Face (1997)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Face |
| Original title | Face |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1997 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Antonia Bird |
| script | Ronan Bennett |
| production |
Elinor Day , David M. Thompson |
| music |
Paul Conboy , Adrian Corker , Andy Roberts |
| camera | Fred Tammes |
| cut | St. John O'Rorke |
| occupation | |
| |
Face is a British gangster film from 1997. It was also released under the title Face .
action
Ray once belonged to a socialist movement in London's East End . Disaffected by reality, however, he gave up his ideals and opted for a career as a gangster. With his four accomplices Dave, Stevie, Julian and Jason he is planning one last big coup in order to be able to start a new life afterwards. With a truck they ram the depot of a money transport company and with several pockets full of money they can escape the police in good time. However, they did not get anywhere near the hoped for two million pounds, only 68,000 pounds remain as a share for each of them. When Julian furiously demands a higher share, the others beat him up and put him in the trunk of Ray's car until he accepts his share. Ray and Stevie then bring their share of the booty with Linda and Bill, an elderly couple they are friends with.
When Ray, Stevie, Dave and Jason celebrate their robbery in a bar, they meet the elderly crook Sonny and Ray's friend Connie. Ray, who lives with Stevie, drives him and Connie home later. While Connie is lying next to him in bed, Ray remembers how he once protested on the street against social grievances. The next morning, Dave arrives at their place and tells them his money has been stolen and that Julian is probably behind it. Ray, Dave and Stevie then drive to Linda and Bill. To Ray's horror, they find the two pensioners dead in their house. There is no trace of money. Ray finally seeks out Julian, whose money, which he had hidden in a garage, has also disappeared. Convinced that Sonny has robbed them of their prey, the four of them break into his house and find Jason shot dead in the living room. The police who followed them arrive on site. While Dave and Julian have an exchange of fire with the police officers, Ray and Stevie run away together. Dave and Julian can ultimately escape as well. Because he thinks the police will accuse him of murder, Ray decides to go into hiding. At a demonstration he meets Connie and his politically active mother Alice, who after initial hesitation gives him some money and makes her car available to him. Aside from the protests, Ray tells Connie what happened and that he wants to start a new life. He hopes she will go with him. Should she decide to live with him, she should wait for him at a rest stop in the evening.
Before Ray later meets with Dave, Julian and Stevie, he learns that Dave disappeared after the party in the bar with Sonny and Jason. He finally confronts Dave. He tries to escape, but the others catch up with him and beat him up. It turns out that Dave was blackmailed. Chris, a corrupt police officer and his daughter Sarah's friend, asked for the money. To protect his daughter and save his own skin, Dave killed the elderly couple and Sonny and Jason. Together they finally find Chris in his house and get him to tell them that he has hidden the money in his locker in the police station. When Dave discovers cocaine in the house, he chokes Chris to death in front of his daughter. Julian and Stevie take Sarah outside and Ray shoots Dave. Ray, Stevie and Julian go to the police station and find the money. Julian suddenly draws his gun and takes all of the loot. When an alarm goes off in the building, Julian starts shooting around wildly. He hits Stevie in the leg and a police officer in the chest. While he tries to shoot his way free and is ultimately incapacitated by the police with a stink bomb , Ray and Stevie escape. They drive to the rest stop where Ray wanted to meet Connie. Ray leaves the car to look for her. When he returns, Stevie is no longer in the car and a police patrol begins to follow him in the parking lot. Unexpectedly, Connie opens the door of another car in which Stevie is hiding in the back seat. Ray gets in the car with them and the police keep driving. Determined to start a new life, Connie, Ray and Stevie leave the truck stop.
background
Director Antonia Bird and leading actor Robert Carlyle had worked together in 1993 on an episode of the television series Screenplay and in 1994 on the drama The Priest . 1999 followed with the horror film Ravenous - Friss oder dieb a fourth joint production.
The filming of Face took place in London, where among other things, in the Bancroft Road, Mile End and in the Wightman Road in Harringay . Blur front man Damon Albarn made his acting debut with the film.
Face premiered on September 3, 1997 at the 1997 Venice International Film Festival out of competition. Two days later the film was also shown at the Toronto International Film Festival . The film was released in British and Irish cinemas on September 26, 1997. In Germany it was released in cinemas on July 30, 1998 and was released on video on February 23, 1999.
Reviews
According to the lexicon of international films , the film combines "stylistically highly concentrated [...] genre motifs from gangster films with a realistic representation of the way of life in the poor outskirts of London". It is "played convincingly" and thus shows "the necessity of social ties", "in order to then determine their dissolution".
Cinema called Face a "social, milieu and criminal drama with powerful actors - and lengths". It is a "[h] artes, exaggerated drama", but "well played". "Antonia Bird succeeded in creating an atmospherically dense milieu story about lost illusions and friendships, which, however, relies too much on unnecessarily brutal scenes and loses credibility towards the end," said Prisma .
Awards
Face was awarded the Grand Prix and the Critics' Prize of the Cognac Festival du Film Policier in 1998. Robert Carlyle received the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor and the London Critics Circle Film Award for Best British Actor for his performances in Face , Carla's Song and All Or Not At All .
German version
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Ray | Robert Carlyle | Thomas Nero Wolff |
| Dave | Ray Winstone | Reinhard Kuhnert |
| Stevie | Steven Waddington | Torsten Münchow |
| Julian | Philip Davis | Michael Walke |
| Chris | Andrew Tiernan | Dennis Schmidt-Foss |
| Bill | Arthur Whybrow | Friedrich W. Building School |
Web links
- Face in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Face at rotten tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Face. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ cf. cinema.de
- ↑ cf. prisma.de
- ↑ Face. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 2, 2017 .