The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski)

[pro-bassoonist]

Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer (2010) has received a preliminary release date: July 3. Courtesy of Optimum Home Entertainment. Winner of Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival.


The Ghost Writer

Official French site and trailer:
http://www.theghostwriter-lefilm.com/

Roger Ebert:

In Roman Polanski's "The Ghost Writer," a man without a past rattles around in the life of a man with too much of one. He begins by reading the work of an earlier ghost who mysteriously drowned, and finds it boring and conventional. Hired to pep up the manuscript to justify a $10 million advance, he discovers material to make it exciting, all right, and possibly deadly.

This movie is the work of a man who knows how to direct a thriller. Smooth, calm, confident, it builds suspense instead of depending on shock and action. The actors create characters who suggest intriguing secrets. The atmosphere -- a rain-swept Martha's Vineyard in winter -- has an ominous, gray chill, and the main interior looks just as cold.

This is the beach house being used by Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), a former British prime minister so inspired by Tony Blair that he might as well be wearing a nametag. Lang has one of those households much beloved by British authors of country house mysteries, in which everyone is a potential suspect -- of something, anyway. Lang's wife Ruth (Olivia Williams), smart and bitter, met Lang at Cambridge. His aide Amelia (Kim Cattrall), smart and devious, is having an affair with him. The wife knows, and isn't above referring to it in front of the Ghost. Security men lurk about, and a couple of service workers look rather sinister.

Just as his new ghost writer starts work, Lang is accused by his former foreign minister of sanctioning the kidnapping and torture of suspects. The World Court prepares an indictment. It would be unwise for Lang to return to Britain, and he flees to Washington for a photo op with the U.S. administration, unnamed, although the Secretary of State looks a whole lot like Condi Rice.

The PM's story is based on a best-seller by Robert Harris, who co-wrote the screenplay with Polanski. He implies parallels between his story and the Blair and (both) Bush administrations, but uses a light touch and sly footwork so that not every viewer will necessarily connect the dots. There is also a loud clanging alarm inviting comparison between Polanski's Lang, an exile sought by a court, and Polanski himself. This is also the fourth thriller in recent months to make a villain of a corporation obviously modeled on Halliburton.

The Ghost is left to his own devices in a house haunted by the unsaid, and Polanski slips into a pure filmmaking mode. I won't describe what the Ghost searches for, but I will tell you that Polanski evokes Hitchcock in a conversation with an elderly local (Eli Wallach) and some forbidding beach scenes. And that he is masterful in the way he shows the dead former Ghost providing the new one with directions, so to speak, leading to a possible source.

There is also a Hitchcock touch in visuals where an incriminating note is passed from hand to hand; the scene is so well done that it distracts from the fact that the Ghost didn't need the information in the note to arrive at the same inference.

There are a few other loose ends. The film seems to have a high incidence of black cars designed to be used as murder weapons. It's far from clear what Ruth's emotional state is on one rainy night. The Ghost himself seems too much a lightweight to explain his daring sleuthing. But the performances are so convincing in detail that they distract us from our questions. McGregor's character has no family, little pride and much insouciance, but is very smart and doesn't enjoy his intelligence being insulted. And Olivia Williams projects the air of a wife who is committed to her husband in more than expected ways.

"The Ghost Writer" is handsome, smooth and persuasive. It is a Well-Made Film. Polanski at 76 provides a reminder of directors of the past who were raised on craft, not gimmicks, and depended on a deliberate rhythm of editing rather than mindless quick cutting. The film immerses you in its experience. It's a reminder that you can lose yourself in a story because all a film really wants to do is tell it.

Pro-B

[McCrutchy]

Known as The Ghost in the UK.

[toddly6666]

And both the movie and book suck - it has one of the worst written protagonists i've ever seen in years. I've never seen such a retarded main character in a book/movie since Lennie from Of Mice and Men.

