Tuesday, June 14, 2011

The Last Movie I Saw

The Double Hour, directed by Guiseppe Capotondi, is a really good, brainy thriller. I say brainy because the primary focus of the movie seems to be on exposing the conscience of one of the conspirators in a massive art heist that devolves into violence. It's one of those movies where you really don't want to know any more than that about the plot, as the filmmaker really plays around with audience expectations in a most unique and ultimately satisfying way. Both lead actors, Ksenia Rappaport and Filippo Timi, build sympathetic characters, but ones that are open to suspicion based on various gaps in our knowledge about their past (which affects their relationship to one another as well) and some actions that challenge the positive impressions that result from how Capotondi introduces them to us. The question that lingers is whether or not the pangs of conscience-- shown in stark imagery that dominates the middle section of the movie-- results in anything more than momentary doubt about the choices made as the action unfolds. The fact that we are left to ponder the answer to that makes this a truly memorable story, at least to me.

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