How The Interpreter turned out - perhaps Guy Ritchie's most daring film
Miscellaneous / / June 01, 2023
Unexpectedly, the director shot a brilliant military drama.
On June 1, the Russian premiere of a new film by Guy Ritchie, the second in a year, took place. Due to the pandemic, the timing of the premieres has shifted, so the director’s schedule even looks indecent.
The original The Covenant can be translated as "Covenant", but Russian distributors settled on "Translator" - a more sonorous and understandable one. However, Guy Ritchie's films were not called as soon as they were, so it's okay.
Guy Ritchie is the master of comedy thrillers about petty criminals. This is how he is perceived, even despite such films as "Aladdin", "Sherlock Holmes", "Agents of A.N.K.L.", "The Sword of King Arthur", which can hardly be put on a par with "Big Jackpot" and "Cards, money, two trunk." The Interpreter is the director's first war drama and certainly his most daring film. It's amazing that it turned out so good.
Ritchie co-wrote the screenplay with Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davis, old partners of the director with whom he has worked on a number of films. The role of the composer was again played by Christopher Benstead - this is the fourth picture of Ritchie released to his music. But the operator is new - he became Ed Wilde.
2018 year. American John Kinley serves in Afghanistan, where he leads a detachment that identifies Taliban cells. Together with colleagues, the soldier is ambushed, where he is wounded. The only survivor, apart from Kinley, is a local man, Ahmed, who works for him as an interpreter. Ahmed saves a soldier's life by dragging him to the US military. Waking up already in the USA, John learns that Ahmed remained in Afghanistan because he was not granted a visa, and now the Taliban are hunting him. The American decides that he must save the translator.
Outstanding Cinematography
Four recent films Richie shot by cinematographer Alan Stewart. He did not reinvent the wheel, working within the genre requirements - it turned out great, but too simple and clear. For The Interpreter, Richie chose Ed Wilde, which is a great choice.
Not the most popular operator (Wilde often shoots TV series than films) from the first frames demonstrates his versatility. From drone footage to a moving handheld camera, from brilliant landscape shots to close-up shots, it's a joy to combine superb technique with a sense of rhythm. The case when everything is not only of high quality, but also on time.
While Wilde does a great job in every scene, it's the scenery that surprises me the most. In the film, Richie is seen admiring a stream. A year ago it would have sounded like nonsense and a sick fantasy, but now it happens. For the first time, one can talk about the director's picture from the point of view of poetics. Perhaps by the age of 54, Richie has finally found his operator - this is real chemistry.
Surprisingly sentimental drama
Despite some problems, "Translator" is able to touch. The sentimentality that permeates the entire film is kept alive by the acting and the music.
In the first case, we are talking about a rather impressive, almost silent pain, which is demonstrated by a detached look and nods instead of unnecessary words. If John is dissatisfied with something in the USA, he starts yelling and threatening. In war, all his emotions are concentrated in a glance at two thousand yards - he feels a horror that cannot be put into a scream. Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salem convey the state of their characters without too much expression. But the melodies are much more eloquent.
Composer Christopher Benstead began his career with Ritchie's The Gentlemen, then wrote music for his own The Wrath of Man and Operation Fortune. Not to say that the soundtracks in them were bad. But they certainly weren't overly expressive.
In The Translator, Benstede reveals himself as a master of sensitive and timely melodies that don't so much add emotion as rediscover what is happening on the screen. Pain, despair, fear, anxiety are mixed in the music, but, despite such openness, it does not turn into kitsch. Brilliant work.
Minor script issues
If outwardly "Translator" is great, then some internal elements raise questions. For example, it is not explained in any way that the main character, an American, generally forgot in Afghanistan. The viewer receives only a given - here is a daredevil whom everyone respects, and he leads the soldiers. It is unknown why he is here.
On the one hand, this move allows you to abstract from a specific war and make history more universal. On the other hand, the motives of the characters are lost. What is John Kinley doing in Afghanistan? Is he a patriot who believes that it is necessary to defend the country while in another state? Or just following orders?
As the film progresses, the lack of answers to these questions gets in the way. For example, there is a contrast between a soldier of the US Armed Forces and a mercenary from a PMC. If you figure it out, then they are both fighting in a foreign country for money - what is the fundamental difference? If at least a little more was known about Kinley, then perhaps the question would disappear by itself.
The internal structure of Afghanistan is explained by the credits at the beginning of the film, and then chaos breaks out. Either the Taliban controls everything, or it controls nothing. Either he knows how to find a person in a day, or he is not able to do it for months.
Yes, Richie concentrates on the main characters, but it's like he constantly misses the world that surrounds them. Because of this, the plot suffers. Luckily, The Translator is too good to be bothered by plot holes, but it would have been even better without them.
Atypical Richie
Already from the first scene, strongly reminiscent of the beginning of Apocalypse Now, it becomes clear what territory Richie has entered. In fact, this is a military drama that reveals the inner world of a person who finds himself in hell.
Then it starts to seem like war - A disguise for a standard Richie movie. Like, if you move the story to London, the police will simply fight with the ruthless mafia. There is also rude humor inherent in the films of the British. However, it quickly turns out that jokes are needed only to show the relationship of the soldiers, jokes are just proof of their closeness.
Perhaps this is the first film in which Richie the director is noticeably superior to Richie the screenwriter. The Briton has long moved away from the logocentric films of the late 90s and zero, experimenting with genre canons, but never entered the territory of military cinema. And then it turned out that Richie brilliantly chooses both rhythm and composition, and squeezes drama out of the actors - not cheap, but existential. We finally see the real Gyllenhaal, the superstar of the past decade, who has been starring in walk-in projects in recent years.
Richie refuses (almost) and genre clichés. Yes, he left a couple of impressive action scenes, adding heroism to the characters, but they do not personify the film. It is even interesting to look at the training camp in Russia. Guy Ritchie is a man who should have been awarded the "People's Artist" award for a long time: they really love him for comedy about petty criminals. But how will the fan base react to another, extremely serious Richie?
It seems that the only conclusion that can be drawn from the finale and the credits is that everyone lost in this war. And Ahmed, who was born at the wrong time and in the wrong place, and John Kinsley, who got involved in it of his own free will. It is surprising and strange to see an anti-war message and condemnation of violence in a Guy Ritchie film. It wasn't perfect, but it was an impressive drama nonetheless.
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