Imperium

Title: Imperium

Director: Daniel Ragussis

Released: 2016

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Toni Collette, Tracy Letts, Devin Druid, Pawel Szajda, Nestor Carbonell, Sam Trammell

Plot: FBI agent Nate Foster (Radcliffe) is sent undercover as a neo-Nazi when it is suspected that a white supremacist group is plotting an attack.

Review: I’m not sure if its just me but I’m sure that the career paths of both Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood if put side by side would pretty much match up with both coming to the attention of the general movie going public through blockbusters before moving into more indie productions and arguably producing some of the best work of their respective careers with Elijah Wood giving us the likes of “Grand Piano” and “Maniac” after the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy while Daniel Radcliffe only continues to make the Harry Potter years seem like a distant memory as he’s matured as an actor let alone showing the same kind of ballsy role picking with films like this and “Swiss Army Man” that helped Joseph Gordon Levitt become such a darling of the indie scene.

Of course when you think of Neo-Nazi’s I’m sure that Radcliffe’s name would be way down the list of potential actors but then that was one of the main things which drew me to this film, after all this is a the kind of role which has become synonymous with the performances given by the likes of Edward Norton and Russell Crowe as well as perhaps to a lesser extent Ryan Gosling. Yet somehow Radcliffe pulls off the role playing up the lack of believability to extraordinary effect.

Based on the career of former undercover FBI agent Michael German who wrote the script with director Daniel Raguissis who makes his feature debut with this film. German over the course of his career spent time undercover with both supremacists and right-wing militants which brings some legitimacy to the always dubious “Based on real events” title card the film opens with.

When Radcliffe’s FBI agent Foster is introduced during the arrest of a terrorist suspect were he is pushed to the background of the arrest while his superiors claim the credit for his work. At the same time Foster is shown as being something of an intellectual loner as he spends his evenings drinking expensive wine, listening to Brahm’s and sharing his meals with a book. However this seemingly makes him the perfect candidate for going undercover it would seem in the eyes of Agent Zamparo (Collette) who is investigating the involvement of white supremacist groups in the theft of caesium-137 which could be turned into a dirty bomb. The fact that Foster is such an unlikely candidate for undercover work, let alone to imitate a neo-nazi is seemingly what makes him perfect for such an operation seeing how many members of these organisations share a similar upbringing as Foster.

This idea that people’s direction in life being affected by their life experiences really plays an under lying theme throughout the film, before being highlighted again at the closing. At the same time the film equally suffers from going through the usual motions of these kinds of movies as we get the initial introduction to the hotheaded agitators while the elder figure making all the big claims turns out to be far from the person they claim to be. We do however get some interesting moments scattered throughout which do bring some unique aspects to the story such as a gathering being held in a quiet suberban neighbourhood hosted by white collar family man Gerry (Trammell) were the guest all seem like regular upstanding members of society despite the fact that one of the wives has brought Swastika topped cupcakes reminding the audience that not all supremacist look the same.

The character of Gerry is another cliché aspect to the story in which we get the Neo-Nazi who can justify his love of Jewish conductors or black music and its the kind of character who turns up time and time again and perhaps its down to the enjoyable performance given by Trammell that it wasn’t such an eye rolling cliché moment here. Gerry though provides for Foster one of the few seeming safe harbours when surrounded by members of the various groups threatening to reveal his true identity, while their shared interests and similar personalities make for a genuine friendship which leaves you wondering if he’s getting too involved with the people he’s supposed to be investigating.

Crafting a tightly plotted story there is little hanging around with the plot while the tension is kept high throughout as doubt is constantly being cast on the different aspects of his story. While Radcliffe might not seem like the most intimidating actor, here it really works to his advantage with the path they choose to take with his character so that you never get the feeling of implausibility like we got when Elijah Wood tried to play a football hooligan in the dire “Green Street”.

On the downside the final act feels kind of forced and rushed and really could have done with having more time to breathe than the sudden introduction of new conspirators to the plot, while Foster rushes around to defuse a dirty bomb plot. While it does have some tense moments such as trying to pass off fake chemicals, it just all needs more time to develop especially when the journey to this point has been so great its frustrating to see such a rushed climax.

A fantastic indie thriller that approaches the Neo Nazi material in perhaps a more subtle way than the superior “American History X” or “Romper Stomper” but this is still a great indie thriller well worth checking out.

