The Face of an Angel (2015)

The Face of an Angel (2015) Another failed film! A film I adored for almost an hour. The problem is… after that, you start to get lost and wonder what’s really going on, and then you sink into boredom and don’t get anything incredible or interesting at the end.

If it’s based on a true story, so the story of the girl who gets stabbed 43 times is really dramatic… but we don’t learn much else. So yes, after research, it is indeed inspired by and adapted from Barbie Latza Nadeau’s novel about the Amanda Knox case.

I wanted to see this film because the story interested me and if Kate Beckinsale and Cara Delevingne were in it, I was in for a good film. But it’s mainly Daniel Brühl who’s excellent here. This very natural actor always gives great performances. Alas… here, even he ends up losing the viewer’s interest.

Michael Winterbottom is not a director I like unconditionally at the moment. And yet he’s in luck, because I’m going to give him his chance or chances. There are a few films in his filmography that I’m keen to see.
For the moment, I’ve seen ‘9 Songs’, a film that claims to be intelligent, daring, innovative, courageous and artistic… but in my opinion, it’s a big failure. It’s really only the 9 songs in the film that are interesting. I’d rather listen to them than watch this useless, rotten film.

As for his 24 Hour Party People, he’s nice… but just nice! Even though it’s about a presenter who sees a Sex Pistols concert, sees his life changed and decides to sign with Joy Division (future New Order) and the Happy Mondays. It’s a world I really like… but Sid & Nancy was much more incredible and Gary Oldman had a lot to do with it. And Control, as far as Joy Division is concerned, is a masterpiece… which makes Winterbottom’s film look like a piece of rubbish.

A nice surprise was the actor Valerio Mastandrea, as well as the character he plays. He brings a lot to this film.
In short! The director misses the point here.

It starts as a thriller, ends as a psychological drama, opens up a lot of interesting questions but fails to answer them. Winterbottom must have said it was a stylistic effect, not to say that he’s completely missed the mark. As far as I’m concerned, it even ends in a fishtail. I hope I’ve seen his worst films, otherwise it’ll be very hard to get to the end.

His ‘A Mighty Heart’ with Angelina Jolie was good, but again, that was mainly thanks to the actress. Not the directing.

We’ll be back… but not too often!