The Interview

You can call the 1998 film The Interview a Usual Suspects-style mystery with a suspenseful, shadowy Hitchcock-ian simplicity. Or you can simply call director Craig Monahan's film noir thriller an Australian gem with beautiful cinematography. The opening scene speaks volumes about the kind of film Monahan was trying to create. It has few cuts and unusual camera angles. Star Hugo Weaving (The Matrix), playing the instantly lovable loser Edward Flemming, is asleep in his chair in the early morning hours. As the morning sun rises, figures with brimmed hats and guns break down the door. Flemming is scared and unsure of what is happening. In this moment, the audience not only develops an opinion of Flemming but is also caught in the film's web. Slowly, layer by layer, small details are revealed. The figures turn out to be police, including Tony Martin's Detective Sergeant John Steele and Aaron Jeffery's Detective Senior Constable Wayne Prior. Flemming is taken into custody and is led to where the bulk of the film is set: the interrogation room. Slowly the tables turn and the once lovable Flemming becomes a little suspicious. The beauty of The Interview is that at the end, you wonder who was playing who throughout the questioning, and lost is the question of Flemming's guilt or innocence; Weaving masterfully pulls you in and makes you doubt. The bonus footage on the DVD is a little sparse. There are a few actor interviews (Weaving and Martin), extended credits (actor biographies and photos), a small number of deleted scenes (that really weren't all that interesting) and a play-by-play from the director (for the entire movie). But The Interview had such a short and limited Canadian theatre run that the film itself is worth the cost of the DVD. (Microfilm)