Genres: Drama
Releasing Date: 14 November 2012 (France)
Director: Costa-Gavras
Writers: Karim Boukercha (screenplay), Costa-Gavras(screenplay)
Stars: Gad Elmaleh, Gabriel Byrne, Liya Kebede
Language: English
Adapted from the novel by Stephen Osmond , himself taking the title at the famous text of Karl Marx’s ” Capital ” marks the return behind the camera after Costa -Gavras ‘ Eden Is West ” in 2008. For this new album , the director has decided to tackle head-on capitalism , taking the narrative of the novel, making some substantial changes .
The premise is so clear: his work is also a pamphlet against the excesses of capitalism , a critique of the financial world desperately deaf to the concerns of citizens. The viewer is then plunged into the heart of the upper echelons of this strange universe , following the rise of Marc Tourneuil (played by Gad Elmaleh ) to the head of a fictitious bank.
Unfortunately, if the intentions are noble , adaptation can never hope to achieve the original , and quickly, the movie ends up bored. One of the main problems is concentrated in the script, infusing a pace that gives rise to a staggering fiction , including the installation completes any hypothetical uninspired over. Wavering between intimate drama and large mural on capitalism , the film stuck in a ” no man’s land ” where neither the criticism of corrupt system , or in the behavior of the character Marc Tourneuil not work.
The different events are part of a pessimistic fable, but the absence of half- measure provides an accumulation of shots, never reaching the expected dystopia . Thus, as and its ascent , the protagonist will begin to accumulate all the faults of the Earth, while his entourage is corrupted by money, with the exception of women and the family stayed away from Paris … It is certain that some of the situations described must be realistic , Costa- Gavras grows so that the line comes to the limits of absurdity – a greedy thug , sexually obsessed , arrogant, misogynistic , lying and homicidal , the situation is heavy! The drama turns into vaudeville and protest effect found in greatly diminished.
However, Costa -Gavras remains a great filmmaker and his film never falls to a catastrophic level, although his criticism of the banking system will not remain in the annals of cinema . The only survivor of this bankruptcy is Gad Elmaleh , who , in his first dramatic role , it delivers a rather attractive performance , demonstrating that he is able to play anything other than small comic service. But with the exception of satisfaction , all the indicators are in the red , on the edge of bankruptcy ! We’ll have to regroup Mr. Gavras , otherwise we will have to settle for your previous masterpieces.