the usual suspects (1994)

and now, ladies and gentlemen, a confession. despite my keen interest in all things cinerama i have never, until now that is, seen bryan singer's seminal ''the usual suspects''. i have no excuses, this situation came down to nothing but a lapse in my studies, its no one else's fault, only my own. i take that responsibility.

"the usual suspects" is similiar to "se7en", in the sense that both feel like perfectly formed pieces of cinema. the way the plot falls together, the way that the performences meld and the way that the film pleases the eye is incredibly satisfying. the film has aged incredibly well, and despite the fact that i knew the story's 'twist', it still felt incredibly fresh and dramatic.

kevin spacey is incredible as 'verbal kint', the new york cripple that is revealed to be crime mastermind 'keyser soze'. with this screening following the recent 'se7en' showing, whereby his trademark role of 'john doe' is experienced in its full glory it would have been rather less than difficult for this role to have underwhelmed, alas it is a testament to the actor when i say that his performance as 'verbal kint' was as revelatory as 'john doe' with both feeling completely seperate but incredibly close. of the rest of the performances gabriel byrne, an actor whom i usually jar with, was great, as was stephen baldwin, in his first genuinely interesting performance. pete poslethwaite was horrible tho, i dont know whether or not his ridiculous accent was intended as a way of confusing the audience, but i suspect not. on the other hand, benecio del toro's mumbles were more obscure than ever, proving one of the bizarre highlights of the picture.

one of the main things i took away from this screening, was the disappointed feeling that bryan singer hasnt gone back to the type of film that made his mark. having seen "valkyrie" earlier this week (see below) and been ever so slightly disappointed by just how pedestrien it was, it genuinely feels disconcerting when watched in close proximaty to his debut work.

se7en (1995)

david fincher's creative debut (some of us dont like to talk about alien3!) represents, for this viewer at least, one of the highlights of the cinema of the 1990's. the pacing, the style, the performances all represent what i would consider to be the ultimate in cinematic expectation. stylistically the film shows the streets and locations of the unknown city to be a hellhole lit starkly by rain (rain features in every external scene with the sole exception being the desert-set finale), with the editing matching the pitch and tone of the onscreen interaction subtly but aptly.

in terms of performances ''se7en'' hinges on the transitionary period between morgan freeman's 'william somerset' and brad pitt's 'david mills'. the concept of the transitionary nature of their relationship hints at far more than what is on screen, with the subtext being reminiscent of this relationship in a way. morgan freeman as the grizzled detective who's seen too much and had enough performs in his own unique manner before it became cliche, while pitt as the rookie of sorts follows his work in twelve monkeys with another assured performance. gwyneth paltrow underperforms as pitt's wife, an act which is only a positive thing, as its easily the performance of her career. kevin spacey, unbilled as john doe practically reinvents the psychopath in one foul swoop. the role is reminiscent of a witless hannibal lector, minus the unintentional self deprecation-providing sequels and overt performance, and unbelievably the character still manages to completely shock and disturb almost 15 years on.

brad pitt would later go on to work with fincher on ''fight club'' five years later, and again in this years "the curious case of benjamin button'', with the partnership proving incredibly fruitful. i see their relationship as akin to one of the classic director/actor pairings, along the lines of scorsese/de niro or huston/bogart, and feel that both compliment each other hugely.