‘Interview’ movie review: Steve Buscemi’s drama provokes an interesting dialogue

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A compelling remake of Theo Van Gogh’s 2003 film by the same name, Steve Buscemi’s Interview provokes thought for most of it’s runtime before coasting into an all-too-pat conclusion.

It’s basically a two-character play: political journalist Pierre Peders (Buscemi) feels jilted when sent to do an interview with soap star Katya; after waiting a couple hours for her to show up at the location, he lets her know it.

Circumstances bring them together to continue the interview in Katya’s NYC flat, where the duo attempt to manipulate their way into each other’s thick exterior.

It’s fascinating for awhile, as the aloof characters remain as much as enigma to us as they do to each other; things are wrapped up a bit to nicely at the end, however.

A rare remake: acceptable due to the heavy reliance on dialogue in the original film (which inevitably comes across differently when translated & subtitled – I can’t imagine how well, say, David Mamet translates into other languages), and respectful of the original film while still providing a different experience.

Van Gogh (great-grandson of Vincent’s brother) intended to direct an English-language version of the film, starring Buscemi, before he was murdered by Islamist Mohammed Bouyeri in 2004.

Interview

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Jason Pirodsky

Jason Pirodsky has been writing about the Prague film scene and reviewing films in print and online media since 2005. A member of the Online Film Critics Society, you can also catch his musings on life in Prague at expats.cz and tips on mindfulness sourced from ancient principles at MaArtial.com.

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