Jonathan Glazer
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6.9 Sexy Beast (2000)
7.0 Birth (2004)
7.1 Under the Skin (2013)
6.3 The Zone of Interest (2023)
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(Clicka qui per la versione Italiana)

British director Jonathan Glazer, who already directed several rock videos, debuted with Sexy Beast (2000), a distorted and neurotic take on the caper genre. In fact, most of the film takes place before the actual heist. A lot of the film's value depends on the psychological confrontation between the two protagonists of the first half, and that confrontation is not always credible. The characters are sketchy at best and whatever we learn about them does not really add depth to the conflict. The women are particularly inexpressive, and the feared gangster is not all that ruthless. In fact, it is not clear at all why he inspires so much fear. Several scenes are gratuitous, unless they only serve the purpose of giving actors a chance to show their talent (e.g., who cares that Don makes a fuss about smoking on the plane). The main asset of the film is the direction, which is elliptical and fragmentary in a surreal/freudian manner. Flashbacks are particularly innovative (compare with The Limey). The film swings from room-based Pinter drama (the living room conversations among the four friends, albeit a little boring and pointless) to Hollywoodian action movie.

Plump retired gangster Gal is suntanning by the swimming pool, enjoying the luxury of his Spanish villa, being aroused sexually by the view of his young Spanish servant sweeping the patio. He is happily married to an attractive lady, Deedee. Suddenly, a boulder rolling down from the mountain spoils the quiet of his retreat. The boulder narrowly misses Gal and plunges in the pool. When Deedee returns from shopping, she finds Gal and the boy in the pool, trying to move the rock.
The couple has two British friends who visit them frequently: the timid Aitch and another attractive lady, Jackie. It is their duty to inform Gal that an old acquaitance from the criminal underworld, Don, is coming to fetch him for some kind of robbery. They all tremble just at hearing Don's name. Gal is determined to keep the promise he made to his wife, of retiring from crime. That night Gal dreams of having lunch at a table set in the desert and of being machine gunned by a masked demon on a horse.
Don, who arrives the following morning by plane from England, is vicious and abusive. He is unwelcome by Deedee and feared by Gal, who can literally hardly speak in Don's presence. Don is determined to have Gal join the gang.
In one of the film's most engaging constructions, Don describes how Stan told him that Teddy, a crime boss, wants him to put together a gang. We see how Teddy met Harry at an orgy, and Harry happens to be the chairman of a futuristic, high-security bank whose safety boxes must contain millions. Teddy personally surveys the place (he drops only an empty cigarette box in his safety box, while Harry watches him through the cameras). Teddy decides that it is "doable" and that's how Don ended up in Spain to offer Gal the job. Don takes Gal to a bar and then to the beach and keeps insisting.
Their life of leisure is shattered by the guest, who offends their guests (Don leaks that he slept with Jackie, and it turns out that Aitch has always known), pisses on the bathroom carpet and assaults them in the middle of the night. Faced with Gal's stubborn attitude, Don finds a way to insult also his wife (she was a former porn-star). THen he finally leaves. But on the plane he refuses to put off his cigarette and is arrested. Released after he threatens to accuse the staff of sexually abusing him, Don returns to the villa and violently confronts Gal. The Spanish boy aims a gun at him, but Don easily disarms him. Deedee also has a gun.
Now Gal is in England, staying at a hotel and eating with others at a restaurant, taking orders from Teddy. Teddy wonders why Don is disappeared, but Gal pretends he knows nothing about it. In the meantime, the boy is refilling the swimming pool after the boulder has been removed and the floor rebuilt. Gal and the others practice in a swimming pool, where they have to drill a tunnel to the bank. A flashback shows Deedee shooting Don. While Gal works at the underwater tunnel, he keeps seeing flashbacks of Don agonizing, of them kicking and punching him, of Deedee shooting Don again to finish him off.
Finally the tunnel is completed and the gangsters can swim like subs into the room of the safety boxes and steal money, jewels, etc. Gal hides a jewel for his wife. Everything goes well and the robbers celebrate at the restaurant. But Teddy is still puzzled by Don's disappearance and decides to give Gal a ride to the airport. On the way, they stop at Harry's place and Teddy coldly kills him in front of Gal. Gal is terrorized but still refuses to explain what happened to Don. Teddy lets him go and Don returns to the villa.
The four friends and the Spanish boy are again enjoying the quiet, relaxed, sunny atmosphere. Don is buried at the bottom of the swimming pool.

Birth (2004)

Under the Skin (2013)

The Fall (2019) and First Light (2020) are shorts.

The Zone of Interest (2023) is an adaptation of Martin Amis' 2014 novel, which was Amis’s second novel about the Holocaust after "Time’s Arrow" (1991).

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