The Filth Element

Remember when I wrote that piece with the cheeky Ghibli pun in the title about Sicario and how much I appreciate well written anti-heroic characters? Neither do I.

Anywho, Filth.

This is another one of those movies that looks like one thing while being another. Trust me, I saw all the trailers, I read all the descriptions, I figured I knew what I was expecting the first time I gave this movie a watch.

Fucking Wow.

This movie was released in 2014 in the states, but I'm discussing it now, and here's why. I have a problem with people not seeing good movies. Now I'm not saying I have a problem with the people themselves. If you haven't seen Filth, it probably isn't your fault. But as a person who's seen it and analyzed it, I feel compelled to inform as many folks as I can that this movie is out there, and on Netflix for your viewing pleasure, should this review convince you to give it a look. That's all. I promise I'll get back to talking about shit movies soon, because those are always fun.

OK YEAH FILTH, THE MOVIE, HERE WE GO

I'll start with the writing. Themes, characters, basic plot, etc. Filth the film, as well as the novel on which it is based, chronicles the efforts of Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson to earn a coveted workplace promotion. Between doing his job and doing all the drugs under the sun, Bruce also finds time for what he refers to affectionately as "The Games": a series of cruel and immature pranks that he pulls on his acquaintances and workmates.

This is Bruce.

Bruce is a bastard.

He's a misogynistic racist, violent, sarcastic, sadistic, dishonest, homophobic asshole of a man, and he is hurting inside. Bruce's struggle with his addictions and his torture of the people he seems intent on surrounding himself with are just parts of the larger arc that makes his story so unique. Bruce's big problem can be boiled down to control.

Bruce is a cop, and states at a point in the film that he decided to become one after witnessing police brutality in his hometown and desiring to be a part of it. All his life he's been taught and told by the authority figures in his life that as a man, and as an officer, his word is law. He is supposed to be in control. The issue Bruce has is, he just isn't.

He can't control his urges and addictions, he can't control his temper, he can't control the way he feels, nor can he reconcile his darker impulses with the desire he he has to be a better man. So he exerts the control he doesn't possess over himself on the people around him. He abuses his power as a policeman over civilians on more occasions than one, and he manipulates his "friends" into either doing his bidding or attacking each other, either scenario getting him closer to the promotion that he equates with ultimate power. To Bruce, the promotion equals control. It also represents some other things, but I won't get into that in this review. These are conclusions you should come to yourself while watching the movie.

This is a damaged man, and that is made clear from the very beginning. Over the course of a bizarre, original, and at times scary story, Bruce's antics go from moments of comic relief to indications of a deep-seated psychological problem, and the subtlety of that switch is really what will catch you off-guard. Filth is first and foremost a character study.

The world Bruce occupies, the world we see on screen, is a hyper-real one. I mean just look at that picture above of Jamie Bell holding fistfuls of cocaine. That isn't realistic, people don't do that. Not even coke heads do that. Nobody has enough coke for that kind of pose, and those that do aren't interested in making a mess with it. Not that I would know. Ok I have clearly drifted too far from the point.

In Bruce's mind, everyone is a cartoon, a stereotype. Every person he encounters has to fit snugly into a category, otherwise he would be forced to see them as people, and would then have to empathize with those that he manipulates.

This is where the sweet sweet satire comes into play.

Bruce, the brutish police officer, is presented as a stereotype himself, and is deconstructed and humanized over the course of the film much like the other characters are. At the film's beginning, Bruce sorts people into sections, and places himself above them all. He is the man of the house, so-to-speak, too righteous and intelligent to consort with the other scum of the earth. He exists merely to govern the stupid and the hopeless, and takes what enjoyment he can in playing sick games with the pawns he refuses to see as people. We see every character the way Bruce does, and that includes the way Bruce sees himself. He's the "pig". The officer with too much power and not enough understanding.

Then things change, and shit gets real.

Think back to Fight Club. David Fincher's 1999 cult classic tells the story of a nameless narrator who starts a fight club with a charismatic stranger and soon realizes he is in over his head. The world of Fight Club, the world we see, is a surreal one. It's cartoon-y and weird, and things don't happen the way you think they would in the real space we, the viewers, occupy. Yet over the course of that film, the consequences of the narrator's actions become more real, and so do the people around him. We realize that the space that he lived in previously only APPEARED to be exaggerated and fake, simply because we were seeing things through that character's eyes. And that character, a sleep-deprived, disillusioned, self-loathing consumer, chose to paint his world in a different coat, despite what true colors hid underneath.

