1001 Movies You Have to See Before You Die
August 2008

 

Title: The Interview
Country: Australia
Year: 1998
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
Running Time: 104 min.
Directed by: Craig Monahan
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Tony Martin, Aaron Jefferey, Paul Sonkkilla, Michael Caton
imdb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120714/

Craig Monahan began writing the script for The Interview over eight years ago, and was finally finished with the help of a couple of co-writers. Much like American indie director Neil LaBute (responsible for the astounding In the Company of Men), Monahan has been able to make more of an impact in his first feature than many directors can achieve in their careers.
Behind all the sticky multiple twists his style of filmmaking seems simple enough to me: Monahan doesn't really give a toss what we think of his characters or what they do, just as long as we are manipulated enough into believing two sides of a story - and that knowledge given to us isn't really given at all. It's forced; and once we enter the world of dark, repressive crime life in Melbourne, there is no turning back. And nor would we want to.

The two main characters are plausible and spiteful enough to ensure an almost perfect amount of chemistry between the two leads. Tony Martin is familiar with the tough guy role, playing Detective John Steel, who interrogates the frightened and confused Eddie Fleming (Hugo Weaving). Fleming seems innocent enough, and perhaps he his, but when his apartment door is busted down by Steel and his even-tougher-guy partner Wayne (Aaron Jeffery), he is placed in a darkened interrogation room in the Melbourne CBD. The charge: car theft. Although Fleming is at first reluctant to talk, when the subject changes from automobiles to serial killings he is all words. And Steel realizes that his predicament is far more complex than he once suspected.
Monahan beckons us to ask questions he really loves not to answer. Is Fleming telling the truth? Is he manipulating the situation to his advantage? Is he a conniving criminal genius, or an average no-hoper on the dole? Much to the film's advantage, he's probably a little of everything, and reminded me of Kevin Spacey in The Usual Suspects. Both are unremarkable little men who end up showing their sinister-but-maybe-not-sinister colours.

 

Monahan and his team of writers have pushed aside conventional narration and replaced it with the slow art of reveal, in which the characters are diffused bit by bit until we can get a reasonable understanding of their motives. This is similar for our comprehension of the plot, which puts our protagonists in entirely different positions. “I've been from Lord Mayor to shit carter in less than two hours,” Martin states when a heated conversation eventuates. And on the subject of Martin's“ he's a dynamic actor who gives an equally dynamic performance, and burns into the back of our brains the perfect image of a good cop and bad cop rolled into one. Weaver is also good's“ very good's“ but some of his dialogue seems a touch too simplistic at times.
It's a shame that Monahan has thrown away some valuable scenes with the inclusion of Steel's predictable, uncivil macho man partner Wayne. He spoils the atmosphere on many occasions by looking, pure and simply, stupid. In one scene - when Steel gives him firm advice regarding their case - all effectiveness of the moment is lost when Wayne spits over the side of a flight of stairs in a hammy, frivolous display of anger.

The Interview is perhaps a little over worked, with the production crew doing everything possible to seduce us into the world of crime investigation. However, it is shot with incredible skill and precision by Simon Duggan, who balances the film's long pull-backs with extreme close ups. Oscar nominee David Hirschfelder (for Shine) also adds much to the experience with his eerie and abstruse composition.

In the end, The Interview is an excellent Australian flick, with only a few flaws. Although the film's climax is a little too passively written, this is probably a good thing for Craig Monahan's“ this explosive new director is already brilliant behind the camera. If he manages to achieve that same feat with his writing, Monahan might just become a new force in Australian cinema.