Director: Jon S. Baird
Starring: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Imogen Poots, Eddie Marsan, Joanne Froggatt, Jim Broadbent, Shirley Henderson.
Running Time: 97 minutes
Certificate: 18
Synopsis: A bipolar, bigoted junkie cop manipulates and hallucinates his way through the festive season in a bid to secure promotion and win back his wife and daughter.
Danny Boyle’s unforgettable adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s TRAINSPOTTING virtually changed the British film industry in 1996, embedding future acting talents and the possibility of more of Welsh’s work on the big screen. However, no one has adapted his work so well as FILTH, a film that ties its Christmas bow around your neck and pulls tight with unadulterated gratification.
The man to give us his depiction of Detective Bruce Robertson’s drug-fuelled life collapsing around him is director and screenplay writer Jon S. Baird, together with an unstoppable performance from James McAvoy. The film opens with Bruce playing ‘the games’ and leading us through reasons why other colleagues won’t get the promotion he wants – and how he’ll do anything to make sure they don’t. His methods are either psychological by playing on their worries or naivety, or sexual betrayal by sleeping with their wives behind their backs.
Nevertheless, Bruce is the ultimate anti-hero because, although we join him on his self-destructive breakdown as the bastard-child of Begbie and Renton on a coke-fuelled, whiskey binge, this isn’t a character you hate. He has a curious charisma and is immensely entertaining, especially when he finds focus, allowing you to sense the hidden motive behind his twisted mayhem. While Fassbender lost his mind with sex addiction in SHAME, the similarity in FILTH is the loss of reality portrayed through horror-like flashes of what Bruce perceives to be human-sized animals that are after him. It’s always unexpected and an essential part of the story.
FILTH’s co-stars are integral to proceedings. Eddie Marsan is once again brilliant as Bladesey, an innocent and honest freemason who’s dragged into Bruce’s sordid world. His wife Bunty brings another TRAINSPOTTING link, played wonderfully by Shirley Henderson. Jamie Bell equally gives a great performance as fellow coke-sniffing copper, Ray, and although appearing inexperienced, it’s obvious his character wants a part of the action.
The only downside to the warped nature of things is Jim Broadbent as the talking-tapeworm from the book who’s portrayed as a screwball Aussie psychiatrist. He appears more on Bruce’s downward spiral and although the surrealism edges on understandable, it doesn’t quite hit the spot.
Earlier this year, James McAvoy impressed greatly in TRANCE. In FILTH he climbs to a whole new level with a captivating, mesmerising performance as Detective Bruce Robertson. They said that FILTH was supposedly unfilmable, but once again, intelligent, progressive filmmaking has proved the critics wrong as Jon S. Baird and his cast have done Irvine Welsh proud. A must-see.
FILTH is released in the UK on October 4th.
bfg666
Oct 1, 2013 at 3:15 am
If Baird is that good at filming “unfilmable” books, I’d love him to try his hand at William Burroughs’ Cities of the Red Night. I’m eagerly waiting for Filth to be released in my country.
Dan B
Oct 1, 2013 at 10:23 pm
Hope you enjoy it mate, great to have something gritty, messed up but equally well developed and produced.
Interesting choice as well, Life of Pi got it spot on but the people that go for these really have to have complete control. Like Baird did here, and like Ang Lee as well.