Review - The Ghost Writer

The Ghost Writer, if not one of the best of Polanski, is a intense and absorbing film

The Ghost Writer is a political thriller, directed by Roman Polanski, who is indeed known for his thrilling masterpieces like Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown. Based on the novel, The Ghost, the film follows a young ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) who is ghosting for a incomplete memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) and revelations about PM's quite special relationship with the United States. As compared to most of the recent thrillers, the film does not relies on action or even the plot itself, but rather on characters and mood, making it unique.

The film speaks a lot about foriegn relationships and political mannerisms, but as most this is usually uninteresting, screenwriters Robert Harris and Polanski did a great job in maintaining the 'intrigue' factor. The film's structure, even being a thriller, is quite linear and well formatted. We go deeper and deeper into the characters, the twist and turns and finally there is a delicious ending. Even though the film has a rather simple plot, but all three screenwriters kept it tight and interesting.

Ewan McGregor is convincing and confident as a trapped protagonist while Brosnan didn't had much screentime. But it is Olivia Williams who takes the cake - she is a tailor fit in her character of ignored Adam's wife. The film doesn't has more strong characters to speak of, and yet Polanski manages to get the best from such a reduced cast.

The film is shot gorgeously in winter tone by Pawel Edelman. Cinematography of the film is one of the high points - the color palette is mostly dark blue and rather bleak - perfectly suiting the film's requited atmosphere. Composer Alexandre Desplat's music is brooding and suspenseful, complementing most of the major sequences.

The film is not flawless - specially in the middle, not much happens. The film starts to drag a little. Other than that, it will be probably nitpicking.

The Ghost Writer, if not one of the best of Polanski, is a intense and absorbing film, which proves that we don't need violence or action to thrill the audience. The script and the direction alone is so strong that even with rather a simple plot, this film never loses the hold. Certainly a must watch.

3.5/5