Headhunters (2011)
THE SCOOP
Director: Morten Tyldum
Cast: Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Plot: An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.
Genre: Crime / Thriller
Awards: Nom. for 1 BAFTA - Best Foreign Language Film
Runtime: 100min
Rating: M18 for bloody violence including some grisly images, strong sexual content and nudity.
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: MILD)
Not so long ago in Slumdog Millionaire (2008), there was a
scene that showed a boy jumping into a pool of human feces when trapped in a
lavatory, in the hope that he would get an autograph from his favourite movie
idol.
Headhunters has a similar
scene, but the stakes are much higher, and its execution more vomit-inducing. It is a life-or-death situation for Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie), who has to
completely submerge himself in human excrement with just an empty toilet roll
sticking out of the brown filth for breathing purposes.
That is one of a few
shuddering things Roger has to do to avoid being killed. He is hunted by Clas
Greve (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), an ex-special forces member who ruthlessly
tracks him down with minuscule transmitters. Roger has stolen an extremely
valuable painting from Clas, but appears to have run out of luck.
The plot is twisty, its
unpredictability a delight. What is essentially a highly suspenseful chase
movie between the hunter and the hunted is also an unintentionally funny
picture, with several set pieces bordering on the ludicrous.
Director Morten Tyldum (Fallen Angels, 2008) cranks up the
tension in several sequences, often very masterfully like the lavatory scene. But generally, the handling of tone could have been more assured. It tries to
replicate the gloomy Scandinavian landscape of the Swedish crime-thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009),
but falls short in achieving the kind of isolation and dread needed to immerse
the viewer.
Still, it is a
well-directed film with moments of surprises that will jolt you awake. How can
a guy stay remarkably sane and alive despite the circumstances (some of which
require a suspension of disbelief) that he has been through?
We
don’t get to see many Norwegian films here, even arthouse ones. Headhunters is an opportunity to do so,
and it appeals more to the mainstream crowd. It is entertaining for most parts,
and works like a Hollywood thriller but with subtitles.
Some
of the dramatic material about romance, having children, and materialism seem
to get lost in the narrative, especially when combined with grisly images,
gritty violence, and the film’s flawed mix of suspense and unintentional
humour.
Still,
it doesn’t hurt your wallet to try this Norwegian film out, and leave the
thinking of whether to catch The Dark Knight Rises (2012) for the fourth time till next week.
Verdict: This Norweigan
crime-thriller is high on suspense, unpredictable, and unintentionally funny.
GRADE: B (7.5/10 or 3.5 stars)
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