Mute (2018)
The quaility of Duncan Jones’ first two films (Moon and Source Code) placed him on the map of the most promising up and coming directors. Whilst Warcraft wasn’t anywhere near to being a masterpiece it wasn’t the cinematic atrocity people claimed it to be either, Duncan Jones was in great need of hitting the big time again. However, it’s unlikely Mute is going to be the film to help him achieve that.
It seems a bit cliché to describe any future set film to be greatly reminiscent of Blade Runner, but the comparisons between Mute and Blade Runner are unmissable, especially when you compare the representation of the futuristic cities and the neo-noir plot. Although set in a different country, Mute’s 2050s Berlin has many similarities to Blade Runner’s 2019 LA with its futuristic tech, bustling sex industry, and flying cars.
Berlin certainly makes more a potentially interesting setting, acting as a East meets West melting pot of immigration, but director Duncan Jones doesn’t make the most of it. He focuses on a mute bartender’s, Leo (Alexander Skarsgård), quest to find his missing girlfriend where the only link appears to be a pair of surgeons, one of whom wants to escape Berlin for America with his daughter.
Whilst I wasn’t greatly enamored with The Shape of Water, Sally Hawkins did show how much power can be garnered from a performance with no dialogue. Skarsgård, undoubtedly a good actor, is a little boring in this film showing nothing more than rage tinged with occasional sadness. Still, he isn’t the worst performer as a miscast Paul Rudd fails to carry his side of the story as he just wasn’t threatening enough to be believable in his role.
Paul Rudd’s gangster side story is where the most questionable aspect of the film arises. The film’s highly odd depiction of a very dark subject matter is done is such a blasé way that is has to be seen to be believed.
