David O'ConnellThe Tiger's Tail
November 18th 2009 04:29
John Boorman’s most recent film, The Tiger’s Tail, is an uneven study of the eternally fascinating quest for identity. The title itself is a metaphor for the precarious state of Ireland as an economic entity, one false move away from losing its grip on the Celtic Tiger and spiralling out of control.
When a successful Dublin businessman, Liam O’Leary (Brendan Gleeson) starts seeing a doppelganger, he’s convinced it’s an omen of his imminent death. Is this mysterious double a supernatural apparition, the onset of madness, or an evil twin?
His marriage has become loveless and stale, wife Jane (Kim Cattrell) convinced he’s losing the plot. He’s receiving no sympathy from son Connor (real life son Briain Gleeson) either who ridicules his father for his thriving capitalistic ways at the expense of the poor and sits around the house with his nose in a book on Lenin.
Only Liam’s sister Oona (Sinead Cusack) is sympathetic to Liam’s feeling of losing control. His company isn’t quite the money-making machine it was despite surface appearances; his acquisition of land to build a football stadium has been thwarted by a competitor and the appearance of his gloating, menacing double only exacerbates his secretly declining fortunes.
With fiendish intent the double - whose origins may or may not be traced to a dark family secret - begins to play havoc with Liam, sending tremors of fear through his settled life. With a series of calculated ploys he manages to casts aspersions on Liam's integrity, both personally and professionally.
A classic inversion of opposing lives takes place at the midpoint after Liam is lured to a remote location, then left defenseless and vulnerable. From riches to rags, he's supplanted from his life – perhaps one he’s taken a little too much for granted?
Boorman’s efforts at social commentary, to illustrate the divide between rich and poor, are signposted with little subtlety; the headline of a newspaper, flashed in Liam’s face whilst gridlocked in traffic, being a glaring offender. Though there’s a clever conceit at the film’s core, to director allows a couple of lazy loopholes in his screenplay to spoil its overall effectiveness; though necessary to further the narrative, they’re unlikely contrivances to say the least.
As usual, Gleeson is a formidable, instantly sympathetic presence, playing the duel roles with some relish and mostly keeping the film afloat on his own shoulders. He offers a few subtle inflections to distinguish the double from the hapless Liam. The casting of Cattrell, though it doesn’t hurt the film too much, feels like a miscalculation; the woman’s a poser and an impression of her shallowness is hard to shake off. The younger Gleeson is a bit out of his depth but shows some promise working alongside his father.
The score by Stephen McKeon is a real highlight, propelling the drama along with insistent string writing, both discordant and lyrical. Moody Herrmann-esque dread surges to the surface too, elevating the film to another level.
Though The Tiger’s Tail (2006) is unrecognizable as that of the director of cinematic landmarks like Point Blank (1967) and Deliverance (1972), it’s still a curious, not uninteresting, addition to Boorman’s body of work. Its themes are a little transparent and though he fails to probe them in any intricate way, it still makes for solid entertainment - a decent riff on the struggle for true identity and the corrosive power of family secrets.
Despite the anti-climatic, unlikely ending, Boorman makes some salient points about the fantasy we harbor for assuming somebody else’s life too; perhaps there’s more than meets the eye, the surface a fragile façade for deeper troubles we’d rather not inherit.
Trailer can be found right here.
When a successful Dublin businessman, Liam O’Leary (Brendan Gleeson) starts seeing a doppelganger, he’s convinced it’s an omen of his imminent death. Is this mysterious double a supernatural apparition, the onset of madness, or an evil twin?
His marriage has become loveless and stale, wife Jane (Kim Cattrell) convinced he’s losing the plot. He’s receiving no sympathy from son Connor (real life son Briain Gleeson) either who ridicules his father for his thriving capitalistic ways at the expense of the poor and sits around the house with his nose in a book on Lenin.
Only Liam’s sister Oona (Sinead Cusack) is sympathetic to Liam’s feeling of losing control. His company isn’t quite the money-making machine it was despite surface appearances; his acquisition of land to build a football stadium has been thwarted by a competitor and the appearance of his gloating, menacing double only exacerbates his secretly declining fortunes.
With fiendish intent the double - whose origins may or may not be traced to a dark family secret - begins to play havoc with Liam, sending tremors of fear through his settled life. With a series of calculated ploys he manages to casts aspersions on Liam's integrity, both personally and professionally.
A classic inversion of opposing lives takes place at the midpoint after Liam is lured to a remote location, then left defenseless and vulnerable. From riches to rags, he's supplanted from his life – perhaps one he’s taken a little too much for granted?
Boorman’s efforts at social commentary, to illustrate the divide between rich and poor, are signposted with little subtlety; the headline of a newspaper, flashed in Liam’s face whilst gridlocked in traffic, being a glaring offender. Though there’s a clever conceit at the film’s core, to director allows a couple of lazy loopholes in his screenplay to spoil its overall effectiveness; though necessary to further the narrative, they’re unlikely contrivances to say the least.
The happy family: Jane (Kim Cattrell), Liam (Brendan Gleeson) and Connor (Briain Gleeson)
As usual, Gleeson is a formidable, instantly sympathetic presence, playing the duel roles with some relish and mostly keeping the film afloat on his own shoulders. He offers a few subtle inflections to distinguish the double from the hapless Liam. The casting of Cattrell, though it doesn’t hurt the film too much, feels like a miscalculation; the woman’s a poser and an impression of her shallowness is hard to shake off. The younger Gleeson is a bit out of his depth but shows some promise working alongside his father.
The score by Stephen McKeon is a real highlight, propelling the drama along with insistent string writing, both discordant and lyrical. Moody Herrmann-esque dread surges to the surface too, elevating the film to another level.
Though The Tiger’s Tail (2006) is unrecognizable as that of the director of cinematic landmarks like Point Blank (1967) and Deliverance (1972), it’s still a curious, not uninteresting, addition to Boorman’s body of work. Its themes are a little transparent and though he fails to probe them in any intricate way, it still makes for solid entertainment - a decent riff on the struggle for true identity and the corrosive power of family secrets.
Despite the anti-climatic, unlikely ending, Boorman makes some salient points about the fantasy we harbor for assuming somebody else’s life too; perhaps there’s more than meets the eye, the surface a fragile façade for deeper troubles we’d rather not inherit.
Trailer can be found right here.
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Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by David O'Connell
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Comment by Matt Shea
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Comment by David O'Connell
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Comment by Matt Shea
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Film & TV on DVD
Being a massive Boorman fan this one is instantly a must-see for me...Hell in the Pacific is such a gem that seldom gets the attention it deserves and Tailor of Panama is far better than it should be thanks to Boorman's touch. .
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic