Cambridge, War Crimes, Political intrigue
I agree with just about everything you said there, Howard.
This is one of the best films I've seen in a long time and probably the best film of Polanski's career.
The opening sequence with the shots of the ferry was impressive, as was Pawel Edelman's whole work on the whole picture. It was Kubrickian.
Slow reverse-zooms, sudden focusing, perfectly composed shots, with dazzling paintings and locales as backdrops.
And yes indeed the story is involving and an experience. Polanski is a certified Master and this work is proof.
I was thoroughly engaged with the narrative and I never wanted to have a drink of wine in my life so bad as I did while watching this film.
Every other scene somebody's drinking a glass of wine or scotch.
Ewan McGregor is flawless. Perfect character- he really makes you believe he's in danger.
What else can I say besides what you've already mentioned?
He is a genius. I agree.
The super-imposition of the political intrigue gave me the biggest thrill. Brosnan was really great. I agree with you on that as well. Great performance.
Roman Polanski can do it to you in an unbelievable way.
Last night was a priviledge.
An Unbelievable Thriller in a Bad Way
Perhaps David Lynch in a television series opening of Twin Peaks (1990) provided a much more ominous and haunting opening of a dead body than The Ghost Writer (2010). The Ghost Writer's dead body scene isn't really that suspicious, the audience is only led to believe it is so by the premise of the movie itself, not the scene and there is really no follow-through on this scene except for later on when suspicions develop conveniently by a series of accidental discoveries or meetings. Truly the Ghost Writer in this movie as he himself explains is no investigative reporter and his behavior in this movie lends much support to that claim, perhaps to the detriment of the suspense and interest in the movie, for this man is no Audrey Hepburn as in Charade (1963) or Cary Grant as in North by Northwest (1959) nor even a Wil Smith as in the much more riveting Enemy of the State (1998).
The idea of overlaying a fictional storyline over a real biographical history of Tony Blair is itself a false premise to start with and the incorporation of a U.S. Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice look-alike, made the effort to this false facade even more demeaning and pretentious in its attempt to make a political statement based on a pure fantasy as Tony Blair never did face such an indictment by a World Court. As this movie genre was about a political thriller, not a science fiction, alternative world genre, Robert Harris, screenplay writer, takes the audience on an uncomfortable ride of untruths. Even with Enemy of the State (1998), the screenplay and plot outline could be, might be feasible, may have occurred and covered up by the CIA and the powers that be, allowing the audience some measure of suspension of disbelief, but not in this hugely publically news ridden storyline in The Ghost Writer when the fictional media is all over the front page of newspapers and television screens of a phony Blair-like figure being investigated. The boundaries of fiction and reality have been torn asunder and gone beyond cinematic convenience to distortion for possible purpose of political posturing.
The screenplay incorporates the stereotypical affairs and intrigues that have all been used torturously in too many movies and worn out its welcome. Brosnan's secretary assistant's performance while solid seemed to be underdeveloped and missing some of the more overt overtones to really establish a strong tension in the movie, particularly the last few scenes of the movie seem to occur in such an outburst of emotion that has not been established before in the movie and in some ways she comes across as false and pretentious as the underlying movie itself. The two climaxes of this movie with Brosnan's predictable ending scene that is then abruptly edited, fast forwarded to the ending scenes, has McGregor's character conveniently and not exactly rationally missing a taxi and then finding his own climactic scene which seems again a little too simplistic because McGregor's character eventually comes across more bumbling especially as the character allows himself to run away instead mingling in public (as Matt Damon in Bourne Identity would suggest) where it's safer and his character is in some ways unsympathetic as he even brushes off rudely a guard when he leaves Brosnan's fortress towards the end of the movie.
One of the redeeming features of this movie is the character performance of Brosnan who is provided an opportunity to really extend his character on screen beyond those he has been confined with and almost exceeds his much earlier but perhaps best performance in the underrated and little seen or talked about movie Nomads (1986).
Rated: B