Green Room

Title: Green Room

Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Released: 2015

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner, Patrick Stewart

Plot: The Ain’t Rights are a struggling Punk band travelling through the Pacific Northwest, though when a gig falls through they are offered a gig playing at a neo-Nazi skinhead bar deep in the Oregon woods. However when their bass player Pat (Yelchin) accidently witnesses a murder in one of the back rooms, the band find themselves confined to the club’s green room while their captives plot to make them disappear.

Review: Patrick Stewart has an approach when it comes to reading potential scripts, were if a script fails to hold his interest after the first couple of pages he will read it on his computer. However if it does grab him he will print it out and read it in his armchair as he revealed in an interview for the film. However after reading the script he found himself so shook up by what he had read he locked up his house, set the security alarm and poured himself a large scotch. Having seen the film its certainly easy to say why as this might be possibly one of the most tense movies I have seen in a very long time and seeing how this is the kind of film best watched blind I will now urge you to stop reading here and come back once you’ve seen it or risk spoilers which potentially lie ahead.

I don’t think that anyone who saw Director Jeremy Saulnier’s black comedy debut “Murder Party” could have predicted the path his career has taken and despite releasing the critically acclaimed “Blue Ruin” before this film it was instead the prospect of seeing Patrick Stewart playing a neo-Nazi which initially attracted me to this film but despite several of my fellow bloggers recommending this film I don’t think I was expecting to get a film as good as we get here.

Introduced to our group of slumming punk rockers who are now at the point where they have to sleep in their van and siphon gas to make it to their next gig, often playing in front of miniscule crowds as seen by the spontaneous gig they are forced to hold in a backwood diner in front of a crowd totalling ten people, two of which are just trying to have their breakfast. Needless to say they jump at the chance of playing a proper gig despite their initial reservations of playing a skinhead bar. Its during their opening rendition of the Dead Kennedy’s “Nazi Punks Fuck off” that you’d expect to be the catalyst for the band getting in trouble but instead they manage to win over their hosts and are pretty much out the door when they of course stumble across the murder thanks to a forgotten mobile phone that their issues really start.

Its a real mixed cast of known and unknown actors assembled here though somehow this doesn’t show in the film as every member of the cast really brings something to the film, with Alia Shawkat here continuing her assention as an indie starlet making me want to draw comparisons to the career path of Joseph Gordon Levitt as I can’t help but feel in the coming years that she is going to be an actress we are all going to be wanting to talk about as only further reinforced by her supporting role here as guitarist Sam.

What only further helps the film is Saulnier’s seeming refusal to abide to the usual sterotypes and conventions when crafting his characters here as while the band might be punkers there’s not a mohawk or leather jacket to be found. Equally with the neo-Nazi’s they are from the the dumb racist nuckle draggers that we have come to expect from these kinds of characters instead they are shown as being organised with the so-called true believers being identified by their red laces who are more than willing to do anything to protect their group.

Seeing how Patrick Stewart was my main draw to the film, the performance he gives here is well beyond anything I expected as here he plays the Skinhead leader Darcy. A truly monsterous creation who hides a ruthlessly cold and calculating side under his soft spoken front which plays perfectly when he’s initially introduced with this air of mystery to him and shown seemingly willing to negotiate with the band to try and resolve the situation only to reveal his true intentions when he has the advantage. There is of course a real thrill in seeing a classically trained actor like Stewart playing such a villainous role as he snarl derogatory remarks while constantly holding command over his loyal followers without once raising his voice or losing his cool over the quickly escalating situation.

The real shocking aspect of the film is in the violence which is often without warning and frequently bloody as we get to see Yelchin’s arm slashed to spaghetti by unseen attackers leaving him to tape up his arm with duct tape. We also get a torso opened up by a box cutter, numerous stabbing and dog attacks aswell as a number of other gory highlights. At the same time it should be noted that while the violence is frequently bloody and explict, it is never without justification or senseless as Saulnier carefully plots out each moment of violence to maximum effect as especially seen by the number of cast members who are suddenly killed off with zero warning about their impending demise.

The real strength of the film here is how Saulnier has managed to craft a film with genuine tension, while its locations being largely to the club and its exterior only adds to the claustrophobic atmosphere which refused to ease up over the brief runtime, avoiding moments of comedy or even the prospect of rescue for the band as he remains stubbornly fixed on making the viewer watch the band try and escape from this situation they find themselves in.

Sadly hampered by a limited release in theatres this film much like his other two films looks set to be one which audiences will discover through word of mouth promotion or scrolling through Netflix who thankfully have recently added it to their catalogue and meaning that us folks in the UK finally have something worth watching on there. Unquestionably though this is a film which lives up to its hype and more making this a title unquestionably worth hunting down, while of course leaving us eager to see what he does next.