29 September 2014

Human Capital, 2013 - ★★★★½


I'm still not sure if there's anything that outstanding about Human Capital. It certainly starts off fairly conventionally and it's only when the structure of the film reveals itself (I knew nothing about the film apart from it was Italy's foreign language Oscar entry) that it could be argued it's doing anything clever. But it doesn't need to be clever because what it does do is tell an engaging story really well and I was completely hooked. Towards the end there are some disappointing coincidences which I'm sure could have been handled better to achieve the same results (there's also an annoying nag about how Italian insurance works).


This is mainstream cinema done really well, it just happens to be Italian and subtitled. It wouldn't be out of place in a more episodic format on BBC4 on a Saturday night and certainly better than the Swedish Crimes Of Passion currently in the slot. I disliked the one Crimes Of Passion episode I saw thinking the drawing room explanation too old fashioned; Human Capital actually uses a similar technique to reveal the mystery but with the structure of the film rather than the detective gathering the culprits in one room.


See it before the inevitable American remake.


September 29, 2014 at 08:51PM

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