Killing Words

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Horrorphile - August 2008

Palabras Encadenadas (Killing Words)

August 8th 2008 01:10

“On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts” --- Thomas de Quincey

The Spanish are very good at their sex and death games. Just look at the bullfight. It’s all about carnality and mortality. It has a homoerotic undertone, and it’s man vs. animal, but it’s essentially phallic symbols and penetration, combined with the tease, the pursuit, and the submission.

Palabras Encadenadas (Killing Words, 2003) is a superbly constructed psychological thriller about a possible serial killer and his latest acquisition; abducted and potential victim number nineteen. He is a teacher of philosophy, aesthetics to be precise, and she is a psychiatrist. He is handsome, charming and elusive; she is beautiful, smart and vulnerable.

Dario Grandinetti as Ramon

From a story by Jordi Galcerán, co-written by Laura Mañá and Fernando de Felipe and directed by Mañá Killing Words works and feels like a stage play adaptation; there are only two central characters, Ramón (Darío Grandinetti) and Laura (Goya Toledo), with two supporting roles; Commissioner Espinosa (Fernando Guillén) and Inspector Sánchez (Eric Bonicatto) 90% of the action takes play in two main locations, Ramón’s expansive studio-styled basement and the police interrogation room. However, the movie doesn’t feel cramped or deliberate like a theatrical production; the screenplay was written for the screen, and director Mañá is very cinematically-assured with her visual narrative.

Goya Toledo as Laura

The performances are excellent, which is not surprising given that the director is an actor-turned filmmaker, which nearly always means the actors will have all the elements they need to deliver top notch performances. The emotional swing demanded by the characters is huge, and I’m not entirely sold by the dynamics of the screenplay, however, these kinds of twisty-turny plots nearly always make demands on the audience to suspend belief at the expense of poetic narrative license. And it is the poetry of murder which Killing Words is so enthusiastically enunciating.

Fernando Guillen as Commissioner Espinosa

Eric Bonicatto as Inspector Sanchez

Word Chains is the game of the day: one player says a word and the other player has to come up with a word which starts with the previous word’s last syllable. Ramón and Laura play it several times during the course of the movie. But there is a sub-text to the game as well, an advance clue to the murder mystery which rears its ugly head from time to time. Killing Words is about lies and truth, half-truths and fabrications. Who is lying and when?

The narrative structure of Killing Words cuts back and forth between Ramón and Laura and between Ramón and the detectives; the past and present. Another brilliantly engineered and executed psychological thriller of similar ilk and presence is Guiseppe Tornatore’s A Pure Formality (1994) starring Gerard Depardieu as the murder suspect and Roman Polanski as the interrogating inspector, an allegorical tale of deception and revelation, another two-hander, and another “theatrical” movie filmed with cinematic verve.

Killing Words Dario Grandinetti and Goya Toledo

Words can slice just like a knife

Killing Words has a fantastic look, a stark, yet vivid production design and crisp clean cinematography, and it’s briskly-paced too, which helps when the movie is dialogue-heavy. If you like to be intellectually-challenged and enjoy a puzzle Killing Words is the mind-game for you. Bring a little salt to the table though, it’s not entirely bulletproof, but it’ll deflect enough for the 87-minute duration.

Here's the trailer:

Killing Words DVD courtesy of Siren Visual, many thanks!

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

8 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

August 8th 2008 01:38

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

That looks like a serious mind games film.

Even the promo confuses me.

Comment by Bryn

August 8th 2008 01:50

Horrorphile

Damo, yes, serious, mind and games are all there in spades.

Comment by David O'Connell

August 8th 2008 03:36

Screen Fanatic

I've seen this one, a while back on World Movies, and it is indeed a real gem. Very cleverly constructed and first-rate acting all round.

The Spanish are proving to be very adept at these sinister thriller and horror films.

Comment by Bryn

August 8th 2008 04:06

Horrorphile

David, yes very World Movies fodder. I've been a fan of Spanish cinema ever since first seeing Almodovar's Matador (his best in my opinion) at a film festival back in '87. Curiously, the female lead in Killing Words, Goya Toledo (what a name!) looked very similar to Almodovar regular Victoria Abril.

Comment by JohnDoe

August 8th 2008 04:52

Film & TV on DVD

I also caught this one on World Movies a few years back and was very impressed. i think I need to put it in my collection for multiple viewings.

Comment by David O'Connell

August 8th 2008 04:55

Screen Fanatic

Yeah mate - Victoria Abril................very, very fondly remembered by us all isn't she? The one name in Spanish cinema guaranteed to bring the voyeur in us all to full red alert! Haha! (;

Comment by Cibbuano

August 11th 2008 03:09

20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

looks interesting... one from the Siren collection, eh? I love it when you don't know who's telling the truth in the movies!

Comment by Bryn

August 11th 2008 03:17

Horrorphile

Cibby, I reckon you'd dig this one ...

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