When you hear the name Guillermo del Toro you usually associate the Oscar winning director with fantastical filmmaking, monsters, supernatural elements, and gothic stories from another world, but …
When you hear the name Guillermo del Toro you usually associate the Oscar winning director with fantastical filmmaking, monsters, supernatural elements, and gothic stories from another world, but maybe for the first time with his remake of the 40’s film noirhe is dealing on a smaller scale more focused strictly on people, albeit a big part of it is set in a colorful travelling carnival full of freaks and other distractions.
After del Toro spends a solid hour in this atmospheric setting, the story moves on the big city two years later in 1941 where Stanton is now a star attraction spiritual mentalist. At his show one night a “mark” in the audience turns out to be someone who can see right through his act. Cue the entrance of alluring- and dangerous – psychologist Dr.
Dafoe as the head carney, Perlman as Bruno The Strong Man, and Mary Steenburgen in two brief but memorable moments also get some screen time. Cooper has one of his best roles here, not an easy one to play of this broken man who can’t seem to redeem himself, but he does exceptionally well, bringing far more depth and risk-taking than Power was allowed to display. Blanchett clearly was born for noir and as usual steals the show.
Producers are del Toro, Cooper, and J. Miles Dale. Searchlight releases it only in theatres on December 17. Check out the trailer at the link above to see what I am talking about.