The Introspective Realist Crime Film

FILMS AND TELEVISION 1999 The Sopranos (HBO, 1999–2007, United States) 2000 Trafic (Steven Soderbergh, United States) 2001 Sur mes lèvres (Read my Lips, Jacques Audiard, France) 2002 Cidade de deus (City of God, Fernando Meirelles, Brasil) The Wire (HBO, 2002–08, United States) 2003 Las horas del día (The Hours of the Day, Jaime Rosales, Spain) Mystic River (Clint Eastwood, United States) © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 L.M. García-Mainar, The Introspective Realist Crime Film, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-49653-9 201 202 FILMS AND TELEVISION 2004 Collateral (Michael Mann, United States) Forbrydelser (In Your Hands, Kim Fupz Aakeson and Annette K. Olesen, Denmark) Silver City (John Sayles, United States) The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme, United States) 2005 El aura (The aura, Fabián Bielinsky, Argentina/Spain/France) Munich (Steven Spielberg, United States) Syriana (Stephen Gaghan, United States) The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, United States/United Kingdom) 2006 Bordertown (Gregory Nava, United States) Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Germany/France) La raison du plus faible (The Right of the Weakest, Lucas Belvaux, Belgium/France), The Departed (Martin Scorsese, United States) The Good Shepherd (Robert de Niro, United States) United 93 (Paul Greengrass, Unites States/United Kingdom) 2007 American Gangster (Ridley Scott, United States) A Mighty Heart (Michael Winterbottom, United States/United Kingdom) Breach (Billy Ray, United States) Forbrydelsen (The Killing; Danmarks Radio, Sveriges Television; 2007, 2009, 2012; Denmark/Sweden) Gone Baby Gone (Ben Afleck, United States) In the Valley of Elah (Paul Haggis, United States) Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy, United States) Redacted (Brian de Palma, United States) Rendition (Gavin Hood, United States) Tropa de élite (Elite Squad, José Padilha, Brasil/Argentina/United States) Zodiac (David Fincher, United States) 2008 Breaking Bad (AMC, 2008–13, United States) Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader-Meinhof Complex, Uli Edel, Germany/ France) FILMS AND TELEVISION 203 Gomorra (Gomorrah, Mateo Garrone, Italy) Leonera (Lion’s Den, Pablo Trapero, Argentina/Korea/Brasil) Mesrine L’ennemi public no. 1 (Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1, Jean-François Richet, France/Canada/Italy) Mesrine L’instinct de mort (Mesrine: Killer Instinct, Jean-François Richet, France/ Canada/Italy) The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, United States) Tony Manero (Pablo Larraín, Chile/Brasil) Wallander (BBC; 2008–10, 2012; United Kingdom) 2009 Ajami (Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, Israel) Celda 211 (Cell 211, Daniel Monzón, Spain) El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in their Eyes, Juan José Campanella, Argentina/Spain) L’affaire Farewell (Farewell, Christian Carion, France) Politist, adjectiv (Police, Adjective; Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania) State of Play (Kevin Macdonald, United States/France/United Kingdom) Un prophète (A Prophet, Jacques Audiard, France) 2010 Carlos (Olivier Assayas, France/Germany) Das letzte Schweigen (The Silence, Baran bo Odar, Germany) Eu cand vreau sa luier, luier (If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle; Florin Serban, Romania/Sweden) R (Tobias Lindholm and Michael Noer, Denmark) The American (Anton Corbjin, United States) The Debt (John Madden, United States/United Kingdom) The Ghost (Roman Polanski, France/Germany/United Kingdom) Tropa de élite 2: o inimigo agora é outro (Elite Squad: the Enemy Within, José Padilha, Brasil) 2011 Adikos Kosmos (Unfair