David O'ConnellNeil Jordan's everlasting Mona Lisa
October 21st 2008 03:56
Even before The Crying Game, Irish director Neil Jordan received a first round of critical acclaim for this superb 1986 film, a character study of a man who, just released from prison after 7 years, finds himself as a chauffeur for a high-class call girl – a relationship that leads him into the sordid underbelly of London and its sex trade.
Bob Hoskins, in a performance matched only by that in The Long Good Friday, is George, who despite being a small-time criminal has retained an endearing naiveté about the workings of the world he inhabited prior to his incarceration.
In 7 years, that lack of awareness has only deepened, not helped by his friendship with best mate Thomas (Robbie Coltrane), a mechanic who’s obsessed with detective fiction. George’s ex-wife wants nothing to do with him and his daughter has grown up not even knowing who he is.
The underlings of his old boss Mortwell (Michael Caine) organize a new job for him as a driver for Simone (Cathy Tyson), a much sought-after call girl, and despite her initial hostility at his crude appearance and manners, they develop an unlikely bond of friendship.
Simone perceives the goodness in George beneath the rough exterior, whilst he struggles to fully comprehend the motivations behind her line of work; captivated by her beauty, however, and glimpses of her softer side, he soon becomes very protective of her.
Their late-night trawling along the seediest streets where young prostitutes roam leads to the revelation of an important story that Simone has kept hidden. A young girl she promised to protect is presumably somewhere in London and she needs George to frequent the sleazy backrooms and peep shows, the darkest crevices of the city no longer accessible to her in an attempt to track Cathy (Kate Hardie) down.
George continually struggles to understand aspects of the world he encounters – the depravity and abuse of children, and the consternation is provocatively reflected on the face of Hoskins as we share his confusing journey through his own startled eyes.
There are distinct parallels here with The Crying Game, George and Simone bearing strange similarities to the hesitant relationship of Fergus and Dil, where, as in this case, curiosity borne of necessity leads to danger.
Inevitably, the past life of Simone will come back to haunt them both, her old pimp, in conjunction with Mortwell, tracing her to a past hideaway in Brighton, where again the ending is like a test run - albeit a very accomplished one - for Jordan’s later film.
The director and his co-screenwriter David Leland have provided a brilliant showcase for Hoskins (Oscar-nominated for his performance), whose character has to question his position in Simone’s world as the stakes get higher and their safety threatened.
Are his feelings for her real? Or is he just a pawn in her game to reacquire Cathy, another “butler” in her employ and a means to an end?
Tyson, in her feature debut, is alluring as the enigmatic Simone, whose true motivations are hardest to fathom, whilst Caine is suitably slimy as the detestable Mortwell, though he really isn’t given much to do, featuring in only a handful of scenes.
The ending is another of the film’s strengths as George’s heartbreaking frustrations boil to the surface, the ghosts of his own troubled and failed past coming back to question his meaning in this new world that he’s spent seven long years away from.
Flawlessly acted, with a compelling and subtly complex screenplay, Jordan’s film reveals itself more than 20 years later, to be his masterpiece after all.
Bob Hoskins, in a performance matched only by that in The Long Good Friday, is George, who despite being a small-time criminal has retained an endearing naiveté about the workings of the world he inhabited prior to his incarceration.
In 7 years, that lack of awareness has only deepened, not helped by his friendship with best mate Thomas (Robbie Coltrane), a mechanic who’s obsessed with detective fiction. George’s ex-wife wants nothing to do with him and his daughter has grown up not even knowing who he is.
The underlings of his old boss Mortwell (Michael Caine) organize a new job for him as a driver for Simone (Cathy Tyson), a much sought-after call girl, and despite her initial hostility at his crude appearance and manners, they develop an unlikely bond of friendship.
George (Bob Hoskins) and Simone (Cathy Tyson) becoming friends.
Simone perceives the goodness in George beneath the rough exterior, whilst he struggles to fully comprehend the motivations behind her line of work; captivated by her beauty, however, and glimpses of her softer side, he soon becomes very protective of her.
Their late-night trawling along the seediest streets where young prostitutes roam leads to the revelation of an important story that Simone has kept hidden. A young girl she promised to protect is presumably somewhere in London and she needs George to frequent the sleazy backrooms and peep shows, the darkest crevices of the city no longer accessible to her in an attempt to track Cathy (Kate Hardie) down.
George continually struggles to understand aspects of the world he encounters – the depravity and abuse of children, and the consternation is provocatively reflected on the face of Hoskins as we share his confusing journey through his own startled eyes.
George with best friend Tommy (Robbie Coltrane).
There are distinct parallels here with The Crying Game, George and Simone bearing strange similarities to the hesitant relationship of Fergus and Dil, where, as in this case, curiosity borne of necessity leads to danger.
Inevitably, the past life of Simone will come back to haunt them both, her old pimp, in conjunction with Mortwell, tracing her to a past hideaway in Brighton, where again the ending is like a test run - albeit a very accomplished one - for Jordan’s later film.
George with his old boss Mortwell (Michael Caine).
The director and his co-screenwriter David Leland have provided a brilliant showcase for Hoskins (Oscar-nominated for his performance), whose character has to question his position in Simone’s world as the stakes get higher and their safety threatened.
Are his feelings for her real? Or is he just a pawn in her game to reacquire Cathy, another “butler” in her employ and a means to an end?
Tyson, in her feature debut, is alluring as the enigmatic Simone, whose true motivations are hardest to fathom, whilst Caine is suitably slimy as the detestable Mortwell, though he really isn’t given much to do, featuring in only a handful of scenes.
The ending is another of the film’s strengths as George’s heartbreaking frustrations boil to the surface, the ghosts of his own troubled and failed past coming back to question his meaning in this new world that he’s spent seven long years away from.
Flawlessly acted, with a compelling and subtly complex screenplay, Jordan’s film reveals itself more than 20 years later, to be his masterpiece after all.
| 100 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by Catana
Asperger's Today
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
This looks terrific David - the criminal world is fascinating to us, I think, because we're astonished to see the lines between good and bad so strongly blurred.
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I enjoyed it even more after a gap of many years too. It has a lot more complexity than most people probably remember.
This one's not too sordid Cib, there were a couple of very nice bellies in it though.
There is a bit of blurring of the lines here too, Jordan does a great job of making fully fleshed-out, sympathetic characters out of George and Simone without ever really falling back into lazy caricatures.