Roman Polanski, whatever his own private troubles, proves once again that he is a great filmmaker able to handle even something as insubstantial as Robert Harris’ political potboiler The Ghost and make a film that is intricately layered and resonant, giving added dimensions to its source material.
In this instance, the film, while notable mostly for its fine craftsmanship rather than any aspirations to great artistic heights, is arguably a more effective medium for Harris’ story about intrigue unwittingly unearthed by a writer working on a political memoir.
The unnamed ghostwriter, a fine mix of jaded hack and seasoned professional, is played by Ewan McGregor, who wonderfully conveys how much his character is a fish out of water when he is pulled out of his celebrity biography niche and plopped unceremoniously into the seductive and much more dangerous world of politics.
Other members of the cast are brilliantly deployed, not least Pierce Brosnan as former pro-US British prime minister Adam Lang, who stands charged with war crimes for abetting the rendition of terrorism suspects.
Brosnan effortlessly conjures up a thick layer of well-manicured charm, and unlike his usual suave onscreen persona, allows glimpses behind the scenes into an inner world filled with lies, or at least various half-truths and compromises that he can no longer distinguish from the political spin that has built up around them in his own mind.
Lang’s many similarities to former British prime minister Tony Blair, including his adept media skills, give this political thriller a topical aspect that Polanski allows to linger in the background without any explicit comment.
Another powerful performance comes from Olivia Williams as Ruth, Lang’s brainy but now embittered wife, who lurks in the background of her husband’s life and knows a lot more than she is letting on.
Set against her husband’s glossy facade, Ruth’s sinister presence is appealing; she helps generate a mood of unease and draws the coldness of the landscape surrounding the Martha’s Vineyard house where the action takes place into the hearts of those living there.
Polanski makes great use of big picture windows and an almost Brutalist interior to build up the atmosphere still further, and while nothing much seems to be happening, an impending sense of disaster is maintained from the get-go.
Kim Cattrall, Samantha from Sex and the City, is an unexpected presence as Amelia, Lang’s personal assistant and mistress, whose suave, efficient ways, neat black suites and moments of vulnerability contrast well against Ruth.
Sexual tension is a minor theme in The Ghost Writer, but it is deftly woven through the fabric of the story with cutting moments of dialogue.
As befits a film about a writer and a book, words are the main weapons of this thriller, which shuns car chases and guns for something more sinister: an omnipresent yet largely invisible threat of death to anyone who delves too deep into the past.
This sophisticated and low-key treatment is tremendously refreshing, and provides an excellent alternative
to Angelina Jolie’s Salt, which opened last week.
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
When the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces 50 years ago this week, it prompted a mass exodus of some 2 million people — hundreds of thousands fleeing perilously on small boats across open water to escape the communist regime. Many ultimately settled in Southern California’s Orange County in an area now known as “Little Saigon,” not far from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where the first refugees were airlifted upon reaching the US. The diaspora now also has significant populations in Virginia, Texas and Washington state, as well as in countries including France and Australia.
On April 17, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) launched a bold campaign to revive and revitalize the KMT base by calling for an impromptu rally at the Taipei prosecutor’s offices to protest recent arrests of KMT recall campaigners over allegations of forgery and fraud involving signatures of dead voters. The protest had no time to apply for permits and was illegal, but that played into the sense of opposition grievance at alleged weaponization of the judiciary by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to “annihilate” the opposition parties. Blamed for faltering recall campaigns and faced with a KMT chair
Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) stipulates that upon a vote of no confidence in the premier, the president can dissolve the legislature within 10 days. If the legislature is dissolved, a new legislative election must be held within 60 days, and the legislators’ terms will then be reckoned from that election. Two weeks ago Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed that the legislature hold a vote of no confidence in the premier and dare the president to dissolve the legislature. The legislature is currently controlled
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