Simon Killer

A recent college graduate (Brady Corbet) flees to Paris after a break-up, where his involvement with a prostitute (Mati Diop) begins to reveal a potentially dark recent past.

Since watching this film last night, it has been gnawing at me, and it keeps growing in my mind as something of a masterpiece. Though, to see it in that way, one must first realize this is not a film concerned with a plot, but rather with the study of one particular character. (Just do not go in thinking you can ever understand him.)

Corbet was evil and gritty in "Funny Games" and may have stepped that up a notch here. The character is more subtle, more of an enigma, but this in many ways makes him creepier: is he a sociopath, a killer? We know he is a liar, and we are left doubting almost any claim he makes about his past. (Corbet's career is already legendary, also having worked with Gregg Araki and Lars von Trier, among others.)

While not directly inspired by Joran van der Sloot (the Aruba man best known to Americans as the likely killer of Natalee Holloway), the creators used him as a "point of reference", and it shows. For a visual look they emulated 1970s cinema, and particularly John Cassavetes' "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976). I think they nailed it.

To fully "get" this movie I would need to watch it again. As I said, it grows. I like it more today than yesterday and feel like a re-exploration of the themes and characters would only add to that. Who is Simon? We may never know.

This is a very slowly delivered film. It is not much a of a thriller. The main character is very unlikeable. The plot does not keep you guessing. I don't comprehend how this movie has such a high rating. Please save your time if you're looking for a thriller.

"Superficial charm and average intelligence. Untruthfulness and insincerity. Poor judgment and failure to learn from experience." All the attributes of a psychopath are handled brilliantly by Antonio Campos and executed flawlessly by Brady Corbet. This film has been on my mind for a few days as I remember the edgy scenes with actors half off the screen and my wishing I could just nudge the camera a little bit to see what's going on... although it would not have mattered. The story here is powerful and tells a tale of a manipulative and mentally unbalanced character, but that's not really why I liked the film so much. What blew my mind is the visual treatment, the blasts of audio, the unforgiving sex and the feeling I was looking at an accident I could not turn away from. Lots of similarity to the films of Haneke and Dumont but taken to the next level with an uncompromising cellphone video sensitivity.

Remarkably well constructed film, subtle yet powerful.

Interesting character study of a nauseating sociopath, immersed in his delusional narcissistic fantasies. A well made film, but disturbingly realistic in this portrait of a thoroughly unpleasant character. People like this do exist, of that one can be certain, which is what makes this production more than a bit disturbing.

This is a psychological thriller of sorts . . . no action scenes, just a bit of violence and sex (which is integral to the story). If you're looking for a simplistic, by the numbers action film, this isn't it, it will be too "slow" for you.

On the other hand, if a detailed character study with an unusual set of circumstances from which an engaging story emerges, you might find this well worth the time to watch it.

After leaving his girlfriend behind in America, recent graduated student Simon (Brady Corbet) travels to France in order to chill out and do nothing, and try to meet other people avoiding being alone the best way he can, usually enjoying female companies. First he meets a prostitute (Mati Diop), of whom they get to know a little better and he starts to help her with some problems; later on he gets the attention of another girl and her friend. With all those connections we get the final image that he's always up to make schemes, taking advantage of everyone he meets and trying to make everything favorable to himself. The problem with this Tom Ripley kind of character is that he is unsympathetic to the audience to the point where you really want to punch him instead of understanding his "pain".

The movie? Self indulgence at its best. And worst: part of the audience buys it very easily. There's no greater message, no big and interesting portrayal of how sociopaths act and it's not even a good movie. It threats to be but it never quite reaches the limited potential it has. This time director Antonio Campos imitates "Last Tango in Paris" by using minimal dialog, going from nowhere to nowhere, filled of empty and boring sequences in between with characters we can't find anything worth relating or understanding. And just like Bertolucci's classic there's the sex. The way it was portrayed and filmed, well, those were remarkable, I give you that. Really playful and exciting.

The only thing that impressed me about "Simon Killer" was Brady Corbet, once again involved in a project that proves some provoking challenges for an actor to play with and he's bold enough when the movie is not stranded in its catatonic state. Corbet is in "Mysterious Skin", "Melancholia" and the remake of "Funny Games", so with that list in mind you already know he's up to something really dark or controversial, great materials. Even though writing the story here, and probably creating the best moments for himself (oh yeah those sex scenes and that includes one truly daring moment - best scene, very original but I warn you beforehand that it can be problematic to close minded folks), he's up to no good. This doesn't generate enough interest as a cinematic experience.

And once again, Mr. Campos employed poor technique methods of cinematography and editing to convey its story the way it must be seen - the voyeuristic look of someone who spies someone at a distance and behind a person's back. It should help the movie but it's artistically dull and empty. The photography was better used in here than it was in "Afterschool", this time providing good looking shots of a Paris a little emptier than usual which reflects the main character's unbearable loneliness. He captured a good atmosphere of the place combined with the character souls - dark and cold but always trying to be colorful, close and animated, danger closer than everyone thinks, and in every corner. But he still doesn't know how to edit a movie, doesn't know how to take advantage of cuts instead of just using static images. Inaudible or whispered dialogs tortures us from time to time. And has this guy never heard of captions? To leave Simon lost without understanding what people are saying to him in this foreign country is acceptable but Mr. Campos leaves us as well in the dark and for long periods every time there's a conversation in French. There's talent in there, the problem is that he doesn't know how to use it rightly. He desperately needs to know how to write a story without creating too much artificial things, make it more human instead of transparent experiences.

Spare me from saying that it was an enigmatic or philosophical experience. Rubbish. Campos almost fooled me with "Afterschool" (a good film, not great), but he's not fooling me with this. Tedious and shallow but with two or three good things. 5/10