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How entertaining? ★★★☆☆
Thought provoking? ★★★☆☆ 7 April 2013
This article is a review of SIMON KILLER.
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“It is so easy to use these guys,” Simon
The dictionary definition of a sociopath is, “a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behaviour”. His second feature now in, writer-director Antonio Campos is cementing a reputation for a chronicler of the maladjusted, who leave a wake of destruction in their paths. Campos’ AFTERSCHOOL is one of the most striking (and disturbing) debuts of modern cinema. He then produced the excellent MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE. When the second feature in the helmer’s chair was announced, I salivated at the prospect of what he might deliver. I wonder if SIMON KILLER is a sort of sequel, a conjecture as to what the lead, Robert, might have turned into after graduating.
The dictionary definition of a sociopath is, “a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behaviour”. His second feature now in, writer-director Antonio Campos is cementing a reputation for a chronicler of the maladjusted, who leave a wake of destruction in their paths. Campos’ AFTERSCHOOL is one of the most striking (and disturbing) debuts of modern cinema. He then produced the excellent MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE. When the second feature in the helmer’s chair was announced, I salivated at the prospect of what he might deliver. I wonder if SIMON KILLER is a sort of sequel, a conjecture as to what the lead, Robert, might have turned into after graduating.
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Simon (Brady Corbet) is in Paris, the first leg of a proposed European tour. The trip is seemingly a reward from graduating in neuroscience, specialising in the connection between the eye and the brain, and also a respite from heartbreak after splitting up from a childhood sweetheart. As the film progresses you wonder, in a TALENTED MR. RIPLEY-style, whether sentiments uttered by the titular lead are endowed with any kind of veracity. Constantly questioning Simon’s genuineness, in the circumstances where there is no corroboration, means the audience has to analyse his actions. Because this is a Campos picture, and the unsettling song selection and music cues added into the mix, mean that the guard is up for what kind of human being the protagonist is. Alarm bells go off immediately, when he says of his ex, “Whatever. She’s a whore, I’d like to meet someone new.”
Over from New York, and staying at his cousin Carlo’s pad, he rapidly becomes lonely, having no friends in the French capital. Continuing the idea of visual recording, Campos shows Simon in The Louvre as tourists take photos on smart phones of the Mona Lisa. There’s something a little depressing about the static camera capturing cameras capturing the famous painting. And that is what the director mostly excels at, and what differentiates him, the choice of angles. The sense of claustrophobia is inventively created, as we get only a little sense of the space a scene unfolds in, but cloyingly/scarily not enough. The players frequently stand up out of shot, presenting body fragments, often waists, and not all faces are clear, as conversations unfold. AFTERSCHOOL used this technique to brilliant effect. And when employed in SIMON KILLER, it is equally unsettling. The problem here is that Campos has resorted to that tired low budget staple of following behind characters as they walk around. It has been used so often at films playing at festivals, I groan internally whenever it is utilised.
The unfortunate choice of camera-work is not the only reason why the sophomore feature is less satisfying than AFTERSCHOOL. The previous effort was an intelligently brutal, and original, take on the coming-of-age flick. No prisoners are taken and quarters given. Form and meaning entwined seamlessly. However, the follow-up is a bit listless in places, like its focus. There are plenty of works where a burgeoning relationship involves violence, emotional/physical, and the guy spreads various levels of havoc. From Tennessee Williams’ THE GLASS MENAGERIE to SPREAD to TYRANOSAUR to THE KILLER INSIDE ME. And that’s the biggest problem here, SIMON KILLER doesn’t add enough to what has gone before. Don’t let that put you off seeking it out however, just manage your expectations if you’re a fan of AFTERSCHOOL and MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE.
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