The Two Faces of January (film)

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Movie
German title The two faces of January
Original title The Two Faces of January
Country of production UK , USA , France
original language English , Turkish , Greek
Publishing year 2014
length 96 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Hossein Amini
script Hossein Amini
production Tim Bevan ,
Eric Fellner ,
Robyn Slovo ,
Tom Sternberg
music Alberto Iglesias
camera Marcel Zyskind
cut Nicolas Chaudeurge ,
Jon Harris
occupation

The film The Two Faces of January is based on Patricia Highsmith 's novel of the same name . Directed by Hossein Amini , who also wrote the script. The main roles are played by Oscar Isaac , Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst . The premiere took place in February 2014 at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival . In Germany, the film was released on May 29, 2014.

action

Greece in 1962: The young, fluent Greek- speaking American Rydal makes his living in Athens as a tour guide and by cheating tourists out of change. When he discovered the American couple Chester and Colette MacFarland, he was immediately fascinated by Colette's beauty and by Chester's charisma , especially since it reminds him of his recently deceased father. Therefore, he agrees immediately when the couple take him out to dinner. When Rydal finds Colette's bracelet in the taxi after dinner, he goes back to the MacFarlands hotel to return it. In the hallway, he surprises Chester as he tries to bring an apparently unconscious man back to his room. Rydal helps Chester. In the man's room it turns out that he is a private detective who is supposed to collect money from Chester for his clients, which he cheated on them. Chester and Colette leave the hotel in a hurry - without their passports. Rydal agrees to help them. He organizes a meeting with a man who can issue them with false documents. He then accompanies them to Crete to bridge the time until the passes are ready.

In Crete, Chester becomes increasingly jealous when Colette talks to Rydal or dances with him. Rydal happened to read in the newspaper that the private investigator was found dead in the hotel. The situation is now coming to a head, as Chester and Colette are wanted by the police. Because of this, they travel to a smaller town on the island. On the way back to collect the passports, Colette thinks she was recognized on the bus, whereupon she leaves the bus in a panic, followed by Chester and Rydal. You will now have to walk the rest of the way. When heavy rain sets in, they seek shelter in the ruins of Knossos . Chester descends into a burial chamber there. When he doesn't come back for a while, Rydal follows him. In the dark, Chester knocks him out. When Chester steps back upstairs and wants to continue on the way without Rydal, Colette refuses to follow him. An argument ensues in which Colette loses her balance after a slight push from Chester, falls down the stairs and breaks her neck. Chester then sets off alone and receives the passports the next morning. When Rydal comes to, he finds the dead Colette. Now he wants to track down Chester, but he is seen leaving the ruins by a school class and then wanted by the police as the murderer of Colette. He catches up with Chester on the ferry back to Athens. Since they are now traveling in pairs, they do not correspond to those wanted by the police. At Athens airport, Chester suggests boarding a plane to Frankfurt am Main and immediately takes care of the tickets. When Chester disappears into the toilet, the suitcase in which his money is but is left with Rydal, he suspects. He realizes that Chester has bought a ticket for the next flight to Istanbul .

Rydal calls Chester at his hotel in Istanbul and requests a meeting. Chester agrees as Rydal threatens to go to the police otherwise. When Rydal asks Chester at the meeting to confess to Colette's murder, the latter realizes that Rydal has a bug and runs away. Rydal follows him and both are now being followed by police officers. Rydal is captured and Chester is fatally wounded by a gunshot. The officer holding Rydal allows him to speak to Chester. The dying Chester confesses to both the murder of the private detective in Athens and his wife. Since the bug is recording the conversation, Rydal is then released.

background

  • Hossein Amini directed The Two Faces of January himself for the first time.
  • The title of the film is derived from the fact that the month of January is named after Janus , the Roman god of the beginning and the end, the entrances and exits and the doors and gates. He is usually depicted with two faces, one looking into the future, one looking into the past.
  • The film was shot in Athens , Istanbul and in the Cretan cities of Chania and Heraklion .

criticism

Overall, the film was received positively. Rotten Tomatoes scored 82 percent positive in 105 reviews in March 2015.

“Amini varies a classic film noir plot, a love triangle about sexual temptation, (money) greed and rooster fights. He leads his "Trio infernal" with a sure hand, with the femme fatale at the center, who also functions as the ancient (fate) goddess. Unusual for the night-black genre, everything is bathed in glistening light, the threatening, repeatedly flaring soundtrack by Alberto Iglesias is reminiscent of that of Hitchcock's house composer Bernard Herrmann. Great care has been taken with (retro) equipment and costumes, but the focus is always on the people. "

- Kino.de

“Although Highsmith's novel“ The Two Faces of January ”, published in 1964, is neither part of the Ripley series nor one of the author's better works at all, it offers two fascinating figures from the moral gray area. Screenwriter Hossein Amini (“Drive”) recognized this and hired two top-class figures for his film adaptation of the book of the same name, with which he made his directorial debut: Viggo Mortensen (“The Lord of the Rings”) and Oscar Isaac (“Inside Llewyn Davis ") in the classically staged thriller drama in front of a magnificent Mediterranean backdrop, an exciting acting duel."

- Andreas Staben : filmstarts.de

“The two faces of January” maintains the precarious balance of beauty, tension and melancholy until the end. A film that is as old-fashioned as it is outstanding, right down to the last picture. "

- Wolfgang Höbel : The mirror

Awards and nominations

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for The Two Faces of January . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , May 2014 (PDF; test number: 144 919 K).
  2. ↑ Criticism on Kino.de
  3. ^ Review on Filmstarts.de
  4. ↑ Spiegel film review