26) The Killer Inside Me
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Year: 2010
Plot Summary: Lou Ford is a small town cop living an ordinary existence in West Texas. However, he is slowly uncovered by the people around him as a sociopathic killer.
After all the controversy that has surrounded it, I almost decided against watching The Killer Inside Me. Almost every magazine and newspaper in the country has mentioned the neo-noir's shocking violence against women and director Michael Winterbottom has been forced to defend his artistic decisions. However, I can safely say that I'm confused by all the uproar.Yes, the scenes in question are brutal, however, that is the whole point. Winterbottom does a fantastic job of capturing just how awful violence against women is. There is nothing about these moments that is fun, enjoyable or gratuitous. They're as difficult to watch and deeply upsetting as they should be. I would be offended if the violence was entertaining as this would suggest that it's good to beat women, but The Killer Inside Me shows just how awful things like this are.
Why Winterbottom has been called misogynistic baffles me. You may argue that the main character is sexist and so therefore he must be, but the film doesn't side with the main character. In fact, Affleck plays him as someone who is truly insane and completely evil; there's nothing to sympathise with here and there's nothing likeable about him.
You may even argue that the women enjoy rough sex with Ford and, therefore, the film suggests that it's okay to hit women as long as it's not too violent. But, while it's true that Joyce and Amy enjoy Ford's leather belt, these scenes are there to give us an insight into the motives behind Ford's violence, not to suggest that it's okay to hit women. The inclusion of these scenes help us understand that Ford doesn't hurt these women to make them love him, for money or because they have rubbed him the wrong way; he does it for no reason whatsoever. He has everything he could want from them - their love, trust, honesty and kindness even in spite of who he is - but he still feels that it's necessary to hurt them.
The scenes are important to the narrative, the character and, most of all, I couldn't find anything offensive or sexist in them whatsoever.
It's a shame that this controversy will overshadow the film because The Killer Inside Me is actually a pretty good movie. Affleck's performance shows just how talented the young actor is and it's his best role since The Assassination Of Jesse James. The narrative is cleverly told and the writing is wonderful from start to finish. It's got a gorgeous neo-noir style to it - especially in the opening titles - and the cinematography is absolutely beautiful. Moreover, the use of music is perfect in capturing the atmosphere of The Killer Inside Me.
It does have it's faults and is far from perfect, but Winterbottom's latest release is a bizarre, tense, captivating and thoroughly interesting portrait of a killer and, regardless of what you have seen or read, a film that I would fully recommend.
3/5
2 comments:
I'm intrigued. Mostly because Affleck's performance in Jesse James is at least top 5 of all-time, if not, the best. I'll see it, but not in the cinema, because it'd just be unbearably uncomfortable since I'd have to go with my Dad, haha.
It's not up there with Robert Ford, but he is very disturbing in this film. He has this smug little psychotic smile and playful nature that really gets under your skin. So it's worth a watch. It's not a masterpiece so I wouldn't say you should rush to see it, but it's a pretty decent neo-noir. :)
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