Review of A Most Wanted Man (2014) by Jack W — 17 Dec 2014
The Cold War; a distant and forgotten memory in our lightning paced globalized world. A MOST WANTED MAN (Anton Corbijn, Lionsgate, 2014) is a film belonging to that era but shining light on our present day political intrigues.
The portrait of present day Hamburg that Corbijn crafts not only gave me the sense I was watching a Cold War era spy thriller but that I was immersed fully in the time. With a few technological exceptions the film could transport itself seamlessly to 1975.
Corbijn used his filmmaking elements well. Set design combines with cluttered composition to create audience and character claustrophobia; wardrobe accentuated performances create characters that are living, not portrayals.
The performances by Hoffman (Gunter Bachmann) and McAdams (Annabel Richter) are both top notch but Grigoriy Dobrygin (Issa Karpov) was stunning. Muted and desperate, he makes you feel for a Chechen terrorist and jihadist, no small feat.
And the cinematography of Benoit Delhomme was allowed to become its own character, allowing us to spy on the spies. The film is slowly paced and narratively isn't easy to follow, but this serves to deepen the identification for the film to its Cold War ancestry.
Not for all, but I highly recommend seeing this film. It is damn good.
This review of A Most Wanted Man (2014) was written by Jack W on 17 Dec 2014.
A Most Wanted Man has generally received positive reviews.
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