World, Filippos Tsitos, Greece) Bir zamanlar Analodu’da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey/Bosnia) Bron/Broen (The Bridge; Sveriges Television, Danmarks Radio; 2011, 2013, 2015; Sweden/Denmark) Crematorio (Crematorium, Canal+, Spain) Homeland (Showtime, 2011– , United States) The Killing (AMC, Netlix, 2011–14, United States) Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, United Kingdom/France) 204 FILMS AND TELEVISION 2012 Argo (Ben Afleck, United States) Kapringen (A Hijacking, Tobias Lindholm, Denmark) The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, United States) Zero Dark Thirty (Kathryn Bigelow, United States) 2013 Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass, United States) Prisoners (Denis Villeneuve, United States) La isla minima (Marshland, Alberto Rodríguez, Spain) The Americans (FX, 2013– , United States) The Bridge (FX, 2013–14, United States) 2014 A Most Violent Year (J.C. Chandor, United States) El clan (The Clan, Pablo Trapero, Argentina/Spain) Gomorra (Sky, Italy) The Drop (Michaël R. Roskam, United States/United Kingdom) 2015 Bridge of Spies (Steven Spielberg, United States/Germany) Mr. Holmes (Bill Condon, United States/United Kingdom) Spotlight (Tom McCarthy, United States) INDEX A Ajami, 191–3 The American, 83–4 American Gangster, 123–4 Argo, 117–18 art cinema, 23, 131, 145 authenticity, 91, 96 B Bauman, Zygmunt, 10, 81, 198 The Big Sleep, 23 Bir zamanlar Analodu’da, 102–4 Blue Velvet, 33 Breach, 148 buddy-cop ilm, 29 Bush, George W., 40 C Carlos, 136–7 Celda 211, 164 Chesterton, G. K., 2 Cidade de Deus, 121–2 Collateral, 150–1 The Company You Keep, 154–6 complex narrative, 171–2 The Constant Gardener, 120–4 crime iction, 72 D Dardenne brothers, 135 Das Leben der Anderen, 95–7 Das letzte Schweigen, 98–9 The Departed, 6 Der Baader Meinhof Komplex, 136, 138 Derrida, Jacques, 5 documentary, 70, 107–9, 115–17 Dogme, 135 Donnie Brasco, 34–6 Dragnet, 30 drama, 19 The Drop, 149 E El aura, 162, 196 El secreto de sus ojos, 156–62, 168 Elswit, Robert, 82 ethics, 71 Eu cand vreau sa luier, luier, 133–6 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 L.M. García-Mainar, The Introspective Realist Crime Film, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-49653-9 205 206 INDEX F fan iction, 71–2 Forbrydelser, 133–5 G gangster ilm, 26, 125, 126 genre, 3–5 theory, 5–6 The Ghost, 165 global social problem ilm, 6–8, 77 global synchronicity, 51 glocalization, 9 Gomorra, 189–91 Gone Baby Gone, 34, 86–9 Goodfellas, 26–7 The Good Shepherd, 42, 88–9 H hard-boiled iction, 20 heist ilm, 162 Hill Street Blues, 31 hitman ilm, 84 The Hurt Locker, 119–20 I In the Valley of Elah, 84–8 introspection, 82, 95–104, 114–15 Irrational Man, 3 K Klute, 25, 75 L L’affaire Farewell, 97 La raison du plus faible, 166 Las horas del día, 99–100 le Carré, John, 22–3, 57, 89, 94, 104 Lehane, Dennis, 87, 174 Leonera, 133–5 liquid modernity, 10, 79 M Mandel, Ernest, 2 Mankell, Henning, 68 melodrama, 18–20, 113, 175, 195 of demand, 67 Mesrine, 136–8 Michael Clayton, 82–3 middle tier Hollywood, 77 A Mighty Heart, 107–15 modernity, 2, 19 Mr. Holmes, 1 Munich, 115–16 Mystic River, 171–82 N neo-noir, 27 New Argentine Cinema, 158 Night Moves, 23 1970s cinema, 39–46, 166 aesthetics, 39–46, 82, 142 subjectivity, 82 unmotivated hero, 78 O observational look, 82–3, 99–100 P paranoid thriller, 39–40 point of view, 158–61 political awareness, 57 political thrillers, 65 Politist, adjectiv, 100–1 postmodern crime ilm, 26–30 power thriller, 42 prison ilm, 125 private life, 21, 81, 110–11 procedural, 110, 111, 116, 145 INDEX R R, 133–6 Reagan, Ronald, 40 realism, 6, 7, 18, 91 New Realism, 22 subjective realism, 131, 133–8 realist spy iction, 90 realist spy ilm/television, 91, 97 Redacted, 118–19 relexive