Il metodo

The absurdity and grotesque one-upmanship of an executive job interview is sometimes perfectly captured in El Metodo, with an anti-capitalist demonstration used as an invisible backdrop with subtle symbolism. Directing is handled with confidence, and there is some memorable acting, although towards the end the ugly head of melodramatic overacting rears, destroying the atmosphere.

Also demolishing is the flawed characterization. One huge problem of the basic concept is that people interviewing for a high level managerial position have very rarely got anything to lose. Failure only gets the applicants back to other well paid, plush jobs. Such is a case with these people too; apart from their dignity and self-respect, there is nothing much at stake. Bigger problem is that even those they could easily keep were it not for their conveniently convoluted behaviour. From the writer's perspective it's simply a matter of bad characterization choices and some silly plotting. The competing interviewees behave with enormous stupidity sometimes to conveniently fit the dramatic wishes of the storyteller. One of the protagonists, a woman is rendered a victim about halfway through the film, a weak character unable to resist the sexual advances of a fellow male participant. This completely stupid and unrealistic plot development alone almost makes everything that follows implausible and shallow. (I mean, who in the world has sex in his mind during a supposedly important job interview? Come on, even the most macho males can control their animal urges - if they can't, there's no way they get to an executive position.) It's a pity the filmmakers could not muster up more courage to let the situation play itself out without sensationalist, melodramatic actions and resort to such cheap moves. What started out very well and tense, derails because of increasingly melodramatic plot solutions from the midpoint on.

It's a pity also that apart from a nicely symbolic final image and some subtly added subtext the storytellers did not make more of the anti-capitalist protests apparently going on simultaneously. It's a device completely wasted.

All in all, a film worth watching once for some nice psychodrama elements, but ultimately a terribly missed opportunity. For a similar premise, but a much more thrilling story watch "The Killing Room".

The script is based in in a theater play, and though I'm not familiar with the original, I guess the action probably remains close to the original (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

The cast is a good bunch of popular actors and actresses here in Spain, some of them somewhat popular out of Spain. See Eduardo Noriega, Carmelo Gómez, Ernesto Alterio and Natalia Verbeke. I find the acting very believable in general, maybe Noriega is not that real, but maybe this is what he is supposed to do in his role.

The story: Seven people are dated to have their final interview for an important position in a big company. All of them get together for the interview in the same place and the method used by the company for the final selection is call Gronholm method.

All the action takes place in the interview room and the restrooms. This, in spite of being drawback for the entertainment, makes it more interesting. The director gets rid of superfluous elements and leaves space for character development.

In opposition, and in order to prevent the public from getting lost in so much isolation, the director sets the action in the same day and place of a World Bank and IMF, although this doesn't really have an influence on the story.

My only complaint has to do with some restroom scenes that I believe don't add anything to the movie and look really silly to me.

Very entertaining and good story.

This is one of the best films I've seen all year! If you've ever been to a job interview with multiple applicants or even to one of those assessment centres big companies have you will recognize a lot of things in this movie.

"The Method" starts off with an engaging split-screen title sequence reminiscent of the TV series 24 which introduces the characters and the events around them: The story takes place on the day of the annual IMF & World Bank meetings and a huge anti-globalization protest is mounting that is threatening to shut down the city. This however belies what will follow in the next two hours.

Seven applicants for an executive position at a large company are more or less locked up inside a room and put through a novel mysterious selection process called "The Grönholm Method" which is supposed to determine the one applicant who is most fit for the job. The limited setting of the movie works perfectly and allows the audience to concentrate on and engage with the characters and the clever dialogue. Adapted from a theatre play the script takes the characters through little insidious games aimed at eliminating one applicant after the other. The movie quickly gets into a state of heightened reality, amping up the tension as everything gets more and more psychologically violent. Without giving anything away all I can say is that there's no backing down, it gets pretty hardcore and you can expect quite a few twists! After a particularly intense round in The Grönholm Method the audience is suddenly assaulted by the sound of the violent riots going on in the streets below while the camera remains focused on the actors. This moment is pure Haneke and through the contrast of non-diegetic sound perfectly illustrates the violence behind the ruthless shoot-first-or-be-shot modern day job world.

Watching this movie carefully while giving it your full attention pays off since the plot twists are carefully build up and you can have a lot of fun and gratification in correctly predicting them. Also, if you're a cynical bastard like me, you will find a lot of laughs in the dialogue.

Highly recommended!

In the tradition of "No Exit" and "Twelve Angry Men," "The Method" gathers a small group of people into a single room to observe what happens when they are forced to spend an inordinate amount of time together, essentially cut off from the outside world. (The movie throws in elements from such wide-ranging and eclectic sources as "And Then There Were None," "1984," "To Tell the Truth" and "Survivor" as well).

Seven high-powered job applicants, all vying for a single position in a prestigious company, arrive at a high rise office building in downtown Madrid. As a part of the selection process, the seven are immediately put into a room and subjected to a battery of bizarre psychological tests designed to pit the applicants against one another until only one of them - the default "winner" and future employee - is left.

Predictably, the stress of the ordeal brings out the worst in the applicants, leading to personal betrayals, the exposing of secrets, and a cutthroat jockeying for power. Part of the fun of the movie is in seeing just how long it takes for the veneer of civilized behavior to be stripped away, exposing the ruthless animalistic nature within. For this is how the natural law of "survival of the fittest" is played out in the modern world - no longer with clubs, bows and arrows, but with duplicity, deviousness and carefully chosen words.

However, the individuals are not the only ones to come under the scathing censure of the filmmakers. The movie also attacks the Big Brother aspects of corporations in their insistence on total allegiance to the company in exchange for "job security" and their willingness to drain their employees of their humanity to secure that allegiance. Yet just outside this bleak, stark and sterile office building, where "civilized" people are subtlety tearing each other apart for corporate advancement, masses of people are marching in protest against the World Bank and the IMF who are holding a conference in the city.

Mateo Gil and Marcelo Pineyro have written a sharp, thoughtful screenplay that gets to the heart of the human condition, while, as a director, Pineyro manages to keep the action fluid despite the single-set restriction of the conceit (the film has been derived from the play by Jordi Calceran). The acting is uniformly excellent with each performer given his or her moment to shine as well as the chance to be an indispensable part of an extraordinary acting ensemble.

"The Method" may be derivative of other works at times, but the view of human nature it reveals to us is often unnerving and chilling in its honesty and precision.

From the moment all the main characters are gathered inside the conference room, you know you're in for a rare treat. The first part plays out like a classic, Agatha Christie-like whodunit, where you know just as much as the rest of the characters, and are as qualified as they are to make your assumptions.

The rest of the movie is just as interactive. The method of restricting our point of view to that of the character's makes you as much a part of what's going on as they are. It almost feels like a reality TV show, where you get to be one of the judges.

From the get-go, the movie grips you. It doesn't waste any moment and delves straight into the drama. The actors all do such an excellent job that you can't take your eyes off the screen. The pacing is perfect - here is not a dull moment - and the film's structure is brilliant.

There is one particular recurring motif which first appears in the first few scenes - dividing the screen into thirds. See if you can find similar compositional arrangements in key moments and deduce their meaning. It is the kind of movie where every tiny element serves a purpose (symbollic or otherwise), and it will make you think. Don't get me wrong - you will enjoy the movie as pure entertainment. But those who wish to search for deeper meanings, commentary about human nature, subtle social critique etc. will be far from disappointed.

In my opinion, the movie was perfect in every way (reminding me of "12 Angry Men", one of my all time favorites). I can't urge you enough to go see it. It is one of the best movies of the year.