Firstly I am not a fan of L.M. normally but in this movie he excels.
Its minimalist acting at its best, if he started emoting all over the place, it would go against the character and destroy the pace, and ultimately the film.
Addressing a complaint up Thread, NO you don't have to have read the book first to understand what's going on, I picked up on it right away, and I'm no genius, on the other hand though I AM an adult.
I suspect that the people who found it too difficult for them are/were in their early teens when they watched it, and are used to watching so called films made for grownups that wouldn't challenge a twelve year old.
The whole point of the mysterious informant is so that it all comes together at the end.
Would make it all pretty pointless and boring if we were given a running explanation on why everything was happening.
At the other end of the "critique "spectrum, we get the people who fancy themselves as being really artistic, and have to demonstrate their knowledge of buzzwords so that we know how gifted that they are.
Rather then giving a realistic and useful impression of what they've watched .
Quite frankly if you're sitting there thinking oh yes, Parisian semi surreal nouveau noir etc. then you are actually out of the film and not really watching it as it is meant to be watched.
I understand good writing and good direction, but if you're consciously aware of them then its not good.
The fact is that this movie is one of the best of its kind, (sorry genre)'ever made .
A little thing, but important I think, the anti hero gets to his target each time without having super human skills or luck, just very believable plans .
And more then a few of the reviewers missed the plot, we're told that he's after his money.
But at the end it turns out that its not his motivation at all.
How on Earth can you write paragraphs, analysing this, comparing that, in an incredible knowledgeable manner when you don't even understand the plot ?
On the same par as people who claim to like movies that are so bad that they are good in an inverted snobbery sort of way, when what they really mean is, badly filmed equals non scary !
But I digress, my apologies.
A work of sheer genius that grips you from beginning to end, so enjoyable in fact that over the years I must have seen it at least four times and it never fails to deliver.
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