subject, 10 Rendition, 152–4 revisionist genre ilm, the, 23, 45, 77–8, 83 S Savides, Harris, 43, 84, 142 Section Eight, 56, 77 sense of place, 86 sentimental novel, the, 21 serial-killer ilm, 27, 98 Shore, Stephen, 89, 142 Silver City, 178–81 Slow Cinema, 103 social ambivalence, 3 social melodrama, 171–2 social problem ilm, 76 spy ilm, 22, 29, 91 State of Play, 123–4 subject, the, 11, 110, 141 subjectivity, 10, 97, 103, 127–30 Sur mes lévres, 163–4 Syriana, 180–2 T television series, 58–69 The Americans, 62–3 Breaking Bad, 66–7 Crematorio, 63 HBO, 59 207 police, 30–9 quality television, 63–4 realism, 58 serial format, 58 The Wire, 65–6 Three Days of the Condor, 24, 75 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 89–95 Tony Manero, 48–51 Touraine, Alain, 11, 141, 198 Trafic, 180–1 transnational cinema, 7–10, 46–51, 64–9, 168, 196 Berlin school, 69 co-productions, 66 Dardenne brothers, 69 Dogme, 68 Scandinavian, 67–8 Wallander, 68 Tropa de élite, 182–7 Tropa de élite 2 o inimigo agora e outro, 187–8 U Un prophéte, 124–32 V veracity, 70 W Wallander, 67, 94, 197 Warshow, Robert, 2 Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 5 Z Zero Dark Thirty, 115–16 Zodiac, 141–55 

The Introspective Realist Crime Film Luis M. García-Mainar The Introspective Realist Crime Film Luis M. García-Mainar Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Universidad de Zaragoza Zaragoza, Spain ISBN 978-1-137-49652-2 ISBN 978-1-137-49653-9 DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-49653-9 (eBook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936728 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identiied as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, speciically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speciic statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London Our daughter Elia was born while I was writing this book: she brought us sleepless nights but also renewed our hopes for the future. Para Elia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Some of the ideas were originally rehearsed in essays for European Journal of American Studies, Generic Attractions: New Essays on Film Genre Criticism, CineAction, Journal of Film and Video and Hispanic Research Journal. I am grateful to the editors of those publications for their wise suggestions. Several libraries provided assistance. I am particularly indebted to Jenny Romero, Linda Harris Mehr and the staff at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their help during the summer of 2011. Research was funded by project FFI201340769-P of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, with the support of FEDER (European Union). Among my colleagues at the Universidad de Zaragoza, Celestino Deleyto and the work on Film Studies that he has led for years have been a strong intellectual inluence. I am also particularly grateful to the members of my research group, who had to face unusual dificulties in the past few years, overcame them with grace and in the process showed me the way to go. I thank Carmen Indurain, Hilaria Loyo, Vicky Luzón, Elena Oliete, Beatriz Oria, Juan Tarancón and Iván Villarmea for it. I was fortunate in having Chris Penfold and Harry Fanshawe as my editors at Palgrave Macmillan. They carried me through the stages of the publishing process smoothly and effortlessly. Finally, as always, I owe thanks to Sonia Baelo, who gave me all the support and love needed to reach the end. vii CONTENTS 1 Introduction 2 The Introspective Realist Crime Film Antecedents of the Introspective Realist Crime Film The Crime Film in the 1980s and 1990s Police Series of the 1980s and 1990s, Return of the Aesthetic in the 2000s Culture and Aesthetics in the Introspective Realist Crime Film The Introspective