Special Exhibit: SLEUTH

 

Year: 1972

Duration: 138 minutes

Where to watch: Amazon Prime.

If there’s a film that’s hard to discuss without spoiling it, it’s this one. So, the best kind of recommendation I can give is the following statement: I believe this is among the greatest motion pictures ever made, despite having a very theatrical format (it is based on a stage play).

It has all the staples of that kind of adaptation: a mostly confined location (but with gorgeous set design which is integral to the narrative), it plays mostly in real time, and it’s based entirely on the interplay between a very limited cast. Indeed, the only credited actors are Sir Lawrence Olivier and Sir Michael Caine (a policeman also appears later).

The premise is about a rich novelist (Olivier) who invites his wife’s lover (Caine) to discuss the issue. From there, they attempt to outsmart each other in a manner which, as I said earlier, I don’t want to give away.

So yes, this is another crime mystery. After Charade and The Last of Sheila, I promise I’ll try to stay away from the genre for a while, though you should know all three are very different kinds of mystery films. Sleuth, for one, is all about the interaction between these two great thespians, which is so entertaining and clever, it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat even though they’re mainly just talking for over two hours.

The pedigree of the actors is matched by the inventive ways in which the director (All About Eve’s Joseph L. Mankiewic, brother of Citizen Kane’s “Mank”) makes this much more than a filmed stage play. Besides the mentioned sets, he manages to turn it into something truly cinematic that transcends its origins.

I should mention that a 2007 adaptation of the play also exists, written by Harold Pinter and directed by Lawrence Olivier’s look-alike and apparent fan, Kenneth Branagh. In this version, Michael Caine returns, but now he plays the elder role while his former one is taken by Jude Law, as happened in Alfie. The plot differs from the original and the movie itself doesn’t match its quality at all, so if you saw the second adaptation and didn’t like it, don’t turn away from the first. They’re nothing alike.

As a final, interesting aside, I wanted to comment that this became the first film in history for which every cast member was nominated to an Academy Award.