Death And The Compass
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Movie Reviews of Death And The Compass
Movie Review: Continuously Fascinating
Summary: 4 Stars
At first glance, Alex Cox would seem the least likely interpreter of Jorge Luis Borges. Cox, best known for his Punk/New Wave era classics Repo Man and Sid and Nancy has a messy, overflowing visual style; where as the Argentine master's enigmatic puzzle-box stories are always meticulously constructed. On the other hand, Death and the Compass, one of the great short stories of the 20th century, is a piece drenched in the Kabbalah and the search for order in chaos and it is one of the more curious tenets of several mystical traditions that Wisdom may be hidden in the trash pile; or, as in another of Borges' stories, the manifestation of the omniprescence of God may show up in an unremarkable basement in Buenos Aires. Cox's film is full of action and life, his sets overflowing with visual detail and just plain junk very reminiscent of Gilliam's sets for Twelve Monkeys (done on a much smaller budget, however). The movie is remarkably faithful to the particulars of the original story. Peter Boyle is very good as the obsessed and unorthodox police detective Lonrott who is way too clever for his own good. Miguel Sandoval is perhaps a bit too eccentric in his performance in the narrative framing sequence added by Cox, and the whole framing sequence may be overly "punched up" with odd sound effects and random jump cuts. But overall it's an excellent if unexpected interpretation of a classic story.
The disc sports a solid anamorphic transfer. There are a few specks at reel changes and some grain in the night shots (not an effect of the transfer, though, this was a fairly low budget film), and some nice extras: commentary from Cox and one of the members of Pray for Rain who composed the lovely gothy/techno vaguely retro-80s score, and an early 30 minute short of Cox's called Spider Web.
This is a lost gem of a movie that deserves a much wider audience. Terry Gilliam fans, in particular, should enjoy it.
Movie Review: Interesting Take on Crime Novels (or Borges), But Too Long
Summary: 3 Stars
Things started like this. BBC asked Alex Cox to make a made-for-TV film based on a novel of Jorge-Luis Borges, and the finished original version (55 minutes) was televised on August 5th, 1992. I regret to say that I haven't seen this, but it seems it was received with good reviews. (Interestingly, Cox first wanted Harry Dean Stanton as the lead, which eventually went to Peter Boyle.)
Later on, however, the extended version (88 minutes) was made, which I have seen. It's still not bad, but it is clear that the shorter format was more suitable for the material. The film suffers from too many talks and no actions, but some parts are still fascinating in their own ways.
[IT'S ALEX COX, IT'S PUNK] Like his more recent film 'Revengers Tragedy' the world of Alex Cox is a punk-rock world even if he is using the book of Borges. The film is set in the near future, when one master criminal Scharlach leads his gangs in tow, and robs the bank. Though he is a killer, the film says, he does it with some devilish charms so some people think him as a hero. The film reveals it's tongue-in-cheek attitudes when one 'Borges' appears (and he is blind), and he is played by Alex Cox himself.
But ... well, here's the weakness of the film. For the film is actually about another case, leaving the evil Batman behind. The protagonist and detective Lonnrot (Peter Boyle) is to investigate another murder in a downtown hotel. A Jewish scholar was killed, and though police chief Treviranus (Miguel Sandoval) believes the victim was mistaken for another guest at the hotel (a plausible explanation), Lonnrot insists 'I'm looking for a more rabinnical explanation.'
And another murder occurs, probably related to the first one. Helped by a young journalist Zunz (Christopher Eccleston), Lonnrot seeks for the truths, going through the labyrinth with the clues left on the crime scenes, and using the theological knowledge gained from Zunz.
We should know Cox is using a very intelligent method, knowing the original writer's intentions about the inverted rules of detective novels. The original meaning of 'clue' is literally interpreted, and the detective wanders the labyrinthine world. The inside of a police station is shot in one long shot, with the camara following the policemen going through the numerous turns and narrow alleys of the place, making us lose the sense of direction. OK, I see.
For all its good intention and good location (in Mexico, Cox's favoorite place), the film is extended too long, with too many dialogues and unnecessary flash-forward sections. The problem is Miguel Sandoval's character whose part makes a frame of the story of Lonnrot. Naturally Lonnrot should be the main character, but the police chief, who should be the secondary character, interrupts too much. Moreover, the main story itself does not interest us enough until the very final moment, in which we see everything in the right way. Until then, the 'truths' about the crimes, the identity of the criminal, or the unusual method of the detective all only help confuse our mind, instead of drawing us into the world of the film.
Of course, these apparently unrelated factors all fit in the end, but to see them in the right places we have to wait almost 80 minutes, which is 30 minutes too long. Then we come back to the origin of the film. Why not 55 minutes?
Movie Review: interesting--but the short film smokes the feature
Summary: 3 Stars
Though "Death and the Compass" was reworked into a feature from a short project--and shows telltale signs of this--it might have succeeded better if only director Alex Cox had been content to allow the film's sound to come through clearly. The film has some great images and performances as well as funky avant-garde elements to both the visuals and story structure. However, when you're doing all that, you can only get yourself in trouble by also monkeying with the sound; here the dialogue is sometimes garbled, sometimes muffled, and sometimes mumbled (pick your poison).
Based on the Jorge Luis Borges short story of the same name, "Death and the Compass" follows a detective who has chosen an "intuitive" path of detection, finally risking losing himself deep in a labyrinth of speculation as he attempts to guess, second-guess, and out-guess the criminal pattern unfolding before him. Unfortunately the film, largely due to the sound trouble, ends up nearly as jumbled as the story. The film is commendable for its referencing of many other Borges stories, but ultimately it leaves one wishing for a great deal more cohesion.
One can look to Lars von Trier's "The Element of Crime" as a film that was, both in terms of story and stylistic flair, a comparable but far more successful venture. More obviously, one can look to Paul Miller's excellent "Spiderweb," a short film with a sort of "Guy Maddin" feel. "Spiderweb" is also based on Borges' "Death and the Compass" and stars Nigel Hawthorne. It is included on the DVD release of Cox's film (but somehow there is no reference to "Spiderweb" on the IMDB!).
Movie Review: Too bad this doesn't include the original television version
Summary: 2 Stars
According the movie commentary, this movie was originally made as a 50 minute movie for BBC television, but with funding from a Japanese production company, this version was made with adding an extra 40 minutes of footage. Though I haven't seen it, the 50 minute version sounds like a more cohesive film, judging once again from the movie commentary with Alex Cox. Another problem with the movie is its muddy soundtrack. Following what's being said by the characters is rough business all the way through. One of the most irritating additions is a jarring collection of progressively incoherent monologues by Treviranus (Miguel Sandoval), a cowardly character in the film, that only serves to break up the (limited) momentum of the story. Even with better editing and a sharper soundtrack, this would still be, I think, a mediocre movie. The main characters come off as wooden and unsympathetic. The extra short "Spiderweb", mentioned by an earlier review, is watchable, but isn't in my opinion worth the price of the DVD. As a saving grace for big Alex Cox movie junkies, the commentary is fun listening. For anyone else, I suggest Repo Man on DVD, or tracking down Cox's Highway Patrolman on VHS.Movie Review: feature's a mess -the short is great
Summary: 2 Stars
I watched the short film that was part of the extras on this disc and was very entertained. It was smart, to-the-point & had a sort of retro black & white foreign film feel while retaining the existential twist that makes it interesting.Unfortunately,( don't get me wrong, I love many of Alex Cox's films )the feature was over-written, badly cast & had some of the worst recorded dialogue sound I've ever heard for a film.
I wish that someone would release Cox's 'Highway Patrolman' on dvd as this one seems like a wasted effort.