Intermission (1998)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
Even when his films have not always worked, Neil Jordan
has been a great champion of the Irish image and story in cinema, even when not
directing. He recently co-produced an
ambitious and always interesting film called Intermission (2003), helmed
by John Crowley that attempts to be a multi-layered portrait of not so good
goings-on in Ireland. It has a strong
cast, beginning with the always-solid Colin Farrell as a con artist who crosses
the line into the worst kind of violence when it suits him. This has not gone over well with a big local
gangster figure (the underrated Colm Meaney) who wants to settle an old score. In the meantime, a friend of the con artist
(the on-the-rise Cillian Murphy) is barely scratching out an existence of his
own and begins to have new ideas. And
that’s just some of the several-dozen characters the film takes on.
If the film had not been so choppy at a few points, it
would be up there with Robert Altman, Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin
Tarantino’s ability to pull such storytelling off, but it is as solid as
Willard Carroll’s underrated Playing By Heart (1998), which was not
quite there, but close and effective.
The women, played by fine actresses like Kelly MacDonald and Shirley
Henderson, certainly add plenty of dimension and Mark O’Rowe’s screenplay is
always smart and believable. There are
brutally honest moments a bout the loneliness of the lives these people live
and the more honest and in pain they are, the harder other denied realities are
to keep a cap on. We have not seen many
films like this lately, especially out of any American cinema, so all should be
congratulated for a film that will appreciate in value no matter what its minor
shortcomings.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is good for a
low-budget independent film, as shot by Ryszard Lenczewski, P.S.C., which does
not gut out the color or go for the tired hand-held camera trend that is
getting worse by the day. This is a very
viable visual portrait of grittiness that only enhances the storylines. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is not bad, but
this is a dialogue-based work, so it only is going to go so far. It often shows the limitations of the
recording, but is clear enough to understand the English through all the
accents, though many may still require the closed captioning or optional
subtitles for those who still find such things disorienting. The only extras are a half-dozen trailers
for other MGM DVDs and one for this film.
That’s not bad, but a commentary would have been nice. Those interested should catch Intermission
as soon as possible.
- Nicholas Sheffo
