Steve Buscemi’s Interview
Sony Picture Classics (Trailer)
The intrigue behind Steve Buscemi’s Interview results from it being first of the three movies that are to complete Triple Theo- a project that aims to realize murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh’s wish to remake three of his movies in English, with New York City as the setting of choice. The consequent process itself is a point of interest, since not only does it adopt Theo’s stripped-down style of filmmaking, but it recruits his team to do so. As the movie’s website explains, for example, three digital cameras ran at all takes, one trained on each of the two main characters, the third capturing middle and master shots.
More after the jump.
The end result itself left me with mixed feelings, however. For a plot that extends over an evening spent between its two main characters, there is quite a bit of dynamism, though this doesn’t seem to come without compromise. The hyperbolic hysteria Sienna Miller injects in her character Katya is somewhat in contrast to Buschemi’s subtler portrayal of troubled journalist Pierre, and though the jumpy mood swings in her may keep you wide-eyed, they seem to lack reason (or, at least, credibility). The entire encounter, in fact, what is promised to be a collision of two worlds (political journalist vs. spoiled actress), lacks a clear purpose. Twisted conversations turn interesting at some points, and the two characters are indeed more similar than one would imagine at first, but the biggest disappointment is that the collision that is seeded never really develops. There is no revelation. Every time a trace of collision emerges, it stops prematurely with the obvious, such as a gruesome description of a war zone that may startle a starlet for a few brief minutes. At the same time, the movie never tips. For the most part, there is a well-mixed offering of humor, trouble, mystery, etc. The script has some banal moments, which, to some extent, the acting saves, but at others, I couldn’t help wondering if it comes in the way.
