point. Maybe the fact is that he's trying to be understated but you dial out a lil when he's on his own in scenes. Better are the power couple of Pierce Brosnan and Olivia Williams as the former prime minister and his wife.
Brosnan is particularly good at the childlike naivety of a coddled man and that political duplicity of trying to communicate 'hey - we're the same, you and i' but being all powerful.
Olivia Williams is just brilliant too as the woman-behind-the-man. She's embittered by the role she's had to play and what her life has become.
Also there's another actor who you're bound to remember from... stuff, Robert Pugh. I'm saddened to think he's used as a cut-price Tony Hopkins but he's very good here as the former Foreign Secretary, who's trying to bring the former PM to justice.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the somewhat 'stunt' casting at play. For whatever reason, Jim Belushi pops up for a minute as a book publisher and screen legend Eli Wallach too surprises in a similar way to Charton Heston popping up in Wayne's World 2 ('Surely we can get a better actor for this part!'). It's not really a cameo unfortunately but Kim Cattrall is not horrible/not great as the former PM's press secretary with her 'plummy Engi-lish' accent. I forgot our prime minister couldn't possibly have an American press secretary.
I think the writing is the success of The Ghost. The information is never stodgy, you're always given just enough information to leave you satisfied. 'Fascinating' is just mainlined into this film- it's everything a political thriller should be- fast-moving, curious and intelligent. Every moment it's nudging you subtly with new information about story and characters and perspective. Not that it's densely cerebral in it's twists and turns- i figured what one character's game was halfway but it's a fun puzzle to enjoy for a 100mins.
I watched The Ghost (2005) on DVD via LoveFilm.
The Polanski Weekend on My 2011 in Movies continues with Repulsion (1965)...
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