Movie Tip: The Silence

I've been wanting to write about the typical political crap I usually do, but there's been so much of it lately, I don't know where to start. And I'm afraid if I do, I won't stop. But I didn't want to stop writing altogether, so I thought I might put up the occasional post encapsulating films I've seen lately that have been particularly good or bad. I see a LOT of films, partially for work, but mostly because I have a problem. (Isn't that the first step, admitting it?) I've seen a number of ones recently that fall into both categories, but I thought I'd start with the one that moved me enough to start writing these things.

I've always liked foreign films, but I've been particularly impressed with some of the stuff that's come out of Australia in the last few years. (Especially films like Wolf Creek and Rogue.) The latest one to impress me is The Silence, which was apparently a television offering Down Under, but was just released on DVD here in the States. There's nothing about it that made me say "wow," but it was a solid little film with some good acting, which kept me interested throughout (particularly from lead Richard Roxburgh and his "Gal Friday" Emily Barclay, who stole just about every scene she was in). I won't go too much into the details of the plot, as you can look those up on IMDB, but I will say that this was a '40s style film noir, set in modern day Australia. It's like a Chandler novel, brought to film, with a little bit of Blow Up thrown in. There are a number of cliches (the haunted cop, the bad relationship, etc.), but rather than detract from the film, I thought they contributed to the overall noir-ish vibe.

If you like a thriller without all the explosions and gunfights, it's worth a rent. I suppose I'll have to come up with some sort of rating system, although I really hate that sort of thing, as films are such diverse creatures that it's hard to compare or quantify them. I'm open to suggestions, though.