Realist Crime Film: Transnational Trend 30 39 46 3 The Context of the Introspective Realist Crime Film 55 4 Pictorial Realism and Introspection Michael Clayton Michael Clayton’s Family: Pathos and Introspection Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s Family: Introspective Emotion and the Social 75 75 83 89 5 A Documentary Aesthetic of Helplessness A Mighty Heart A Mighty Heart’s Family: An Aesthetic of Helplessness 1 17 22 26 95 107 107 115 ix x CONTENTS Un prophète Un prophète’s Family: Subjective Realism 124 133 6 Postcards of Sympathy from the Periphery Zodiac Zodiac’s Family: Introspective Sympathies El secreto de sus ojos El secreto de sus ojos’ Family: Trauma and the Social 141 141 147 155 162 7 Complex Narrative and Social Melodrama Mystic River Mystic River’s Family: Social Melodrama Tropa de élite Tropa de élite’s Family: Society and Politics 171 171 178 182 187 8 Conclusion 195 Films and Television 201 Index 205 LIST Fig. 1.1 Fig. 2.1 Fig. 2.2 Fig. 2.3 Fig. 2.4 Fig. 2.5 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.3 Fig. 4.4 Fig. 5.1 OF FIGURES Steven Soderbergh’s Che: Part One (2008). Benicio del Toro. Morena Films, Warner Bros., IFC Films Henry Hathaway’s The House on 92nd Street (1945). Twentieth Century Fox Alan J. Pakula’s Klute (1971). Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland. Warner Bros Homicide: Life on the Street. Barry Levinson’s ‘Gone for Goode’ (1993). Jon Polito, Clark Johnson. NBC Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006). Leonardo Di Caprio, Vera Farmiga. Warner Bros Pablo Larraín’s Tony Manero (2008). Alfredo Castro. Fábula, Prodigital The Wire. Clark Johnson’s ‘The Target’ (2002). HBO Wallander. Philip Martin’s ‘Sidetracked’ (2009). Kenneth Branagh. BBC Christian Petzold’s Barbara (2012). Nina Hoss. Schramm Film Koerner & Weber Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton (2007). George Clooney. Samuels Media, Castle Rock Entertainment Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah (2007). Warner Independent Pictures Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Gary Oldman, Mark Strong. Working Title Corneliu Porumboiu’s Politist, adjectiv (2009). Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Ion Stoica. 42 Km Film Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart (2007). Angelina Jolie. Paramount Vantage 7 20 25 32 37 48 61 64 70 81 86 93 102 112 xi xii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 5.2 Fig. 5.3 Fig. 5.4 Fig. 6.1 Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.3 Fig. 6.4 Fig. 7.1 Fig. 7.2 Fig. 7.3 Fig. 7.4 Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardener (2005). Ralph Fiennes. Focus Features Jacques Audiard’s Un prophète (2009). Hichem Yacoubi, Tahar Rahim. Why Not Productions, Chic Films Pablo Trapero’s Leonera (2008). Martina Gusmán, Tomás Plotinsky. Matanza Cine, Cineclick Asia, Patagonik David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007). Jake Gyllenhaal. Warner Bros., Paramount Michael Mann’s Collateral (2004). Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx. Dreamworks, Paramount Juan José Campanella’s El secreto de sus ojos (2009). Soledad Villamil. Tornasol Films, Haddock Films Roman Polanski’s The Ghost (2010). Ewan McGregor. R.P. Films, France 2 Cinéma, Babelsberg, Runteam Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River (2003). Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, Laura Linney. Warner Bros Steven Soderbergh’s Trafic (2000). Benicio del Toro. Bedford Falls, Initial Entertainment, USA Films José Padilha’s Tropa de élite (2007). Wagner Moura. Zazen Produçoes, The Weinstein Company, Costa Films Matteo Garrone’s Gomorra (2008). Salvatore Abruzzese. Fandango, RAI Cinema 122 129 135 146 152 160 167 176 181 185 191