Cinematic studies of variations in memory manipulation is a very delicate matter, which real masters of the modern film industry like Christopher Nolan undertake. Julien Manya, after creating the ridiculous and dynamic youth parody “Bloody Mallory” for almost ten years, realized his potential as a director in various television projects. But in 2011, he decided to return to the big cinema and take a director's chair in the action-packed film "Faces in the crowd", especially since the main character was embodied on the screen by the notorious Mila Jovovich. Unfortunately, the tape did not pay off its very modest budget of $ 15,000,000 and its rating on IMDb of 5.80 points is rather low for the thriller. Reviews of the film "Faces in the crowd" are contradictory, sometimes ambiguous, but there is no doubt that the picture has its undoubted merits. One of them is considered rare for genre cinema originality and non-trivial style of presentation.
Learning from mistakes
Often, “Faces in the crowd”, viewers compare in reviews with two equally interesting projects, “Remember” and “Before I Fall Asleep,” but, unlike the paintings listed, the work of Julien Manya is quite predictable. The director was unable to produce something in the spirit of Hitchcock or the same Nolan. For all the intimacy of the thriller, its "glossiness" cuts its eyes. The desperate melodramatic does not help. The almost complete lack of humor aggravates the situation, passions are played out at the level of Shakespeare's production, and the amount of sentiment can give odds to the TV show “Wait for me”. Most reviewers in the reviews of “Faces in the Crowd” blame the predictability and dullness of the tape, in which even decent actors could not fully reveal themselves, impose on the director’s inability to draw those who look into the screen action. Perhaps that is why the picture was shown only at the festival in Canada, and in the USA it was immediately released on DVD.
Plot
The film “Faces in the Crowd” begins with an introduction to the main character, primary school teacher Anna Marchent, and her boyfriend Bryce. Once again, in a hurry on a date, she becomes a witness to the crime committed by a maniac, who has recently been hunting in the vicinity. In an attempt to escape, Anna falls off the bridge, hits her head, falls into a coma. She regains consciousness in a hospital a week later. Her condition is unstable, doctors diagnose prosopagnosia. Now the young woman does not remember and does not remember the faces of people. One of the forms of therapy for Anna is a mandatory visit to a psychotherapist, Dr. Langenkamp, who teaches the patient to remember people according to their characteristic signs - posture, gait, pantomime, scars, etc. One of the detectives Kerrest unsuccessfully interrogates the victim, as a result of which the maniac becomes aware that Anna does not remember his face, absolutely like the faces of her friends, lover. He is playing a ruthless game with an unhappy victim.
Without exception, all the reviews about the film “Faces in the Crowd” characterize the plot idea of the film as promising and promising, which cannot be said about its implementation.
The picture is purely contemplative
Film critics, evaluating the tape "Faces in the crowd", in the reviews also ventured to diagnose her. According to cinema experts, the Manya project suffers from a disease that is very common in cinematographic circles: having a single plot chip in service, it is extremely difficult to constantly increase narrative and maintain a single level of narration over a considerable (103 minutes) timing of the tape. Critics found only one secret in the picture, and no matter how the script tries to present its own investigation of the heroine Jovovich as a series of frightening discoveries, each subsequent step in the search for truth does not cause much enthusiasm among the audience. This is not an addictive “Remember” with its extraordinary sequence of episodes, in “Faces in the Crowd” (testimonials to this confirmation) everything is easier.
Advantages
Critics of the thriller most often attribute the equal acceleration of the narrative, despite the fact that most of the event "traps" are immediately visible. The tape contains psychological tension, sentimental tricks, philosophizing about the nature of lies and the tendency of those closest to outright cowardice.
The picture is full of many dialogues, all are explained clearly, in simple words. Successfully unobtrusive addition should be considered the musical accompaniment of John McCarthy, sounding in unison with the story.
Memory is a delicate matter
Cinematic games with memory require a special mood, immersion in feelings, mood, anxiety of heroes. If any component is missing, the thriller does not work. Such a fate, according to reviews on "Faces in the crowd", befell the brainchild of Manya.
Most of all, the straightforwardness of the story strikes the actors who are constrained in their actions, so the emotions of their characters are fleeting, the viewer does not have time to plunge into them headlong.
It seems that Jovovich at some point loses the reference point of the emotions of his heroine, as a result, the character seems to be in emotional weightlessness, the actress is in prostration, and the viewer is at a loss.
In general, the thriller can be recommended for viewing as another instance of the collection to fans of the genre or to everyone as an entertaining pastime.