The Rook
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: C- Film: C+
Eran
Palatnik directed The Rook (1999),
which tries to be many other films, including more obviously Brazil and less obviously Name Of The Rose, but in the end, it
winds up being an overstyled episode of a much later and lesser version of Outer Limits or Twilight Zone that thinks it is cleverer than it really is.
John
Abbott (Martin Donovan, who is not bad here) is a religious detective (said but
never explained for its unusual placement in the future) in a futuristic world
investigating a murder. There is also a
political story and a portrait of a future gone wrong, which is not
investigated enough. The dead body has
sand under its nails, a clue for Abbott to follow, but for a detective, it is
remarkable he does not see the clue as a trap.
Furthermore, whether religion blinds him or not is never made clear, but
the film never comes together, then becomes too self-indulgent to make work the
good elements (set design, casting). The Rook is often too obvious and with
a screenplay by Richard Lee Purvis, is too impressed with itself and starts
trying to say and show things only it understands, or thinks it knows better
than the audience.
The
letterboxed image is barely above average, as the non-anamorphic transfer
cannot resolve the many “wish we were Blade
Runner” dark shots that the film print would. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is compressed
and barely stereo at that. You can tell
this is a low-budget production, while the sound design is nothing
memorable. The two text extras are
director’s notes that do not clear up anything, a stills gallery, and brief
biography notes.
For
comparison, you can see the same story told with much more grit, humor, and
realism in the far better Herod’s Law
(aka La ley de HERODES, reviewed
elsewhere on this site), a film set in 1949 by director Luis Estrada that does
not shy away form the true implications of the material. Unless you get both to compare, skip The Rook and see Herod’s Law instead.
- Nicholas Sheffo
