Intrigo: Death of an Author

Benno Fürmann goes to visit Ben Kingsley on his private island. He wants Kinglsley's advice on his novel, about a man who discovers his wife is pregnant by her unknown lover, and is about to leave him. So he kills her, and seems to get away with it... until he hears her laugh over the radio at a symphony concert.

It's the first of three movies, all called Intrigo: Something or other, based on the stories of Håkan Nesser,, each intended to illustrate some concept. I found them to be mildly distressing in the same way that I find most Scandinavian movies: a sterile, bleak world of no moral values. There are intriguing plot twists, and the camerawork by Pawel Edelman is quite lovely, thanks to some beautiful landscapes in what used to be Yugoslavia when I was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth.

"Intrigo" is originally a collection of novellas written by the godfather of Swedish crime fiction, Håkan Nesser. In total, there are five novellas in the book and director Daniel Alfredson ( "The Girl Who Played With Fire", "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" ) decided to transfer all of them to the cinema screen. Intrigo: Death of an Author is the first, chronologically, movie and it is based on the story titled "Rein". It will be followed by "Intrigo: Dear Agnes" , "Intrigo: Samaria", and "Intrigo: Tom" . All the films will be directed by Alfredson and will cast a different set of actors. It should be noted that in a joint interview they gave, Nesser and Alfredson spoke about the importance of the source story and Nesser highlighted the fact that even though he believes that the book is always better than the movie, in this case, he thinks that they stand on an equal level . It is important for the authors to approve the cinema adaptations of their stories, it's a good indication for the film's commercial and critical success.

The movie is about a young translator who is also an aspiring author, David ( Benno Fürmann), who receives a nasty surprise when his wife, Eva (Tuva Novotny), tells him that she is in love with her therapist and is pregnant with his baby. David cannot accept that truth and in a moment of despair mixed with rage decides to do something drastic, kill his wife by sabotaging the brakes in her car. When Eva disappears the authorities interrogate David, but they lack any concrete evidence so they quickly shelve the case. Then the movie skips 3 years to find David living in Berlin having put the past behind him and leading a quiet life. As he listens to a concert on the radio he gasps when he recognizes Eva's cough (!) in the recording. He concludes that his wife is alive and sets out to find her. The concert was given in Maardam, H. Nesser's fictitious city featured predominantly in the great Van Veeteren series, so David goes there to start his search.

The above events are narrated by David himself to a renowned author named Henderson (Ben Kingsley) whom he visits in his house in a remote Greek island. David presents his personal story as a plot of a novel he is going to finish soon, but Henderson soon understands that David and the story's protagonist are the same person. This particular narrative trope keeps the suspense alive throughout the film's duration and the audience tries to imagine the possible connection of Henderson with David's personal story. In the end, the truth is revealed with a major, though foreseeable, twist and the protagonist finds closure in the final act.

The story of "Intrigo: Death of an Author" is rich and tight-knitted with no redundant sequences, while there are plenty of twists and turns in the plot that keep the viewer glued on his seat. It is also a movie with high production values and it was shot in several countries, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Belgium. All the actors deliver spotless performances with Ben Kingsley stealing the show, as usual, and Tuva Novotny is subtle, though profound, in her well-measured portrayal of David's wife, Eva . On the other hand, I didn't like Benno Fürmann's performance, but perhaps it was his role that dictated the lack of emotions and expressions he exhibited in the movie.

This is an enjoyable way of spending 100 minutes of your time, it is an entertaining movie with an absorbing story and nice acting, but it is not of the same greatness as some of Daniel Alfredson's previous films like "The Girl Who Played With Fire" or "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" . On the plus side, Alfredson remains loyal to H. Nesser's novella, a fact that guarantees pleasant storytelling.Nevertheless, "Intrigo: Death of an Author" lacks the spark that would make it a movie worth remembering in the years to come. I can only hope that the next films in the series will be better and worthy of Håkan Nesser's writing skills.

Missing Wife, Dead Author's book translation, poor Ben Kingsley having to listen to it all and the viewer thinking what the hell is going on. Don't get me wrong it's not a bad watch there was some intriguing moments that kept you guessing. Most of it is in english except when David talks to his publisher they talk in german no subtitles. Its more of a afternoon matinee film than anything else.

A little slow paced but enough twists to maintain your interest. I actually liked the Benno character. Cool calm and collected. The ending could have been a bit more powerful. But at least it had an ending unlike so many of the schlock stories that are put on film these days. Worth a look.

Greetings again from the darkness. Daniel Alfredson directed two of the three films in the original "Millenium" trilogy by fellow Swede, the late Stieg Larsson. He handled THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE and THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST. Alfredson has now signed on to direct a trilogy of films based on Hakan Nesser's "Intrigo" novellas. This is the first in the series, with "Dear Agnes" and "Samaria" coming soon (each with completely different casts).

Nesser's stories have been adapted for the screen by Alfredson and Brigitta Bongenheim, and they face the challenge of all crime stories making the move to movies ... how to create an equal level of suspense. Benno Furmann (JOYEUX NOEL, 2005) stars as David, a translator by profession who has written his first novel. We first see David on vacation with his wife Eva (Tuva Novotny, ANNIHILATION, 2018), who spoils his plans by telling him she is leaving him for her therapist. We next see him planning or imagining her death.

Flash forward three years and David has arranged a meeting with successful writer Alex Henderson (Sir Ben Kingsley, Oscar winner for GANDHI, 1982) in hopes of receiving advice on his debut novel. Their meeting takes place at Henderson's isolated island retreat, which serves as his primary residence away from 'people', the lot of whom he readily admits he doesn't much care for. Henderson agrees to let David read passages of his novel, and the 'cat and mouse' game is afoot.

David has been contracted to translate the final book of Austrian writer Germund Rein, who recently committed suicide (mysteriously) while at sea. As the twists and turns unfold, David begins to wonder if there is a connection between Rein and his own story. A simple cough heard while listening to a radio concert sends David on the road. He discovers a code within Rein's manuscript, and the film bounces between the multiple stories and layers.

When David's fiction crosses over with his own reality, it's our job as viewers to keep up and distinguish between the two. It's not always easy as the structure seems designed to confuse. On the other hand, some of the aforementioned twists and turns might as well have neon signs explaining what is about to happen, why it happens and how it is related to what has already happened. Because of this, the film lacks the tension suspense and conflict necessary for this type of story. Storytelling is the focus, but it's that storytelling that is the film's downfall. While it's always fun to watch Kingsley tear into a role, and some of the scenery is drop-dead gorgeous, we do hope the next two chapters of Nesser's books transfer better to the screen.