[Sweeney Todd]

I liked it! Looking forward blu-ray release! Athmosphere was great from the very beginning till the end.

[McCrutchy]

Apparently this was cut for a PG-13 in the USA according to IMDB and the BBFC info states that it contains one use of "very strong language" (e.g. motherf***er or c***). This language alone would have pushed it to an R rating in the U.S., but is that really the only difference?

[jonnoble27]

Uk disc... Region free or not? Where the brits at govna?

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by jonnoble27

Uk disc... Region free or not? Where the brits at govna?

The UK BD release was pushed back to 20 September.

[One4Deuce]

If the UK gets the unedited audio track and is region free, I'll definitely be importing it.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by One4Deuce

If the UK gets the unedited audio track and is region free, I'll definitely be importing it.

The Canadian Blu-ray is different from the U.S. disc and contains the uncut international version.

[HumanMedia]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

The Canadian Blu-ray is different from the U.S. disc and contains the uncut international version.

Ack! I didn't know this. What is cut in the US version?

(BTW thats a damn spoilery poster in the first post)


EDIT: As well as posts above, that the repeated use 'f-word' was also censored in the USA.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

The word beginning with C and ending with -unt is definitely uttered in the (UK theatrical) version I saw - it's a direct lift from the equivalent scene in the book. It's also dramatically essential, as it changes the whole tone of the encounter between the ghostwriter and the bereaved father.

You can't mean, "count"!



Such a vile word and practice...numerals, as we all know, are Satan's alphabet.

[sokh1985]

Hi Guys, no reviews or news yet on the UK version?

I was planning to buy the french/Pathe version that is uncensored and has the DVD in bonus.

But those suckers have done a 1080i/50 Video transfer

Anyways, if anyone has some info prior to its UK release, let's share it please.

BTW, is the UK version censored like the US one or is it like the canadian one?

Thanks

[samdaman94]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

You can't mean, "count"!



Such a vile word and practice...numerals, as we all know, are Satan's alphabet.

[manicsounds]

UK: Rated 15: "Contains strong language, once very strong"

So I'd assume not cut.

[sokh1985]

Ok, thanks for the information.

Even though, I'm still surprised at those US and UK classification...
In France it's not even rated for people over 12.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by manicsounds

UK: Rated 15: "Contains strong language, once very strong"

So I'd assume not cut.

The BBFC web site would state if it was cut.

Originally Posted by sokh1985

Ok, thanks for the information.

Even though, I'm still surprised at those US and UK classification...
In France it's not even rated for people over 12.

The vast majority of American films in France are either for everyone "Tous publics" or 12 and over "Interdit aux moins de 12 ans". This includes many films cut for an R-rating (that would be NC-17 otherwise). Only strong, realistic violence and horror, or explicit drug use would get a 16 and over or 18 and over--the latter is comparatively rare. I cannot speak for French language films in France, however.

[rezpekt]

DVDBeaver reports that the audio is uncensored.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by MichaelB

The word beginning with C and ending in "unt" that this forum's autocensor won't let me spell out in full means a mandatory 15 in Britain - and it was definitely uttered in the version of the film that I saw in a UK cinema.

And to add to that, this same utterance would mandate an even more age restrictive "R"rating in the USA--limiting under 17s from seeing it alone (in theory), but more importantly for Summit Entertainment, a PG-13 rating would have secured the widest possible audience to try and boost the film's box office.

[manicsounds]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

And to add to that, this same utterance would mandate an even more age restrictive "R"rating in the USA--limiting under 17s from seeing it alone (in theory), but more importantly for Summit Entertainment, a PG-13 rating would have secured the widest possible audience to try and boost the film's box office.

Yeah, that really seemed to work well, $15 million gross for the united states! No idea why they decided to do that....

[alien2010]

Saw this in the cinema, and even though it may seem illogical at times, namely the ending, it was still a great film, and it was great to see Polanski go back to the genre that he's famous for.