Filth's setting is similar. Not the identical, but similar. In spirit, that is. Not in execution.

The performances on display here are good. Nothing necessarily worthy of special praise on the parts of the secondary characters. Every actor fit their role well, that is to say, nobody stood out as being wrong for the part that they were playing. Imogen Poots, Eddie Marsan, and Jamie Bell stand out in my mind as having really put their best foots forward.

Oh yeah, this is the best performance of James McAvoy's career. Just by the way.

You know that thing actors do where they get cast in a role you wouldn't expect them to take, and you see their performance, and it subverts any and all connotations associated with that actor? For example, you couldn't see Leonardo DiCaprio as a villainous slave owner, but then you saw him as a villainous slave owner and you realized it was perfect. Yeah, shit's crazy, right?. McAvoy doesn't stand out in my head as being the go-to guy for the part of a psychotic detective with numerous addictions and a penchant for violence, and yet, here he is, devoting himself fully to it. He kills it, so props were props are due. I've never seen him dive to such depths, and I was truly impressed and inspired.

The direction is tight and understated. On first viewing, you won't catch all of the nifty visual cues as to the twists and turns of Bruce's arc, but once you spot them, you'll realize just how organized the movie's chaos really is. Jon S. Baird, the writer and director, had a clear vision for this adaptation of the esoteric Irvine Welsh work, and he realized it beautifully. The blocking is deliberate and precise and the editing is skillful. Technically, Filth is airtight. The lighting, the sound mixing and design, the production design, I have not one issue with the way it was all handled.

Also the soundtrack is absolutely incredible, and I mean that. Either the song used in a particular sequence contrasts tonally with the harsh nature of the subject material (Love Really Hurts Without You- Billy Ocean), or it accompanies the visuals harmoniously, and serves to evoke the emotions Baird intends for us to feel (Creep- Radiohead). In either case, it's a brilliant compilation of songs, all great in their own rights.

Baird and McAvoy aren't interested in making the character of Bruce likable. It's never necessary that a viewer like or agree with a character in order to enjoy watching the movie in which they are featured. Instead, the two opt to focus on making Bruce human, and in doing so successfully, they ensure that the viewer empathizes to some extent almost by default. As an actor/writer it's all a matter of understanding what makes your character who they are, no matter who that is. The ticks, the troubles, the origins of their problems. These are the things that help humans recognize other humans. Tap into that, and you've created a character worth watching.

Filth is deceptive. Watch a trailer and you'll get what I mean. Just trust me on one thing. If you haven't seen Filth and you feel like you have an idea of what it's about and what will happen, you're not entirely correct. Whatever the things are that you think, I guarantee that at some point during the movie you will stand corrected.

Look at him. He looks so angry. Jesus. I did not think I'd ever see the day James McAvoy made a face like that in a movie.

If you're easily offended, sit this one out. Maybe there's some enjoyment to be had for you, especially in the form of the wonderful (albeit it terrifying) commentary the movie is trying make, but it's also more than likely that you'll just end up turning the movie off out of discomfort long before you make it to the scenes where that commentary really comes into play.

Baird uses this movie as a platform for holding a mirror up to the many facets of modern society that need be examined. Some of the things this movie has to tell us about ourselves are ugly, and scary and hard to face in the fictional sense, let alone in a real world context. However if at any point you find yourself shocked and appalled, before your criticize the film for what it's showing you, maybe consider the reasons why Baird might choose to put those things on-screen. Look around and within before placing judgement, though that's probably just a good rule of thumb for life in general.

This movie starts conversations, all of which you and most people don't want to have, myself included. But every second we spend afraid of addressing real problems is a second we could be devoting to making progress. The "filth" you'll see in the movie isn't needless, it doesn't just exist for it's own sake, it is intentional, and that's what I love about it. It might take a second or third viewing for that to settle in, it certainly did for me.

By the way, and I know I said this for The One I Love, but I'll say it here too because fuck it; this movie's ending is perfect, and again, one of my all time favorites. It works on so many levels, and the more times you watch the movie, the more of those levels you'll see.

Shout out to the people who I keep recommending this movie too who continually refuse to watch it, this piece is for you, be on the right side of history my friends.

Thanks for reading.

"Same rules apply."